Research on the Diagnosis of Students' Misconceptions and Development of Instructional Strategies--- Newton's Third Law and Related Mechanic Concepts

Numerous studies have shown that students over a wide range of ages hold misconceptions which interfere with their understanding of many aspects of Newtonian mechanics. Most of the researches focus on Newton』s first or second laws. Only a few treat the third law. This emphasis on the first two of Newton』s three laws is in keeping with the emphasis placed on the first two laws in many textbooks. By contrast, many textbooks treat the third law in passing, even simply mentioning it briefly as an unsupported statement of fact. Some studies argue that the way in which these concepts are presented in textbooks and taught by teachers contributes to these difficulties. Confusion between the forces acting on different bodies often arises from a misunderstanding of the third law and this in turn contributes to their conceptual difficulties with the second law. The study will indicate that this type of treatment is insufficient for students to deal with their misconceptions about the third law. In December 2006, I presented a paper about the misconceptions students hold about the third law and the implications for learning and teaching. Based on the preliminary research, I plan to further investigate. I will collect students』 misconceptions and find out the key questions to help them construct correct concepts by individual clinical interviews. Additionally, it is important to analyze the related concepts through the textbooks and scientific historical documents The focus of current study will be placed on the general ways how students in Taiwan interpret the concepts of the law and to what degree these students are influenced by the contents of textbooks and by the instruction of their teachers. The study will treat if the third law is in fact only an insignificant piece of Newtonian picture, and it is argued that the third law should be treated as a much more significant part of physics course since it is important for developing the students』 qualitative concept of force. Therefore, I will analyze two substantially correlated aspects—teaching and learning—in the hope of figuring out better methods to improve the quality of physics textbooks, the effectiveness of physics education, and the structure of the curriculum design.

Project ID:PF9706-0735
External Project ID:NSC96-2511-S182-002-MY2