This document summarizes a research project investigating students' conceptual understanding and misconceptions about force and motion. The researcher administered three tests - the Force Concept Inventory, Mechanics Baseline Test, and Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation - to science students from various schools. Results showed that students had lower achievement scores than misconception scores, indicating many held alternative conceptions. Gender and school type generally did not significantly impact misconception levels. The researcher concludes many students have misconceptions and suggests teaching approaches to minimize them, such as considering students' backgrounds and experiences.

1. M.Sc. in
Science Education
(Biology)
SE 519
Research Project
R.D.N.P. Chandrasena
PGIS/SE/MSc/SED/BE/10/04

2. Students’ Conceptual Understanding
and Misconceptions on Force and Motion
through different instruments combined
with Certainty Response Index (CRI)

3. CONTENT
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Methodology
4. Analysis of Results
5. Conclusion
6. References
7. Appendices

4. 1. INTRODUCTION

5. • To develop competencies in science,
– deep foundation of factual knowledge
– understand facts and ideas to build up conceptual
knowledge
– organize knowledge in ways that facilitate
retrieval and application
Background

6. • Performance in Science (G.C.E. (O/L))
• Entrance for G.C.E. (A/L) Science stream
• Scientifically literate workforce
Poor ??? or High ???

7. Why Science concepts not build up or come
up with Misconceptions ?
correct wrong
Powerful support
for further learning
lead to the development
of conceptions that can
act as barriers to learning
Prior knowledge : Students preconceptions
about how the world works

8. A FISH STORY : Children’s story
Leo Lionni’s Fish Is Fish © 1970. Copyright renewed 1998 by Leo Lionni

9. Domain of Physics education
• Physics - dynamic and well developed field of
science
• fundamentals constitutes of universe
– Newtonian Mechanics
• Force and Motion misconceptions

10. Physics in school curriculum
• Initiate in Grade 6 Science curriculum 
Developed year by year
• General Certificate of Examination (G.C.E)
Ordinary Level (O/L) .
– Grade 10 and 11 Science curriculum consists Physics,
Chemistry and Biology
• Science stream of (G.C.E) Advanced Level (A/L)
– Grade 12 and 13 : Physics as a main subject

11. Goal
To improve the quality of teaching and
maximize learning of Physics in science
classrooms through addressing problems in
force and motion concepts in domain of
Physics education.

12. Objectives
• To identify diversity of students conceptual understanding
and misconceptions in force and motion concepts
• To identify the effect of school type and gender on
misconceptions
• To help teachers to improve teaching methodologies to
minimize students’ misconceptions
• To help students to become effective leaners
• To find replacing methods of force and motion
misconceptions

13. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
• Misconceptions Concerning Force and Motion
• Factors that affect on misconceptions
• The Instruments
– Force Concept Inventory (FCI) Test
– Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT)
– Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) Test
– Certainty Response Index (CRI)

14. Misconceptions ….
• The learner’s initial personal knowledge,
i.e., his or her conceptions, beliefs, and views, is the most
important factor influencing learning.
constructivist views
• an idea which is wrong or untrue, but which people
believe because they do not understand the subject
properly.
Longman English Dictionary

15. Concepts and Misconceptions in Force & Motion
i. Impetus: "force“
ii. Active Force:
iii. Velocity is proportional to Force:
iv. Motion implies force:
v. Passive forces:
vi. Gravity:
vii. Action-Reaction Pairs:
viii. Ideal versus real systems:
ix. Position, Velocity and Acceleration Confusion:
x. Confused the velocity and the acceleration of an object.

16. Factors that may affect on misconceptions
• initial knowledge, Hestenes et al. (1992)
• conventional instruction
• teaching practices (Glasersfeld, 1992).
• Gender
• Age
• Life experiences
• School type
• Family background
• contextual change, learning style, quality of teacher,
experiences, attitudes, text context, mathematics
background, learning styles and instruction

17. The Instruments
• Multiple-choice tests
– Force Concept Inventory (FCI)
– Mechanics baseline Test (MBT)
– Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE)
answers combined with,
• Certainty of Response Index (CRI) - Hasany,
Bagayokoz and Kelley, 1999

18. 1. Force Concept Inventory (FCI) Test
• multiple-choice test ; 30 qualitative questions
• cover eight conceptual dimensions on force and kinematics
– Kinematics (K) - Impetus (I),
– Active Force (AF) - Action/Reaction pairs(AR)
– Concatenation of Influences on motion (CI) - Other Influences
– Resistance (R) - Gravity (G).
• probes,
– students’ conceptions on Newtonian mechanics, force
– students’ ability to apply them in various contexts
(Hestenes et al. 1992).

