FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND

HUMANITIES
(SCHOOL OF EDUCATION)

MHPF2213-01:ACTION RESEARCH FOR CURRENT

ISSUES IN PHYSICS EDUCATION
Dr. Nor Farahwahidah binti Abdul Rahman

REPORT2

NO NAME PROGRAMME MATRICS NUMBER

1 WAN RONG MASTER OF EDUCATION(PHYSICS) MHP221064

Identifying Common Misconception of force and motion in physics among
high school students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the methods used by students to identify misinterpretations
of force and motion. I found a literature in Taylor that was researched using quantitative
methods. This paper uses a two-part written questionnaire to analyze students'
misunderstanding level of force and motion, and the test results show that there are serious
differences in students' understanding of various forces and scientific concepts. Research
methods can employ mixed methods, and the integration of qualitative and quantitative data
provides students with a nuanced exploration of misconceptions about force and motion and
gives teachers a greater understanding of the complexities involved.

Keywords: students' common misconception，force and motion，diagnostic test，influence

1.Introduction

Students at all levels of education experience misconceptions about science learning

(Anggoro et al., 2019). Uncovering student misconceptions about force and motion is critical
in high school physics. Misunderstandings can be a significant barrier to learning, preventing
students from understanding basic scientific concepts. TOPALSAN & Bayram (2019)
mentioned that understanding the causes of misunderstandings is important for science
education. By identifying these misconceptions, educators can adjust instructional strategies
to directly address and correct these domain-specific confusions. Early recognition of
misconceptions also enables timely intervention to prevent misconceptions from perpetuating
and hindering students' future progress in physics and related sciences. Recognizing and
correcting misconceptions can also lay a more accurate and solid conceptual foundation for
force and motion, and promote the improvement of students' overall scientific literacy and
critical thinking ability.
Using quantitative methods to identify misconceptions about force and motion among
high school physics students can provide insight into the prevalence and patterns of these
misconceptions across a larger sample of students. One such approach is to design and
implement concept checklists or standardized tests specifically designed to assess students'
understanding of force and motion concepts. (Wells et al., 2020) mentioned that the Force
Concepts Inventory and Force and Motion Concepts Assessment have been commonly used
to diagnose students' level of misinterpretation. These tools can be designed around common
misconceptions and scientifically proven questions. By analyzing the results, the researchers
were able to quantitatively measure the frequency of specific misunderstandings and identify
common areas of misunderstanding among high school physics students. By utilizing
quantitative methods, researchers gain a broad and systematic understanding of the extent and
distribution of student misunderstandings, thereby enabling teachers to design targeted
interventions and curriculum improvements that effectively address and correct these
misunderstandings.

Using qualitative research to solve students' misconceptions about force and motion in
high school physics requires a targeted and in-depth exploration of students' beliefs and
thinking processes. One approach is to conduct individual or group interviews with a diverse
sample of students, allowing them to express their understanding freely in their own words.
These interviews can be designed with open-ended questions to reveal the deeper reasons
behind their misperceptions. In addition, collecting written responses through open-ended
questionnaires or reflective assignments can also help to further understand students' thinking
patterns. Taqwa et al. (2022) mentioned that qualitative data were obtained from students'
reasons for answering questions, analyzed by the Miles and Huberman method. Fadllan &
Prawira, (2019) referred that the data of the qualitative research were collected by three-tier
diagnostic tests, using triangulation technique, using reference material and member checking
to validate the data. Insights gained from qualitative research can inform the development of
targeted interventions and teaching strategies to effectively address specific misconceptions.

For a comprehensive study of high school physics students' misconceptions about force
and motion, a mixed methods combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods
can be employed. According to Kaniawati et al. (2019), using mixed methods as a research
method, both quantitative and qualitative data can be collected to minimize the weaknesses of
other methods. (Gurel, Eryilmaz & McDermott 2015) stated that Interviews, open-ended tests,
multiple-choice tests, and multilayered tests were the most commonly used to ols for
diagnosing scientific misconceptions. The quantitative portion may involve conducting a
concept inventory or survey of a large sample of high school physics students. These
standardized tools can help quantify the prevalence of misperceptions among participants,
providing valuable statistics. At the same time, qualitative aspects can be achieved through
interviews or written responses from a small group of students. By combining the results of
the study, researchers can gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature, prevalence, and
reasons behind force- and motion-related misconceptions among high school physics students.
This integrated approach ensures more robust and nuanced analysis, providing valuable
insights into curriculum design, instructional strategies, and targeted interventions to improve
students' conceptual understanding of physics.

