Dr. JJ, ASERG FSG, UiTM

1. Seminar Fizik 2000Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Nov 2000 Crossover into the Newtonian Beliefs -A Preliminary Study on the First Semester Engineering Students at Universiti Teknologi MARA Dr. JJ, ASERG FSG, UiTM

2. Title Quotes Results - ScoresSciPhys GradeGESchSubj Motivation SEMINAR FIZIK 2000 Purpose Results - Gain GESchSubj.PhysAll Mean MeangraphOther Design Instrument-FCIQ1Q6Q15Q19Q21Q25G1G6G15G19G21G25 StatsGradeG ESchSubj Conclusion UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH

3. Acknowledgement • Assoc. Prof. Ho Wan Seng, Physics Dept. Head, Science Faculty, UiTM • Deans of Engineering Faculties • Faculty of Applied Sciences • Students

4. Physics - the basic science “…. Physics is about the rules of nature - so beautifully elegant that it can be neatly described mathematically. That’s why many physics courses are treated as applied math…..” Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics

5. Physics - the basic science “…. But introductory physics that emphasizes computation misses something essential - comprehension - a gut feeling for the concepts…..” Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics

6. Physics is Hard "Physics = Memorizing Facts Memorizing Equations Plug-and-chug" Most Students taking physics or otherwise; Hewitt, Rigden, Hobart

7. Effective Learning “..Memorization is not only useless but counterproductive..” Whitaker, 1985 “..Introductory physics courses have been structured to cover so much content to be covered in a very short period..” French, 1988

8. Physics is Hard “…. Taking (conventional) physics…. is like trying to drink from a fire hose. There are far too many topics presented… too many abstract theories which relates to reality… insufficient concrete experiences with everyday phenomena to comprehend the math representation of them……” Physics students at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania

9. Effective Learning “… Students beginning a physics course usually have a rich accumulation of interrelated ideas that constitute a personal system of beliefs about motion….” Champagne, 1980

10. Motivation • Weak reasoning ability in explaining physics central ideas about force & motion • Inability to represent a physical situation pictorially & verbally • Lack of power to verbally translate a mathematical equation and vice-versa

11. Motivation • So much effort and dedication was put into the teaching (the traditional way) by lecturers to instill knowledge BUT the result does not reflect the effort & dedication

12. Motivation • Students emerging from study of physics still have serious gaps in the understanding of important topics in all areas of physics

13. Motivation • Plenty of scientific papers have been published about learning and teaching of physics • The existence of standardized tests to measure conceptual understanding in the study of forces

14. Purpose • Identify to what extent the beliefs were successfully removed through formal university traditional introductory physics class Note: Traditional = Lecture (Passive-learner) + Tutorial (through problem-solving by instructor) + recipe lab

15. Research Design • Give pretest to about 300 engineering students who just enrolled for the Dec - April 1998 semester. • Give posttest to students who just completed their first semester in Nov 1998. No pretest. Contact Dr. JJ at FSG, UiTM for more details FOR MORE INFO...

16. Research Design • Another posttest was given to the group who completed first semester in May 99. Took the pretest. • Allow 45 mins + 1 hr for the exam • Key-in profile and item selections • Analyse data using descriptive & inferential stats. Excel + SPSS Contact Dr. JJ at FSG, UiTM for more details FOR MORE INFO...

17. Instrument: FCI & MBT • FCI (30 items multiple-choice) • designed to be meaningful to students without formal training in mechanics • probes beliefs over a wide range of Newtonian concepts on force & motion • MBT (26 items multiple-choice) • designed to emphasize concepts that cannot be grasped without formal knowledge of mechanics

18. Desc. Statistics - Gender

19. Desc. Statistics - Course Grade

20. Desc. Statistics - Educ.

21. Desc. Statistics - School

22. Desc. Statistics - Subject

23. Results & Discussion • Focus on the beliefs • check the overall mean score (random guessing = 20% score) • observe the percentage of students choosing the wrong answers for each question • look at the choices of wrong answers to learn more on their existing belief system

