Use of item response curves of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation to compare Japanese and American students’ views on force and motion

Student views of force and motion reflect the personal experiences and physics education of the student. With a different language, culture, and educational system, we expect that Japanese students’ views on force and motion might be different from those of American students. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) is an instrument used to probe student views on force and motion. It was designed using research on American students, and, as such, the items might function differently for Japanese students. Preliminary results from a translated version indicated that Japanese students had similar misconceptions as those of American students. In this study, we used item response curves (IRCs) to make more detailed item-by-item comparisons. IRCs show the functioning of individual items across all levels of performance by plotting the proportion of each response as a function of the total score. Most of the IRCs showed very similar patterns on both correct and incorrect responses; however, a few of the plots indicate differences between the populations. The similar patterns indicate that students tend to interact with FMCE items similarly, despite differences in culture, language, and education. We speculate about the possible causes for the differences in some of the IRCs. This report is intended to show how IRCs can be used as a part of the validation process when making comparisons across languages and nationalities. Differences in IRCs can help to pinpoint artifacts of translation, contextual effects because of differences in culture, and perhaps intrinsic differences in student understanding of Newtonian motion.

Figure 1

IRCs of item 8 of the FMCE American data. A, American students.

Figure 2

Plots of the correct IRC of a single item, using groups for which the item has a different (a) difficulty and (b) discrimination. Red dots and blue dots represent the groups in comparison.

Figure 3e

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Figure 3h

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Figure 3

(a). IRCs for the force sled item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (b). IRCs for the reverse direction item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (c). IRCs of the force graphs item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (d). IRCs of the acceleration graphs item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (e). IRCs of the Newton III item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (f). IRCs of the velocity graphs item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (g). IRCs of the Energy item cluster. A, American students; J, Japanese students. (h). IRCs of unscored items. A, American students; J, Japanese students.

Figure 3f

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Figure 3b

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Figure 4

Proportions of American students (blue) and Japanese students (red).