2.Background

Currently, a variety of research methods have been used to study high school physics
students' misconceptions about force and motion. A common approach is to use specially
designed concept checklists or surveys to assess students' understanding of force and motion
concepts. With these quantitative tools, researchers can identify widespread misconceptions
across a large sample of students. (Fadaei & Mora, (2015) mentioned that FCI is a very
accurate and reliable tool for identifying and categorizing force and movement
misconceptions, and both pre-test and post-test analyzes provided information on different
aspects of curriculum effectiveness. (Azman, Alia & Mohtarᵃ, (2013) also referred that FCI
was reliable for diagnosing the degree of force and movement misconceptions of students.
(TOPALSAN & Bayram (2019) stated that they designed a two-tired "Concept Test on the
Topic of Force and Motion" which consists of 17 items to diagnose students' force and
motion misinterpretations. In addition, the researchers used qualitative methods such as
interviews and written responses to gain insight into the students' thought processes and the
reasons behind their misinterpretations. These qualitative methods allowed the researchers to
explore the underlying beliefs and mental models that led to the students' misinterpretations.
In addition, some studies used mixed methods, combining qualitative and quantitative data to
better understand A comprehensive understanding of the nature and prevalence of
misconceptions. Anggoro, Widodo, Suhandi & Treagust (2019) stated that using a qualitative
approach for identifying misconceptions experienced by students in the fundamental science
concepts of force and motion and alternative strategies for reconstructing students' concepts,
a quantitative approach was employed to outline the effectiveness of using cognitive conflict
strategies to reconstruct concepts in the form of conceptual changes and learning progression
that occur in remedial instruction of force and motion. By utilizing a variety of research
methods, scholars can gain valuable insights into high school physics students'
misconceptions about force and motion Facilitate the development of targeted interventions
to improve their conceptual understanding and learning outcomes.

3.Goal of the research

In this report, the purpose is to find articles related to students' misconceptions about
force and motion in Taylor's educational action research section, analyze their research
methods, and serve as a reference for the design proposal in Report 3.

4.Method

4.1 Phase 1: Planning the review

4.1.1 Specification of the research questions

What are the main misconceptions of force and motion in physics for students?

4.1.2 Development of review protocol

Databased used Taylor and Francis Online homepage

Article Type review article
search on students' common students' common common
misconception and misconception and misconception and
force and motion physics and force and motion
diagnostic test and influence and
high school
Type to scholarly Relevance
journal articles
Year of publication no limitation
Language English
Table 1: Review protocol parameters and search sources
There is no limit to the publication time in the above form, because there is no literature
in the past ten years that matches my topic on Taylor's action research website, so I can only
expand the search time.

4.1.3 Validation of review protocol

Component Search
Component1 students' common misconceptions
Component2 physics
Component3 force and motion
Component4: must not chemistry or biology
include
Table 2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria for the Boolean strings

Inclusion Exclusion
Physics Subject must not target biology
students‘s misconception teacher’s teaching
force and motion energy
Table 3 Inclusion and exclusion criteria for the review

key words combination number of Authors

papers
students' common 13 (Butler, Simmie & O’Grady，2015)
misconception and force and (TRUMPER, 1999)
motion (Veldhuizen et al., 2021)
(Lavonen et al.，2019)
(Pernilla Nilsson, 2009)
(Sozbilir, 2007)
(Esteve, 2000)
(Fitzgibbon & Heywood, 1986)
(Farrugia, 1994)
(Donitsa-Schmidt, Zuzovsky & Topaz, 2021)
(Edwards, 2014)
(Gullberg et al., 2008)
(Kane, 1987)
students' common 4 (Butler, Simmie & O’Grady，2015)
misconception and physics (Henriksen, Hobolth & Thomsen，1996)
and diagnostic test (Fitzgibbon & Heywood, 1986)
(Farrugia，1994)
common misconception and 1 (TRUMPER, 1999)
force and motion and
influence and high school
Table 4 The number of hits corresponding to keyword combinations

