2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Comprehensive Review of Six Circuits Concept Inventories to Understand the Content Coverage and Their Merits

Presented at ECE-Student Learning and Academic Performance

Circuits is one of the fundamental gateway courses not only required for Electrical Engineering students, but other engineering majors as well. Concept inventories are one approach that educators and researchers have used to quantify students’ conceptual understanding of a given topic. Several concept inventories have been developed over the years to measure conceptual understanding, diagnose misconceptions, and evaluate teaching effectiveness. In this study, we identified six concept inventories on circuits, explored their content coverage, reviewed psychometric characteristics, and discussed their application in the literature. The analysis showed that the majority of questions in all concept inventories except the Adaptive Concept Inventory in Introductory Electric Circuits (ACIIEC) are related to Kirchhoff’s laws. The Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test (DIRECT), Inventory of Basic Conceptions-DC circuits (IBCDC), and Simple Electric Circuits Diagnostic Test (SECDT) presented acceptable internal consistency reliability evidence. Four (DIRECT, IBCDC, SECDT, and ACIIEC) out of six concept inventories had validity evidence. Furthermore, ACIIEC’s questions showed on average high item difficulty and good item discrimination. While SECDT was the most frequently cited in all languages, DIRECT was the most frequently cited in English. The findings of this study provide educators and researchers with the knowledge that they need to wisely select from the variety of concept inventories available and implement them to achieve their unique research outcomes and specific educational goals and course objectives.

Authors

Mr. Iman Shayegani http://orcid.org/https://0009-0008-8930-3724 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Iman Shayegani is a Ph.D. student at University of Cincinnati. He received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Tehran and his Master's degree in the same field from Shiraz university. He had been an educational consultant and a mathematics teacher for over 10 years in Iran, and helped more than 1000 people to become successful in the University Entrance Exam before starting his Ph.D. program. Based on his experience in working with students and his academic background in electrical engineering, he is trying to find suitable methods of learning for engineering students especially in the electrical engineering field.
Dr. Gregory Warren Bucks http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-0986-7941 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Gregory Bucks joined the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Cincinnati in 2012. He received his BSEE from the Pennsylvania State University in 2004, his MSECE from Purdue University in 2006, and his PhD in Engineering Education in 2010, also from Purdue University. His research interests lie in first-year pedagogy and program assessment as well as conceptual understanding of fundamental computing concepts.
Mr. Ibrahim Nihad Awartani http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6267-8253 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Ibrahim Awartani is an international doctoral student pursuing Engineering Education in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. His BSc is a Mechanical Engineering degree from Philadelphia University in Jordan. His MSc background is a Master's of Sciences in Engineering Management from Eastern Michigan University. He has 5 years of project management work experience in the construction and consulting fields and yearly summer teaching experiences in Qinzhou, China. His research interests are focused on international curricula and grading methodology, accessibility, course climates, department culture, and course intervention research.
Dr. So Yoon Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1868-1054 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education, and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF- and NASA-funded projects.

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The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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