Abstract:

How university students‘ failure in basic physics can be explained event though topics are parallel to the secondary physics? In this survey based research, it is intended to investigate how students perceive questions in exams that are used to determine students‘ achievement. 40 students were asked questions about electricity at different times and their drawings were analyzed as one of the indicators of students‘ perceptions. Drawings for each question were put into categories according to drawing frequencies and taking students‘ different perceptions into consideration. Findings revealed that students could not infer what they were asked in questions presented in text and figure-supported formats. It is believed that not reading questions fully, and answering with hastiness and insufficiency in conceptual understanding is due to assessment-evaluation system. A structural reform is needed in order to develop students‘ reading skill (to comprehend, to determine what asked for and to find appropriate solution in physics lesson) that requires thinking and questioning abilities

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