UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
Start | FAQ | About
Menu Icon

QR Code Link :

Type :Article
Subject :QC Physics
ISSN :2289-7070
Main Author :Nik Syaharudin Nik Daud
Additional Authors :
  • Mohd Mustamam Abd Karim
  • Siti Wan Noraini Wan Hassan
  • Nurulhuda Abdul Rahman
Title :Misconception and difficulties in introductory Physics among High School and University students : an overview in mechanics
Hits :1
Place of Production :Tanjong Malim
Publisher :UPSI Press
Year of Publication :2015
Notes :EDUCATUM - Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Vol. 2 No.1 (2015)
Corporate Name :Perpustakaan Tuanku Bainun
PDF Full Text :You have no permission to view this item.

Abstract : Perpustakaan Tuanku Bainun
Students come into the classroom with prerequisite theories and conceptions as results from everyday experiences and commonsense beliefs. As they progress through their education, these conceptions will be reinforced and it will be extremely difficult to change. Physics is no exception as the subject matter deals more closely about concepts in everyday situations. In order to teach physics effectively, it is the utmost important to identify these ideas beforehand. This paper provides an overview of some literatures pertaining to misconceptions and difficulties in introductory physics among high school and university students. Misconceptions and difficulties in mechanics are listed and described based on past studies in science education. Consequently, this paper also presents the implications these misconceptions have on teaching and learning physics and its role in conceptual cheas. Keywords misconception, introductory physics, mechanics, teaching and learning physics

References

Bar,V., Zinn, B., Goldmuntz, R., & Sneider, C. (1994). Children’s concepts about weight and free

fall. Science Education, 78, 149-169.

 

Beichner, R. J. (1994). Testing student interpretation of kinematics graphs. American Journal of

Physics, 62(8), 750-762.

 

Caramazza, A., McCloskey, M., & Green, B. (1981). Naïve beliefs in ‘sophisticated’ subjects:

Misconceptions about trajectories of motion. Cognition, 9, 117-123.

 

Carey, S. (1988). Reorganization of knowledge in the course of acquisition In S. Strauss Ed.,

Ontogeny, Phylogemy, and . Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

 

Chi, M. (1992). Conceptual change within and across ontological categories: Examples from

learning and discovery in science. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 15, 129-186.

 

Clement, J. ( 1982). Students’ preconceptions in introductory mechanics. . American Journal of

Physics, 50(1), 66-70.

 

Clement, J. (1993). Using bridging analogies and anchoring intuitions to deal with students’

preconceptions in physics. . Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30 (10), 1241-1257.

 

Dall'Alba, G., Walsh, E., Bowden, J., Martin, E., Masters, G., Ramsden, P., & Stephanou, A. (1993).

Textbook treatments and students’ understanding of acceleration. . Journal of Research in

Science Teaching, , 30(7), 621-635.

 

DiSessa, A.A. (1988). Knowledge in pieces. In G. Forman & A. Pufall (Eds.), Constructivism in the

computer age (pp. 49-70). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

 

Driver, R. & Easley, J. (1978). Pupils and paradigms: A review of literature related to concept

development in adolescent science students. . Studies in Science Education,, 5, 61-84.

 

Driver, R., Squires, A., Rushworth, P., & Wood-Robinson, V. (1994). Making sense of secondary

science: Research into children’s idea. London: Routledge.

 

Eckstein, S.G., & Shemesh, M. (1993). Development of children’s ideas on motion: Impetus, the

straight-down belief and the law of support. School Science and Mathematics, 93(6), 299-305.

 

Fischbein, E., Stavy, R., & Ma-Naim, H. (1989). The psychological structure of naive impetus

conceptions. International Journal of Science Education, 11(1), 71-81.

 

Gilbert, J.K., Watts, D.M., & Osborne, R.J. (1982). Students’ conceptions of ideas in mechanics.

Physics Education, 17(2), 62-66.

 

Goldberg, F.M., & Anderson, J.H. (1989). Student difficulties with graphical representations of

negative values of velocity. The Physics Teacher, 27(4), 254-260.

 

Gunstone, R.F., & White, R.T. (1981). Understanding of gravity. Science Education, 65, 291-299.

 

Gunstone, R. (1987). Students understanding in mechanics: A large population survey. American

Journal of Physics, 55, 691-696.

 

Halloun, I.A., & Hestenes, D. (1985a). Common sense concepts about motion. . American Journal

of Physics, 53(11), 1056-1065. Downloaded at http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Hestenes_

CommonSenseConcept.pdf.

 

Halloun, I.A., & Hestenes, D. (1985b). The initial knowledge state of college physics students.

. American Journal of Physics, 53(11), 1043-1055. Downloaded at http://modeling.asu.edu/

R&E/InitialKnowledge.pdf.

 

Helm, H. (1980). Misconceptions in physics amongst South African students. Physics Education,

15(2), 92-105.

 

Jones, A. T. (1983). Investigation of students’ understanding of speed, velocity and acceleration.

Research in Science Education, 13(1), 95-104.

 

Jung, W. (1981). Some methods of inquiry into knowledge structures in mechanics. In W. Jung, H.

