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Session 1793

Concepts to Questions: Creating an Electronics Concept Inventory Exam

M.F. Simoni, M.E Herniter, and B.A. Ferguson

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 5500 Wabash Ave Terre Haute, IN 47803

Abstract Concept inventory exams are standardized tests that have been carefully designed to point out the common misconceptions that students have in a specific body of knowledge. We are currently developing an electronics concept inventory (ECI) exam for basic electronic circuits. In this paper, we present an example that is particular to the ECI to illustrate the general process that was used to select the core concepts and then create and revise questions. In addition, we address the current and future state of the ECI, and invite open discussion to improve the content of the ECI.

I. Introduction Concept inventory exams are standardized tests that have been designed to point out the mastered concepts and common misconceptions that students have in a specific body of knowledge. Such an exam has been used extensively for Newtonian Mechanics and has led to substantial improve- ments in the physics curriculum in universities across the world1. Recently, concept inventories have been developed for numerous other subjects such as thermodynamics, electromagnetics, and signals and systems2. An added benefit of concept-inventories is that they are accepted as valid data for the ABET Accreditation process by showing proof of student learning and achievement3.

We are currently developing an electronics concept-inventory (ECI) exam for basic electronic cir- cuits. One of the primary challenges in creating a concept inventory is identifying the core con- cepts of a subject and then the common misconceptions about each of those concepts. In addition, the questions pertaining to each concept must not be based on definitions or rely on computation to get the correct answer. We have gone through a process of selecting the core concepts and then creating and revising questions. The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) to highlight and provide examples of our process as it relates particularly to the ECI, 2) to inform the community at large of the existence of the ECI and its current state, and 3) to spark debate over the content in the ECI.

A distinction is made between concepts and problem solving performance for the purposes of this exam. A concept is a fundamental idea used to understand electronics. Performance is the ability

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Simoni, M., & Herniter, M., & Ferguson, B. (2004, June), Concept To Question: Creation Of An Electronics Concept Inventory Exam Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--12965