Flip-Flops in Students´ Conceptions of State

The authors conducted a qualitative interview-based study to reveal students´ misconceptions about state in sequential circuits. This paper documents 16 misconceptions of state, how students´ conceptions of state shift and change, and students´ methodological weaknesses. These misconceptions can be used to inform and direct instruction. This study revealed a need for the development and adoption of standard terminology and a need to focus digital logic instruction upon a central concept of information encoding. In addition, these misconceptions will serve as the basis for the creation of standard assessments called concept inventories. A concept inventory will provide rigorous and quantitative metrics to assess the effectiveness of new teaching methods.