Recurrency of alternative conceptions about electrical current in simple circuits

Abstract This paper describes recent results obtained with 32 students from the Middle School regarding alternative conceptions about electric current in simple circuits. A 14-item test developed at IF-UFRGS was used and validated after application to engineering students from the same university in 1989. In the present experiment, 7 students were selected for clinical interviews, from the standard of answers in the written test. The results of the written test were compared to those obtained at UFRGS and analyzed in the context of the international literature relevant to the topic. The recurrence of alternative conceptions, as observed in the present investigation, has already been widely reported by authors from different countries on different continents. The clinical interviews allowed a more detailed investigation of this phenomenon and signaled the need for new didactic approaches in the teaching of electrical circuits.