4.2 Conducting review/selection of papers for reviews

4.2.1 Identification of relevant research

Databased Number of result

Taylor & Francis Online homepage 18
Table 5 Number of results returned from data based

4.2.2 Selection of primary study

Figure 1: A Prisma flow diagram to depict the process of paper selection for the review

4.3 Extraction and data analysis

4.3.1 Coding

Coding themes Main categories

Types of measurement Qualitative
Variable Cconceptions
TABLE 6 Coding themes used for analyzing the reviewed studies
Coding themes Main categories Subcategories
Types of variable Conceptions static and dynamic situations,
recognizing/identifying forces, and
forces and motion

TABLE 7 The coding subcategories that were developed under the main categories

4.3.2 Data extraction

intervention location participants data collection delivery mode

stratage
Ricardo Trumper school 25 questionnaires hands-on

5.Discussion

The topic of public misconceptions about physics can be studied using both quantitative
and qualitative research methods. This literature uses a quantitative method, and the author
uses a two-part written questionnaire to analyze the students' cognition level of the force and
motion chapter. One part is to test students' analysis of the forces acting on objects, and the
other part is to test students' intuitive views and understanding of various forces. The test
results show that students have many misunderstandings about force and motion. Choosing a
quantitative approach in research, using corresponding diagnostic tests, is a very effective
way of identifying students' levels of misunderstanding.

6.Conclusion

In conclusion, using both qualitative and quantitative methods to study misconceptions

about force and motion among high school physics students can yield comprehensive insights.
Using quantitative surveys and conceptual inventories, researchers can quantify the
prevalence and patterns of misperceptions in large samples, thereby gaining a broad
understanding of the problem. On the other hand, qualitative methods such as interviews and
written responses provide insight into students' thought processes and underlying beliefs,
revealing the reasons behind their misconceptions. Combining these two methods through a
mixed methods study allows for triangulation of the data, increasing the validity and
reliability of the findings. By understanding the nature and root causes of student
misunderstandings, educators can develop targeted interventions and instructional strategies
that effectively address these gaps in understanding. Ultimately, this integrated research
approach can help improve physics education and develop a more accurate and
comprehensive conceptual understanding of force and motion in high school students,
equipping them with the knowledge and skills to navigate the complex natural world.

7.References

Gurel, D. E. R. Y. A., Eryilmaz, A., & McDermott, L. (2015). A review and comparison of

diagnostic instruments to identify students' misconceptions in science. Eurasia

Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 11(5).

Anggoro, S., Widodo, A., Suhandi, A., & Treagust, D. F. (2019). Using a Discrepant Event to

Facilitate Preservice Elementary Teachers' Conceptual Change about Force and

Motion. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(8).

Fadaei, A. S., & Mora, C. (2015). An investigation about misconceptions in force and motion

in high school. US-china education review, 5(1), 38-45.

Azman, N. F., Alia, M., & Mohtarᵃ, L. E. (2013). The Level of Misconceptions on Force and

Motion Among Physics Pre-service Teachers in UPSI (Doctoral dissertation,

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia).

TOPALSAN, A. K., & Bayram, H. (2019). Identifying Prospective Primary School Teachers’

Ontologically Categorized Misconceptions on the Topic of" Force and

Motion". Journal of Turkish Science Education, 16(1), 85-109.

Wells, J., Henderson, R., Traxler, A., Miller, P., & Stewart, J. (2020). Exploring the structure

of misconceptions in the force and motion conceptual evaluation with modified

module analysis. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 16(1), 010121.

Taqwa, M. R. A., Sulman, F., & Faizah, R. (2022, July). College Students’ Conceptual

Understanding of Force and Motion: Research Focus on Resource Theory. In Journal

of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 2309, No. 1, p. 012073). IOP Publishing.

Kaniawati, I., Fratiwi, N. J., Danawan, A., Suyana, I., Samsudin, A., & Suhendi, E. (2019).

Analyzing students’ misconceptions about Newton’s laws through four-tier

Newtonian test (FTNT). Journal of Turkish Science Education, 16(1), 110-122.

Fadllan, A., & Prawira, W. Y. (2019, March). Analysis of students’ misconceptions on

mechanics using three-tier diagnostic test and clinical interview. In Journal of Physics:

Conference Series (Vol. 1170, No. 1, p. 012027). IOP Publishing.