The knowledge of Hungarian students in the light of the Mechanics Baseline Test

In the introductory courses in physics at Loránd Eötvös University (ELTE) students with very different physics knowledge can be found. The core problem appears to be undeveloped thinking skills and deficiency in conceptual understanding. Investigation of conceptual understanding is not simple, howev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Conference series 2019-08, Vol.1286 (1), p.12026
Main Authors: Kádár, C, Tasnádi, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Colleges & universities
Earth science
Earth sciences
Kinematics
Mechanics (physics)
Physics
Students
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Summary:In the introductory courses in physics at Loránd Eötvös University (ELTE) students with very different physics knowledge can be found. The core problem appears to be undeveloped thinking skills and deficiency in conceptual understanding. Investigation of conceptual understanding is not simple, however, there are some reliable instruments for it such as the Mechanics Baseline Test which was constructed by Hestenes and Wells. In this paper the results of this test obtained in Hungary (mainly at ELTE) are presented. The test is universal in the sense that it is limited to the concepts that should be addressed in introductory physics at any level from secondary schools to universities. In 2016 at the Faculty of Science of ELTE students enrolled in introductory physics courses were tested. The students' majors were Biology, Earth Sciences, Physics and Physics Teaching. The same test was given as a post test for the students of Physics and Earth Sciences. The results were compared to those of obtained previously in Hungarian secondary schools, at ELTE courses and at the universities in the USA (Arizona State University, Harvard University). It can be stated that at ELTE the test scores of the students of physics major has decreased significantly in the last 20 years. (Maybe it is the consequence of the implementation of Bologna Process due to which the number of the students entering into the University highly increased.) It was also revealed that there are difficult topics in kinematics and dynamics the understanding of which shows serious deficiencies at any level. (For example the dynamics of the curvilinear motion.) Finally on the basis of the results a proposal for the improvement of the instruction strategy is presented.
ISSN:1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/1286/1/012026