Student Misconceptions about Newtonian Mechanics

204 Pages·2013·1.01 MB·English

by  Aaron Adair

Student Misconceptions about Newtonian Mechanics:
Origins and Solutions through Changes to Instruction

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By
Aaron Michael Adair, M.S.
Graduate Program in Physics

The Ohio State University
2013

Dissertation Committee:
Lei Bao, Advisor
Andrew Heckler
Gordon Aubrecht
Samir Mathur
Copyright by
Aaron Michael Adair
2013
ABSTRACT
In order for Physics Education Research (PER) to achieve its goals of significant learning
gains with efficient methods, it is necessary to figure out what are the sorts of pre-
existing issues that students have prior to instruction and then to create teaching methods
that are best able to overcome those problems. This makes it necessary to figure out what
is the nature of student physics misconceptions—prior beliefs that are both at variance to
Newtonian mechanics and also prevent a student from properly cognizing Newtonian
concepts. To understand the prior beliefs of students, it is necessary to uncover their
origins, which may allow instructors to take into account the sources for ideas of physics
that are contrary to Newtonian mechanics understanding. That form of instruction must
also induce the sorts of metacognitive processes that allow students to transition from
their previous conceptions to Newtonian ones, let alone towards those of modern physics.
In this paper, the notions of basic dynamics that are common among first-year
college students are studied and compared with previous literature. In particular, an
analysis of historical documents from antiquity up to the early modern period shows that
these conceptions were rather widespread and consistent over thousands of years and in
numerous cultural contexts. This is one of the only analyses in PER that considers the
original languages of some of these texts, along with appropriate historical scholarship.
Based on the consistent appearance of these misconceptions, a test and interview module
was devised to help elucidate the feelings students have that may relate to fictitious
forces. The test looked at one-dimensional motion and forces. The first part of the
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interview asked each student about their answers to the test questions, while the second
part asked how students felt when undergoing three cases of constant acceleration in a
car. We determined that students confabulated relative motion with the experience of
force; students claim to feel a force in the direction of relative motion even when the
actual force is in the opposite direction. The interview process also showed how students
had both their intuitive sense of physics as well as Newtonian concepts from instruction,
and how each model was activated could be influenced by questions from the
interviewer.
In order to investigate how changes to instructional method and pedagogy may
affect students’ ability to overcome their non-Newtonian intuitions, an experimental
lecturing series was devised that used individual voting machines (“clickers”) to increase
class participation and dialog in a fashion that was more student-centered. The
experimental section also had video recordings of the lectures as well as concept-based
video homework solutions. The initial availability of the videos hindered early use, and
overall students rarely used these additions. The clicker system also had technical issues
due to the volume of students and an interface that was not streamlined. Nonetheless, the
results showed the experimental section to have significantly greater learning gains (d >
0.5, p ~ 0.01), and we determined that this was most likely due to the clicker system.

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VITA

June 2003...................................................... Bay City Western High School
2008.............................................................. B.S. Physics, Michigan State University
2008.............................................................. B.S. Astrophysics, Michigan State University
2008.............................................................. B.S. Mathematics, Michigan State University
2011.............................................................. M.S. Physics, The Ohio State University
2008 to present............................................. Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of
Physics, The Ohio State University

Publications
Adair, A. & Bao, L. (2012). Project-Based Learning: Theory, Impact, and Effective
Implementation. REAL: Research in Education, Assessment, and Learning 3(1),
6-21.
Adair, A. (2012). The Star of Christ in the Light of Astronomy. Zygon: Journal of
Science & Religion 47(1), 7-29.