19. Table 2.1 Classification of commonsense misconceptions probed by
the Inventory and the distracters measuring related misconceptions

21. 2. Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT)
• 26 multiple-choice questions
• emphasizes concepts that cannot be grasped without formal
knowledge about mechanics
• assess quantitative understanding
• multiple-choice distracters typical student mistakes, due to
deficient understanding than to carelessness.
• real deficiencies in understanding the basic concepts
Hestenes & Wells, 1992

22. 3. Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation
(FMCE) Test
• probe conceptual understanding of Newtonian
mechanics.
• achievement measure
• emphasis on students’ understanding of graphical
representations of velocity, acceleration, and force.
• higher scores indicate greater achievement

23. 4. Calculating CRI Values
Calculate sum of the CRI values of
correct answers wrong answers
sample number sample number
final CRI value final CRI value

24. Table 2.2 Certainty Response Index
Reference Values
• a simple and novel method for identifying misconceptions
• utilizes in conjunction with answers to multiple choice
questions (Hasan,2000).

25. 3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Study Design
3.2. Variables
3.3. Selecting Measuring Tools
3.3.1. Force Concept Inventory (FCI) Test
3.3.2. Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT)
3.3.3. Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE)
3.3.4 Certainty Response Index (CRI)
3.4. Procedure
3.5. Assumptions

26. • Selection of sample : General Certificate of Examinations,
Advanced Level (G.C.E. - A/L) science
stream students (study Physics)
of grade 12 and 13
• Very Large Population  sample of 5 different schools
• Sample Area : Negombo Education Zone
– School category : 1 AB
– School types : Girls (2), Boys (1), Mixed (2)
– Medium : Sinhala, English
– Sample No. : 10 - 40 students from a class (Table 3.1)
Study Design

27. Table 3.1 Numbers of tested students in each test
according to Gender and Medium
No. School type Gender MediumFCI MBT FMCE .
1 Girls’ Female Sinhala 11
English 06
2 Mixed Female Sinhala 03 07
English 02 07
Male Sinhala 10 11
English 03 17
3 Boys’ Male Sinhala 19 18 15
English 22 12 12
4 Girls’ Female Sinhala 20 10
English 14 32
5 Mixed Female Sinhala 07 15
English 01 06
Male Sinhala 09 09
English 07 06
Total 110 95 105

28. Procedure
• Grant permission from schools
• Conduct the tests- two class periods FCI, MBT and
FMCE to complete with the CRI value of each question.
• Data entered in Excel file
– Data analyzed in two parts, as descriptive statistics and
inferential statistics.
– using both Excel and MINITAB for ANOVA .
– The significance level was set to the .05
• Identified distribution patterns of misconceptions

29. Application of Measuring Tools
• translated tests into Sinhala
• test items checked and corrected.
• Finalized with the supervisor
• calculating the achievement scores,
– 1 point for each correct answer
– higher scores indicate lower number of
misconceptions.

30. Assumptions
1. The administrations of the FCI, MBT and FMCE together
with CRI were under standard conditions.
2. The subjects of the study answered the items
of the FCI, MBT and FMCE sincerely.

31. 4. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS
1. comparison of male and female students' misconceptions
2. Achievement scores and misconception scores through CRI
values of FCI,MBT and FMCE tests
3. Effect of Gender on misconceptions according to FCI,MBT
and FMCE tests
4. Effect of School type on misconceptions according to
FCI,MBT and FMCE tests

32. Figure 4.10 Percentages of students for eight categories of
misconceptions in FCI
40
42
44
46
48
50
52
54
56
K I AF AR CI OT R G
MALE FEMALE
MALE 46 50 51 50 46 50 50 49
FEMALE 54 50 49 50 54 50 50 51
Categories of
misconceptions
Percentages%

33. Figure 4.11 Percentages of students for 34 different sub-
categories of misconceptions for FCI questions
K1 K2 K3 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 AF1 AF2 AF3 AF4 AF5 AF6 AF7 AR1
MALE 47 45 46 47 54 51 49 53 50 52 33 51 57 50 44 52
FEMALE 53 55 54 53 46 49 51 47 50 48 67 49 43 50 56 48
AR2 AR3 CI1 CI2 CI3 CF Ob Ac R1 R2 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8
46 49 45 52 44 55 46 46 48 53 43 44 48 51 48 53 47 62
54 51 55 48 56 45 54 54 52 47 57 56 52 49 52 47 53 38
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
K1
K2
K3
I1
I2
I3
I4
I5
AF1
AF2
AF3
AF4
AF5
AF6
AF7
AR1
AR2
AR3
CI1
CI2
CI3
CF
Ob
Ac
R1
R2
G1
G2
G3
G4
G5
G6
G7
G8
MALE FEMALE

