What is Instrument

Prior knowledge is a complex variable that greatly determines the outcome of learning of science students. Prior knowledge inherent qualities facilitate or interfere in the process of learning; however it hasn´t always been possible to determine the extent and explicitness of these effects on learning. A test to measure these effects was developed with the intention to discern the specific influence of the inherent qualities of prior knowledge of incompleteness, correctness, misconceptions and the absence of declarative knowledge. This multiple choice test includes topics such as vectors, trigonometry, unit systems and prefix definitions, contents considered to be essential to learn Coulomb´s law for electricity and magnetism course in engineering major. The ultimate goal of this project was to design a test with content validity and determine the reliability of this test using Cronbach´s alpha coefficient with a minimum value of 0.7. Finally we present suggestions that can guide future research and the applicability of this test.