Students' conceptual understanding of force Vic Emerson C. Danao

• Main Author: Danao, Vic Emerson C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2005
• Subjects: Force and energy; Motion
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3621
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study aimed to explore the conceptual understanding and to seek the common misconceptions of forces of senior high school students of Diffun High School and Quirino General High School located at Diffun and Cabarroguis respectively, both of the division of Quirino in Region 2. A 25-item open-ended Force Concept Inventory was utilized as instrument in the study. Interviews were done to verify the consistency and to provide in-dept analysis of the responses of the students in the open-ended FCI. Results of the study revealed that the respondents possess many alternative conceptions that are not compatible with the Newtonian concepts and are classified as non-Newtonian thinkers. The students are found to manifest the following common misconceptions: The mass of an object opposes its motion, for interacting objects the one with greater mass produces greater force and most active object produces the greatest force, undiscriminated position-velocity of objects in motion, undiscriminated velocity acceleration of objects in motion, the force of gravity acting on an object increases as it falls, objects initially moving in circular path will assume its circular impetus and the last force acting on an object will determine its motion. The students also exhibit failure to recognize the Newtonian concepts of inertial motion and normal force. The respondents concepts of force showed a mixture of Aristotelian notion and medieval concept of impetus.