A new pre/post test to assess student mastery of introductory level acoustics and wave mechanics

Abstract

The Force Concept Inventory is a widely used multiple-choice test that enables physics educators to assess the ability of students to apply basic concepts associated with Newton’s laws and to identify specific misconceptions held by students. When administered at the beginning of a course in introductory physics, as well as at the end, the FCI provides a reliable measure of the gain in student understanding. The usefulness of the FCI, and its ease of use, has spurred the development of similar “inventories” and “baseline tests” for other subjects in the physical sciences, such as the Fluid Mechanics Concept Inventory, the Conceptual Survey in Electricity and Magnetism, and the Thermodynamics Concept Inventory. This presentation will describe a new concept inventory test designed to assess students’ conceptual understanding of the behavior of oscillators and mechanical waves, their understanding of the measurement and perception of sound, and their ability to interpret graphical representations of sound. Following the FCI model, this new Sound and Vibration Concept Inventory forces students to compare correct answers to those based on common misconceptions. Preliminary efforts to assess the reliability of this test will be described.