Examining the relation of correct knowledge and misconceptions using the nominal response model

John Stewart,Yunfei Ma,David Pritchard,Ángel Pérez-Lemonche,James Wells,Aaron Adair,Byron Drury,Rachel Henderson

doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.17.010122

Abstract

Cluster analysis of Force Concept Inventory scores suggests that students can be classified as Newtonian thinkers still retaining some misconceptions, non-Newtonian thinkers strongly applying Newton's third law misconceptions, and non-Newtonian thinkers weakly applying those misconceptions.

Highlights

The existence of ships, wagons, bridges, aqueducts, cathedrals, and other manmade structures in the 16th century and before shows that people had useful and systematic beliefs about motion, forces, and materials before the intellectual revolutions brought by Galileo and Newton
This study explores the following research questions: RQ1 Are there identifiable common morphologies of item response curves? How are the characteristics of these curves related to common student misconceptions? RQ2 What psychometric models are suitable for modeling responses to distractors as well as the correct response? RQ3 How can these psychometric models be used to understand the interaction of correct and incorrect knowledge?
In order to investigate how the pattern of responses to the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) change with overall Newtonian ability measured by total FCI score, item response curves (IRC) were generated for every question

Summary

Introduction

The existence of ships, wagons, bridges, aqueducts, cathedrals, and other manmade structures in the 16th century and before shows that people had useful and systematic beliefs about motion, forces, and materials before the intellectual revolutions brought by Galileo and Newton. Since its introduction in 1992, the PER community has explored incorrect student reasoning using pre- and post-instruction scores on the FCI. This methodology has allowed the convincing demonstration that traditional instruction does not allow most students to develop Newtonian understanding [5,6,7]

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Discussion

Conclusion