Misconceptions on force and gravity among high school students

The goal of this study is to determine prevalent or dominant misconceptions on force and gravity among high school students. A survey instrument consisting of 12 qualitative questions requiring both answers and written explanations was used to gather students’ ideas and beliefs in situations involving force and gravity. Furthermore, it examined whether the proportion of students having misconceptions per question are correlated with gender and the type of school Physics background. The results show that the respondents have misconceptions that are similar to the misconceptions found in previous research. The number of misconceptions and the proportion of students having misconceptions per question are not correlated with gender. They are, however, correlated with the amount of Physics instruction. Both the number of misconceptions and the proportion of students having misconceptions diminish as the school Physics background progresses from Middle School Science to High School Physical Science, and finally to High School Physics