Fields of Study

Major Field: Physics Education
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii
Vita ..................................................................................................................................... iv
List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii
List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
A. Physics Education Research—its Problems and Goals .............................................. 1
B. Lines of Investigation ................................................................................................. 4
i. Learning Approaches ............................................................................................... 4
ii. Student Misconceptions .......................................................................................... 9
iii. Use of Technology in Curricula .......................................................................... 13
C. Purpose of this Thesis .............................................................................................. 16
Chapter 2. Students Physics Misconceptions: Previous Research and Assessment Tools 18
A. Newtonian Misconceptions ...................................................................................... 19
i. Forces and Linear Motion ...................................................................................... 19
a. Modern Examples ............................................................................................. 20
b. Historical Examples .......................................................................................... 24
1. Aristotle’s Physics of Motion ....................................................................... 25
2. Ancient Thinkers on Motion after Aristotle.................................................. 29
3. Medieval Islamicate Physicists ..................................................................... 32
4. Medieval European Physicists ...................................................................... 33
5. Physics of the Scientific Revolution ............................................................. 36
6. Conclusions from History of Science ........................................................... 39
ii. Circular Motion .................................................................................................... 39
a. Modern Examples ............................................................................................. 40
b. Historical Examples .......................................................................................... 44
1. Circular Forces in Ancient and Medieval Commentary ............................... 45
2. The Scientific Revolution and Circular Motion ............................................ 51
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3. Conclusions from History ............................................................................. 57
iii. Sources of Misconceptions .................................................................................. 58
B. Assessment Tools ..................................................................................................... 60
i. Force Concept Inventory ....................................................................................... 61
a. Creation and Assessment with Factor Analysis ................................................ 61
b. Model Analysis and FCI ................................................................................... 66
ii. Other Inventories .................................................................................................. 73
Chapter 3. Student Physics Misconceptions: Tests and Interviews .................................. 76
A. Previous Research and History of Science .............................................................. 76
B. Research Questions .................................................................................................. 79
C. Experimental Designs .............................................................................................. 81
i. 1D Motion Test and Interview ............................................................................... 82
a. Multiple Choice Test ......................................................................................... 82
b. 1D Force Question Interviews .......................................................................... 85
ii. Experience of Forces and Motion during Constant Acceleration ......................... 87
a. Constant Acceleration in a car .......................................................................... 87
1. Car Undergoing Forward Acceleration ......................................................... 88
2. Car Undergoing Violent Braking .................................................................. 89
3. Car Undergoing Circular Motion at Constant Speed .................................... 90
b. Data Collection of Feelings of Force ................................................................ 90
1. Student Interpretation of Forces and Motion ................................................ 91
2. Deliberative and Quick-Thinking Students .................................................. 92
3. Methods of Analysis to Force and Motion Questions .................................. 94
c. High School Experience .................................................................................... 98
D. Results ...................................................................................................................... 99
i. 1D Multiple Choice Answers ................................................................................ 99
a. Pre- and Post-test Results .................................................................................. 99
ii. Experiences of Motion and Force under Constant Acceleration ........................ 106
a. Forward Acceleration ...................................................................................... 109
b. Backward Acceleration ................................................................................... 110
c. Circular Motion ............................................................................................... 111
d. Correlations between Accelerated Motion Answers....................................... 112
e. Deliberative vs. Quick-Thinking Student Responses...................................... 116
iii. High School Physics Experience ....................................................................... 119
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E. Discussion............................................................................................................... 120
i. Experiential Origins of Common Student Conceptions of Force and Motion .... 120
ii. Relationship between Some Force Misconceptions ........................................... 121
iii. Gut vs. Brain: Mental Models in Conflict ......................................................... 127
a. Effects of Prompting by Instructor .................................................................. 127
b. Mixed Models ................................................................................................. 128
iv. Final Assessment ............................................................................................... 129
v. Future Research .................................................................................................. 130
Chapter 4. Technological Enhancements ........................................................................ 132
A. Previous Research .................................................................................................. 132
B. In-Class Additions .................................................................................................. 142
i. Demonstrations .................................................................................................... 142
ii. Clickers ............................................................................................................... 144
C. Outside Additions ................................................................................................... 147
i. Lecture Videos and Slides ................................................................................... 147
ii. Homework Solutions .......................................................................................... 149
Chapter 5. Testing Methods and Results ........................................................................ 151
A. Standard Physics Class........................................................................................... 151
B. Additional Lecture Materials ................................................................................. 151
C. Online Materials ..................................................................................................... 153
D. Assessment Methods .............................................................................................. 154
E. Difficulties in Implementation ............................................................................... 157
i. Clickers ................................................................................................................ 157
ii. Homework Solutions .......................................................................................... 160
F. Results..................................................................................................................... 162
Chapter 6. Conclusions ................................................................................................... 172
A. Summary of Findings ............................................................................................. 172
i. Misconception Origins ......................................................................................... 172
ii. Lecture Changes ................................................................................................. 173
B. Future Goals ........................................................................................................... 178
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 182
Appendix A: FCI Question categories ............................................................................ 189
Appendix B: The Case of Constant Acceleration, Gravity, and Abu’l-Barakat ............. 191
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. 1D Force Question Interview Process ................................................................ 86
Table 2. Feelings of Force Interview Process ................................................................... 92
Table 3. Student Answers to 1-Dimensional Force Questions. Correct answers have an
asterisk (*). ................................................................................................................ 100
Table 4. Forces Identified or Felt by Students under Constant Acceleration. ................ 108
Table 5. Contingency Matrix for Forward and Backward Linear Acceleration. ............ 114
Table 6. Contingency Matrix for Forces during Linear Acceleration and Circular Motion
................................................................................................................................... 114
Table 7. Contingency Matrix for Forces during Forward Acceleration and Circular
Motion ....................................................................................................................... 114
Table 8. Contingency Matrix for Forces during Backward Acceleration and Circular
Motion ....................................................................................................................... 114
Table 9. Number of Deliberative and Quick-Thinking Student Answers to Acceleration
Questions................................................................................................................... 117

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Dropping a Ball with Constant Velocity. (A) Initial setup, (B) correct answer,
(C) straight-down response, (D) backward-falling response. From McCloskey et al.
(1983). ......................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 2. Thrown Objects with different Trajectories and Speeds. From Viennot (1979).
..................................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 3. The Curved Tube Problem. The setup (A), the correct response (B), the
incorrect response (C). From Kaiser et al. (1986). ..................................................... 43
Figure 4. Pseudo-Aristotle’s Idea of Objects Forced into the Center of Rotation. From
Winter (2007). ............................................................................................................. 47
Figure 5. Model Analysis Graph. From Bao & Redish (2006). ........................................ 71
Figure 6. Flow Chart of Experimental Process ................................................................. 93
Figure 7. Answer Transitions for 1D Force Questions with Pushed Sled ...................... 103
Figure 8. Answer Transitions 1D Force Questions with Thrown Marble ...................... 105
Figure 9. Normalized gains for each section and the control group average for physics
taught in Fall 2012. Error bars represent the standard error. .................................... 164
Figure 10. Model Analysis of Control Group. ................................................................ 166
Figure 11. Model Analysis of Experimental Group........................................................ 167
Figure 12. Correlation between Normalized Gains and Pretest Scores for the
Experimental Group. ................................................................................................. 168

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