Adoption of Inertial Frame of Reference in Newton’s Laws: Investigation of Learning Difficulties and Textbooks

• Main Author: 洪士達
• Other Authors: 張慧貞
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6hspjm

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 物理學系 === 103 === The purposes of this research are to investigate how well high school students understand “inertial frame,” and the ability to solve the problems of Newton’s Laws of motion, along with examination of six high school and seven English version University Physics textbooks. The participants of this research were from three high schools, including one prestigious school. This study included student’s diagnosis interviews, a written test, and content analysis of the 13 textbooks. Data analysis included qualitative coding and interpretations of the students’ interviews and their answers in the open-form written tests, as well as quantitative analysis of the correctness of the written exam. The one tail t-test was adopted to examine the significance between the performances of students of different levels’. The results revealed that, 1) the students were unfamiliar with what inertial frame is and what the tool is for; 2) they were not acquainted with applying inertial frame to solve Newtonian mechanics problems; 3) the unfamiliarity with inertial frame and commitments to several misconceptions may have impeded the students’ solution of problems of Newton’s Laws; 4) the quality of physics textbooks appears to be marginal in terms of thoroughness and correctness. Furthermore, the textbooks commonly lack related examples. Students’ learning difficulties may be influenced by misconceptions that are coherent with the claim of CCM. However, based on the notions of social constructivism, inertial frame is an invented scientific tool. Students cannot construct the (scientific) conception of inertial frame simply by observation and reasoning themselves. Therefore, teacher’s role is crucial for introducing, and elaborating the socialized scientific conceptions, along with the providence of sufficient examples for students to practice. Last, it is suggested that textbooks should greatly enhance the thoroughness and correctness regarding the details of scientific tools and terminologies.