The Assessment Of Student Misconceptions Of Newton’s Laws Of Motion Using Force Concept Inventory Achievement Test Among Undergraduates In Ondo State, Nigeria.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VI, Issue III, March 2021|ISSN 2454-6194

The Assessment Of Student Misconceptions Of Newton’s Laws Of Motion Using Force Concept Inventory Achievement Test Among Undergraduates In Ondo State, Nigeria.

Akinnubi R.T¹, Aramide J.O.¹, Oladun C.E¹,Ipinlaye A.B²,Osuporu B. I¹,and Ikusika A^1
1Department of Physics, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo.
²Department of Mathematics, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo.

Abstract
The study was conducted to determine the assessment of students’ misconception of Newton’s Law of motion using Force Concept Inventory (FCI) achievement test in some selected tertiary institutions in Ondo State. A validated Force Concept Inventory (FCI), (r = 0.97) questionnaire was administered on 450 students in the selected tertiary institutions in the state. The data collected wereanalysed with mean, standard deviation and T-test Statistics at 5% level of significance. The findings revealedthat students like force as a topic despite their little exposure to experiments on Newton’s Third Law.The findings further revealed that there was a significant difference in the mean scores of pre-test and post-test performance in Force Concept Inventory(FCI) based on gender (T-value = 3.94, p<0.05). It was discovered that the male students performed better in force than female students. Also, there was a significant difference in the mean score of pre-test and post-test performance in Force Concept Inventory(FCI) based on school type (T- value = 6.70,p<0.05). It was discovered that private student performed better in the concept of force. This is, therefore, recommendation that there should be current information (data) or an idea on teacher conception of the concept of force and motion.

KEYWORDS: Misconception, Motion, Force, Inventory, Achievement

Introduction
A sufficient background and knowledge in Physics is required for the furtherance and progression of Science and Technology in our society. It is important for Physics students to acquire the appropriate understanding of the different Physics terms (concepts) which they are being taught in schools so as to utilize this education in their daily activities (Omosewo, 2007). Over the last decade, the performance of students in Physics have been unsatisfactory as an analysis of this performance shows a decreasing course(Omoifo, 2012).The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) Chief Examiners’ Reports(WAEC, 2008) showed that students’ shortcoming in Physics were attributed to insufficient knowledge of the fundamental principles, ideas, laws and their suitable applications to explaining and solving Physics problems. These are as a result

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