Motion implies force: where to expect vestiges of the misconception?

Abstract

The reported progress of post‐instruction students in understanding the force‐motion relationship in classical mechanics might be partially caused by the kind of questions used in tests. Citing a parallelism with historical progress towards correct force‐motion understanding, this research points to the factors which might help to discover the vestiges of the naive views of motion in novice students, and explains the motivation of their ‘regression’ to the motion‐implies‐force preconception. Among the factors are the novel context of qualitative questions, and situations of nonzero acceleration, especially when velocity and force are unparallel. The understanding of these factors should help to foster genuine progress in students’ conceptual understanding as well as to provide its reliable check. The research sample included pre‐ and post‐instructional high‐school students, students of a University Pre‐academic Study Department and preservice teachers in a Technology Teachers College.