34. Figure 4. 12 Average CRI for correct and wrong
answers of each FCI question.
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
CRI CORRECT CRI WRONG

35. CRI results of FCI
• achievement scores <
(CRI correct answers)
• 06 questions (20%)
30
(1, 4, 6, 7, 10 and 14 )
• Q-01  highest CRI correct
(3.27) and fraction
(0.72)
• Q-30  highest CRI wrong
(2.84) and lowest
fraction (0.16)
misconception scores
(CRI wrong answers)
• 24 questions (80%)
30
 Less
misconceptions
 High
misconceptions
Most students have misconceptions on Force and motion

36. Figure 4. 13 Average CRI for correct and wrong
answers of each MBT question.
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
CRI CORRECT
CRI WRONG

37. CRI results of MBT
• achievement scores <
(CRI correct answers)
• 03 questions (10%)
26
(questions 1, 2 and 4)
• Q-07  highest CRI wrong 
(3.11) and lowest
fraction (0.04)
misconception scores
(CRI wrong answers)
• 23 questions (90%)
26
High misconceptions
Most students have misconceptions on Force and motion

38. Figure 4.14 Average CRI for correct and wrong answers
of each FMCE question.
0
1
2
3
4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
CRI-correct CRI-wrong

39. CRI results of FMCE
• achievement scores <
(CRI correct answers)
• 13 questions (30%)
43
• Q-40  highest CRI correct
(3.09) and fraction
(0.74)
• Q-30  highest CRI wrong
(3.03) and lowest
fraction (0.20)
misconception scores
(CRI wrong answers)
30 questions (70%)
43
 Less
misconceptions
 High
misconceptions
Most students have misconceptions on Force and motion

40. One-way ANOVA using MINITAB
• Gender was generally not effective on the students' total
conceptual understanding of force and motion through
FCI, MBT and FMCE test scores
• School type was generally not effective on the students'
total conceptual understanding of force and motion
through FCI , MBT and FMCE test scores
Effect of Gender and School type on Misconceptions

41. Students’ conceptual understanding and
Multiple Choice Concept Tests
• percentages of students' misconceptions are relatively
similar to the results of previous studies (Hestenes et al.,
1992; Eryılmaz, 1992; 2002).
• All findings of this research is not in agreement with
that of Eryılmaz's (1992 ; 2002) studies, that male
students have fewer misconceptions than female
students in mechanics.
• The gender difference was observed on the total FCI
scores and misconception categories of Kinetics and CI.
• FCI test, MBT and FMCE tests combined with CRI were
used in this research enables detecting Force and Motion
misconceptions.

42. 5. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

43. CONCLUSIONS
• Three tests combined with CRI, studied A/L Students'
mechanics achievement scores are lower than their
misconception scores.
• Misconception scores are lower than that of
misconception scores of FCI, MBT and FMCE tests
combined with CRI.
• Studied population does not indicate a significant
difference in misconception scores with gender for MBT
and FMCE tests.
• Studied population does not indicate a significant
difference in misconception scores with school type for
MBT and FMCE tests.

44. Suggestions
• use a modern method of teaching Physics in secondary
education
• precautions to be taken to minimize misconceptions
• the academic staff should take note of
– the background
– daily life experiences
– differences in type of activities
– preconceptions of the knowledge of their students before
teaching them.
• need of a module to replace misconceptions with correct
scientific concepts

45. • Teachers should encourage to set meaningful learning goals
and understand their contributions
• The Physics lessons should enable students' conceptual
learning instead of rote learning
• use of laboratory materials should be improved by supplying
experiments and activities that student can perform and learn
concepts by doing themselves.

46. 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

47. 7. APPENDICES
I. FORCE CONCEPT INVENTORY (FCI)
II. MECHANICS BASELINE TEST (MBT)
III. FORCE AND MORTION CONCEPTUAL EVELUATION
(FMCE)
IV - VI. ANSWER KEYS
VII-IX. RAW DATA

48. Thank You !