Unraveling Force and Weight Misconceptions: A Study among Medicine-Enrolled Honors High School Graduates

Abstract

Throughout the years, scientific research has increasingly focused on identifying alternative ideas, or ideas that students have, about fundamental concepts and principles of physics. A significant amount of valuable and essential international bibliographic information has been produced by this process, including details on mechanics, thermodynamics, and other science fields. Specifically, we focus on classical mechanics in the present paper. The primary objectives of this study were to investigate alternative ideas about the concept of force and weight and determine the personal interest of the honours graduate students of the 3rd Lyceum for the Physics course who attend medical school. Moreover, the gender parameter of participants was examined. Two multiple-choice questionnaires were given to students, one for investigating personal interest in Physics, using C.L.A.S.S. and, subsequently, a questionnaire related to the basic concepts of weight and force. Furthermore, we analyzed the percentage of correct and incorrect responses of the participants to determine whether the answers were related to gender or representative of statistical fluctuations. In particular, the statistical analysis of the data collected shows that many honours students of our educational system retain a large percentage of the alternative ideas about the concepts of Physics. Additionally, the misconceptions recorded in the questions did not correlate with parameters such as grades in the Panhellenic exams, gender, and students' interest in the Physics course. Our study's results can be used in science teaching, curricula design, and teachers' professional development.