Students’ misconceptions on rotational and rolling motions

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the misconceptions experienced by senior high school students on rotational and rolling motion topics. The sample consisted of 35 students of a state senior high school in Palembang, Indonesia, in grade 11 in a science class. The data was collected using the Rotational and Rolling Motion Conceptual Survey (RRMCS), and were analyzed using modified Certainty of Response Index (mCRI) with a scale of 0 to 5. The result showed that the distribution of students’ conceptual understandings were in four categories, i.e. understanding the concepts 1.70%, understanding the concepts but not sure 1.90%, holding misconceptions 58.30%, and not understanding the concepts 38.10%. It can be identified that the students experienced misconceptions in all the concepts involved, namely 54.30% in the moment of inertia, 57.10% in rotational kinetic energy, 60.0% in angular velocity, 62.90% in angular acceleration, 58.90% in the moment of inertia, 51.40% in rolling motion (relative motion), 65.70% in rolling motion (the role of friction and other parameters), and 55.70% in the sliding cube on an inclined plane. Therefore, teachers should consider these misconceptions experienced by students in choosing appropriate strategies to overcome them.