• Open Access

Validating the Japanese translation of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation and comparing performance levels of American and Japanese students

Michi Ishimoto, Ronald K. Thornton, and David R. Sokoloff
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 10, 020114 – Published 19 August 2014

Abstract

This study assesses the Japanese translation of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). Researchers are often interested in comparing the conceptual ideas of students with different cultural backgrounds. The FMCE has been useful in identifying the concepts of English-speaking students from different backgrounds. To identify effectively the conceptual ideas of Japanese students and to compare them to those of their English-speaking counterparts, more work is required. Because of differences between the Japanese and English languages, and between the Japanese and American educational systems, it is important to assess the Japanese translation of the FMCE, a conceptual evaluation originally developed in English for American students. To assess its appropriateness, we examined the performance of a large sample of students on the translated version of the FMCE and then compared the results to those of English-speaking students. The data comprise the pretest results of 1095 students, most of whom were first-year students at a midlevel engineering school between 2003 and 2012. Basic statistics and the classical test theory indices of the translated FMCE indicate that its reliability and discrimination are appropriate to assess Japanese students’ concepts about force and motion. In general, the preconcepts of Japanese students assessed with the Japanese translation of the FMCE are quite similar to those of American students assessed with the FMCE, thereby supporting the validity of the translated version. However, our findings do show (1) that only a small percentage of Japanese students grasped Newtonian concepts and (2) that the percentage of Japanese students who used two different concept models together to answer some questions seems to be higher than that of American students.

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  • Received 17 March 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020114

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Michi Ishimoto1, Ronald K. Thornton2, and David R. Sokoloff3

  • 1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, Tosayamada-cho, Kami-shi, Kochi 782-8502, Japan
  • 2Departments of Physics and Education, Center for Science and Mathematics Teaching, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

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Vol. 10, Iss. 2 — July - December 2014

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