Representation of Image Formation—Observation in Optics in Ethiopian Textbooks: Student Learning Difficulties as an Analytical Tool

Abstract

Studies have reported that students find geometric optics topics difficult partly because of representations in textbooks. In Ethiopia, textbooks are the main source of content in schools. Therefore, a study of how textbooks present certain topics can shed light on students’ learning difficulties. This study specifically examines how image formation–observation is presented in Ethiopian textbooks and how these representations might be the possible causes of students’ learning difficulties. Sixth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade physics textbook chapters containing topics related to image were analyzed. The analysis followed a directed approach to qualitative content analysis. The results show that textbooks sometimes contain explanations that explicitly clarify pictorials and are consistently integrated. However, the textbooks also contain implicit, missing, and incorrect verbal representations as well as incomplete, selective, and patterned pictorial representations that are presented inconsistently. Moreover, the textbooks rarely show alternative representations that complement the problematic representations, hence limiting their misinterpretations. Students may intuitively interpret implicit, selective, and patterned representations that may not conform to scientific concepts. Similarly, incorrect, missing, and incomplete representations could be seen as a direct source of students’ misconceptions. The results suggest that authors and teachers of optics textbooks should be aware of students’ learning difficulties because of representations and should emphasize alternative representations.