Diagnosing Mental Models of Undergraduate Student and Physics Teachers: Study Case in the Momentum and Energy Conservation Principles Using Newton's Cradle
Asst.Prof. Choojit Sarapak,Ph.D K. Kearns independent.academia.edu C. Sarapak
The Newton’s Cradle comprises a series of pendulums often used in physics classrooms to demonstrate the principles of conservation of momentum and kinetic energy in elastic collisions. By utilizing open-ended questions and several Newton’s cradle
In this study one female freshman college student&#x27;s understanding and obstacles to learning about force, acceleration and velocity were investigated in a grounded theory case study research before, during, after and long after a brief instruction. It was found that in her knowledge she lacked a proper understanding of the concept of &#x27;rate of change&#x27; and her conceptions were highly persistent. Use of analogies worked at times to bring her understanding closer to that of scientific ones. However, sustaining new conceptions in her conceptual framework was rather difficult.

This study developed and validated a three-tier test for conceptual understanding in momentum and collision. Due limited literature in this area, this study will be an additional test instrument on this rarely researched topic. The research participants who validated the study were experts in physics education and educational assessment. Grade 9 students were also used since momentum and collision is discussed in the grade 9 level. The instrument underwent three phases: construction, pilot study, and validation. In developing the instrument, interview and literature review was used and Cronbach's Alpha was used to measure the internal consistency of the instrument.

Students came into classroom with prerequisite theories and conceptions as results from everyday experiences and commonsense beliefs. As they progressed through their education, these conceptions will accumulate and it is extremely difficult to change. Physics is no exception as the subject matter deals more closely about concepts in everyday situations. In order to teach physics effectively, it is the utmost important to identify these ideas beforehand. This paper provides an overview of some literatures pertaining to misconceptions and difficulties in introductory physics among high school and university students. Misconceptions and difficulties in mechanics are listed and described based on past studies in science education. Consequently, this paper also presents the implications, these misconceptions had on teaching and learning physics and its role in conceptual change.

Newton’s third law of motion is probably one of the easiest and simplest laws in physics for students to recite. However, when they are given questions where they must apply the understanding of the law to solve a problem, it often becomes a challenge. They seem to forget about the fact that action and reaction are opposite and equal. In this study, five sequential activities were used in the teaching of Newton’s third law of motion: Concept quiz, conceptual reasoning questions, interactive teaching, reflection, and application and problem-solving questions. Twenty 1st year University Physics students at the University of Education, Winneba, were introduced to the Newton’s third law of motion using real-life examples in an interactive engagement approach. The results indicated that students could give better qualitative reasoning and verbal explanations to most of the qualitative reasoning questions that were put as an effective strategy to assess students’ learning after the interactive engagement approach. It was also revealed that students were intellectually active in understanding the concept of Newton’s third law of motion. KEY WORDS: Newton’s third law of motion, understand, concept, interactive engagement