Assessing Austrian high school students‘ understanding of basic wave optics phenome-na using the Conceptual Survey on Wave Optics

Abstract

The Conceptual Survey on Wave Optics (CSWO) is a new diagnostic instrument aimed at the assessment of high school students’ understanding of some basic phenomena of wave optics. The CSWO consists of 26 multiple choice items that include questions about double-slit and optical grating interference, single-slit diffraction, and polarization of light. Both Croatian and Austrian students were tested in the process of the CSWO development and validation. The final version of the CSWO was administered to 167 students at several Viennese high schools, who took the test in an online form after finishing regular school instructions on wave optics. The survey was conducted during the summer term of school year 2020/21. The Rasch analysis of the results of Austrian students on this survey is presented and discussed, together with some implications for high school instruction on wave optics. The results suggest that wave optics is a rather difficult topic for high school students, and it seems that recognizing patterns and explaining the basic wave optics phenomena are especially difficult tasks for students.