Combining Qualitative Physics Ranking Tasks with Modeling Instruction and its Effects on Students' Conceptual Understanding of Basic Mechanics

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact on students’ conceptual understanding of mechanics by adding ranking tasks into the modeling curriculum. In the past, the investigators noticed that students’ successful completion of physics courses taught with the modeling method did not always increase students’ conceptual understanding of the content or their mathematical problem solving skills. The investigators believed that the addition of a conceptual component into the modeling learning cycle after the paradigm lab and before the introduction of quantitative problems would increase students’ conceptual understanding. This study was conducted over the course of one regular school year. High school students served as the target population, and the sample for this study included 504 introductory physics students from Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, California; Perry High School in Chandler, Arizona; and Greenwood High School in Greenwood, Arkansas. Of the sample population, 327 students in the control group received instruction from the standard modeling mechanics curriculum, and 177 students in the treatment group received both modeling instruction and ranking task collaborative exercises. Both groups were given the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) before and after treatment. Results indicated that the treatment group had statistically higher scores on the FCI compared to the control group. The methods utilized for implementing ranking task exercises and the implications of emphasizing conceptual understanding in physics instruction are discussed in the following sections.