24. Results & Discussion • Focus on the gains • Average Gain , G • G = %Posttest, Sf - %Pretest, Si • Standardized Average gain <g> • <g> = G / Max G • where max G = 100 - %Si • check if the gains vary as a function of subgroups

25. FCI & MBT - SPM Science

26. FCI & MBT - SPM Physics

27. FCI & MBT - Course Grade

28. FCI & MBT - Course Grade

29. FCI & MBT - Gender

30. FCI & MBT - Educ. Level

31. FCI & MBT - School types

32. FCI & MBT - SPM subject

33. FCI Gain-Gender

34. FCI Gain-Educ. Level

35. FCI Gain-School Types

36. FCI Gain-SPM Subject

37. FCI Gain-Physics Grade

38. FCI & MBT -Overall

39. FCI Mean Gain-Overall

40. FCI Mean Gain-Overall

41. FCI - Compared  this work Collaboration with Prof. Khalijah Salleh, Jabatan Fizik, UKM, unpublished  Hake, R.R., “ A six-thousand -student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses”, AJP, 66, 64-74 (1998)

42. FCI - Compared  this work Collaboration with Prof. Khalijah Salleh, Jabatan Fizik, UKM, unpublished  Hake, R.R., “ A six-thousand -student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses”, AJP, 66, 64-74 (1998)

43. Instrument: FCI - Q1 1. Dua biji bola A dan B mempunyai saiz yang sama tetapi bola A beratnya dua kali ganda berat B. Bola-bola tersebut dijatuhkan serentak daripada bumbung sebuah bangunan dua tingkat. Masa yang diambil untuk bola-bola tersebut sampai ke tanah ialah:

44. Instrument: FCI - Q1 (A) bola A mengambil masa separuh sahaja masa yang diambil oleh bola B. (B) bola B mengambil masa separuh sahaja masa yang diambil oleh bola A. (C) lebih kurang sama. (D) bola A lebih cepat sampai tetapi tak semestinya separuh masa yang diambil oleh bola B. (E) bola B lebih cepat sampai tetapi tak semestinya separuh masa yang diambil oleh bola A.

45. Instrument: FCI - Q6 6. Arah laluan manakah dalam gambarajah di sebelah kanan yang akan diikuti oleh bola setelah ianya keluar daripada saluran pada kedudukan “r” dan bergerak di atas permukaan meja tanpa geseran?

46. Instrument: FCI - Q6

47. Instrument: FCI - Q15 Sebuah lori mengalami kerosakan dan menerima tolakan dari belakang oleh sebuah kereta kecil untuk menghantarnya ke bandar seperti yang digambarkan di bawah. 15. Sewaktu kereta kecil tersebut menolak lori dan memecut untuK mencapai kelajuan seragam;

48. Instrument: FCI - Q15 (A) daya tolakan yang dikenakan oleh kereta terhadap lori adalah sama dengan daya lori menolak kereta (B) daya tolakan yang dikenakan oleh kereta terhadap lori adalah lebih kecil berbanding dengan daya lori menolak kereta (C) daya tolakan yang dikenakan oleh kereta terhadap lori adalah lebih besar berbanding dengan daya lori menolak kereta

49. Instrument: FCI - Q15 (D) oleh kerana injin kereta hidup, maka ia mengenakan tolakan terhadap lori tetapi lori tidak mengenakan tolakan terhadap kereta kerana injin lori tidak dihidupkan. Lori tersebut ditolak hanyalah kerana ia mengganggu laluan kereta (E) tidak ada daya dikenakan oleh kereta dan oleh lori. Lori tersebut ditolak hanyalah kerana ia mengganggu laluan kereta

50. Instrument: FCI - Q19 19. Kedudukan dua buah blok pada turutan sela masa 0.20 saat diwakili oleh kotak-kotak bernombor dalam gambarajah di bawah. Blok-blok tersebut sedang bergerak ke kanan.