Changing Misconceptions Through MBL—A Concept for Lab-Sessions

Students’ difficulties in solving qualitative problems are well known. Obviously students aren’t sufficiently required to use qualitative argumentation in problem solving. Lab experiments offer various possibilities to enhance the understanding of physics if we are willing to radically change the goals of these experiments. Instead of experiments emphasizing measurements we need experiments emphasizing conceptual understanding. By using the computer for the recording and analysis of the measured data the student can then concentrate on applying his/her physical ideas to predict and interpret the course of the experiment and in case of unexpected events, to test his/her own conclusions and concepts. For the example of the gravitational pendulum ten problems are proposed which require the student to work intensively on parts of these problems which include everything from the observation and analysis of motions, to an energy balance, and finally the modelling of non-harmonic oscillations. This requires an open software and hardware system which can be used by the students throughout the problem-solving process and teachers willing to go into more open problems.