Changing students' conceptions of Newton's second law through express-refute-investigate-clarify (ERIC) text

Abstract

The aim of this research was to change students' conceptions of Newton's Second Law (NSL) through Express-Refute-Investigate-Clarify (ERIC) text. Students' alternative conception can be a problem to learn other physics concepts, especially on basic concepts such as acceleration, force and mass on Newton's Second Law. The research method was used mixed methods, with an embedded mixed method as a research design. The participant involved in this research were 31 students (15 boys and 16 girls, their age were 15-16 years old) at one of the senior high schools in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. Data were collected through Multi-representation Of Tier Instrument On Newton's law (MOTION) as much as six questions in the form of a four-tier test. Students' conceptions were analyzed using the rubric. The quantitative data were the percentage of students' conceptions, while the qualitative data were obtained based on conceptual change and students' answers in the ERIC text. From the data analysis, the average percentage of Sound Understanding (SU) was enhanced and Alternative Conception was decreased from pre-test to post-test. It can be concluded that the use of ERIC text can change students' conceptions of Newton's Second Law into a scientific concept. Teachers can use ERIC text to enhance students' conceptual understanding or reduce alternative conceptions, especially on NSL.