Pfundt, and C. von Rhoneck (Eds.). Proceedings of the International Workshop on Problems

Concerning Students’ Representation of Physics and Chemistry Knowledge (pp. pp.254-267).

Ludwigsburg: Pedagogische Hoschschule.

 

Lawson, R.A. & McDermott, L.C. (1987). Students understanding of the work-energy and impulsemomentum

theorems. American Journal of Physics, 55(9), 811-817.

 

Martens, M.L., & Crosier, S. (1994). Sharon’s story: The usefulness of conceptual change constructs

in promoting student reflection. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 5(4), 139-145.

 

Mayer, R. E. (2008). Learning and instruction, 2nd Edition. NJ: Pearson Education.

 

McCloskey, M. ( 1983b). Naïve theories of motion. In D. Gentner & A. Stevens (Eds.), Mental

models (pp. 299-324). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

 

McCloskey, M. (1983a). Intuitive physics. Scientific American, 248(4), 114-122.

 

McDermott, L.C., & Redish, E. F. (1999). Resource letter: PER-1: Physics education research.

American Journal of Physics, 67, 755. Downloaded at http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/

ripe/papers/rlpre.pdf.

 

McDermott, L.C., Rosenquist, M.L., & van Zee, E.H. (1987). Student difficulties in connecting

graphs and physics: Examples from kinematics. . American Journal of Physics, 55(6), 503-513.

 

Novak, J. D. (1977). A theory of education. . Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

 

Pfundt, H., & Duit, R. (1994). Bibliography: Students Alternative Frameworks and Science

Education, 4th Edition. Kiel, Germany: Leibniz-Institute for Pedagogy of the Natural Science

and Mathematics at University of Kiel. Downloaded at http://www.ipn.uni-kiel.de/aktuell/

stcse/stcse.html.

 

Piaget, J. (1978). The development of thought. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

 

Pines, A. & West, L. (1986). Conceptual understanding and science learning: An interpretation of

research within a source of knowledge framework. . Science Education, 70(5), 583-604.

 

Posner, G.J., Strike, K.A., Hewson, P.W., & Gertzog, W.A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific

conception: Towards a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66, 211-227.

 

Pride, T.O., Vokos, S., & McDermott, L.C. (1998). The challenge of matching learning assessments

to teaching goals: An example from the work-energy and impulse-momentum theorems. .

American Journal of Physics, 66(2), 147-157.

 

Redish, E. F. (1994). Implications of cognitive studies for teaching physics. . American Journal of

Physics, 62(9), 796-803.

 

Rogers, E. M. (1984). Gravity, the new Cinderella in elementary mechanics teaching. In P.L. Lijnse

(Ed.), The Many Faces of Teaching and Learning Mechanics in Secondary and Early Tertiary

Education, . Proceedings of 9th GIREP Conference on Physics Education (pp. pp. 625-630).

Zeist, Netherlands: WCC Utrecht.

 

Ruhf, R. J. (2003). A general overview of conceptual change research. Downloaded at http://www.

x98ruhf.net/conceptual_change.pdf.

 

Scoboria, A., Mazzoni, G., Kirsch, I., & Jimenez, S. (2006). The effects of prevalence and script

information on plausibility belief and memory of autobiographical events. . Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 20(8), 1049-1064.

 

Silva, M., Groeger, J., & Bradshaw, M. (2006). Attention-memory interactions in scene perception.

. Spatial Vision, 19(1), 9-19. Downloaded at http://web4.cs.ucl.ac.uk/uclic/people/m.silva/

Silvaetal04.pdf.

 

Sutton, C.R. (1980). The learner’s prior knowledge: A critical review of techniques for probing its

organization. European Journal of Science Education, 2(2), 107-120.

 

Trowbridge, D.E., & McDermott, L.C. (1980). Investigation of student understanding of the concept

of velocity in one dimension. American Journal of Physics, 48(12), 1020-1028.

 

Trowbridge, D.E., & McDermott, L.C. (1981). Investigation of student understanding of the concept

of acceleration in one dimension. American Journal of Physics, 49(3), 242-253.

 

Viennot, L. (1979). Spontaneous reasoning in elementary dynamics. . European Journal of Science

Education, 1(2), 205-221.

 

Vosniadou, S. (1994). Capturing and modeling the process of conceptual change. . Learning

and Instruction, 4(1), 45-69. Downloaded at http://www.cs.phs.uoa.gr/en/staff/32.%20

vosniadou%201994.pdf.

 

Wandersee, J.H., Mintzes, J.J., & Novak, J.D. (1994). Research on alternative conceptions in

science. In D. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning (pp. 177-

210). . New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.

 

Watts, D. M. (1982). Gravity – don’t take it for granted! Physics Education, 17(3), 116-121.

 

White, R.T, & Gunstone, R.F. (1992). Probing Understanding. London: Falmer.

 

Yip D.Y. (1998). Identification of misconceptions in novice biology teachers and remedial strategies

for improving biology learning. International Journal of Science Education, 20(4), 461-477


This material may be protected under Copyright Act which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials.
You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research.

Back to search page

Installed and configured by Bahagian Automasi, Perpustakaan Tuanku Bainun, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
If you have enquiries, kindly contact us at pustakasys@upsi.edu.my or 016-3630263. Office hours only.