Ghanaian students' ideas about force and friction

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the misconceptions Ghanaian Secondary School students have about force and friction. The questionnaire was administered to 90 science and 60 non-science students. The respondents were stratified samples from the first, second and third year students of Mfantsipim Secondary School in the Central Region of Ghana. Graphical analyses of the correct scores were used to identify the existence of and the extent to which the alternate ideas persist anwng the students. The study revealed that students believe (i) that force implied motion and vice versa, (Ii) that continuous motion of a body without an extemal force is due to the fact that force can be transferred, (iii) that friction is force which always opposes motion. They could, however, not conceive how friction could promote any type of motion (e.g. rotation). These misconceptions were found persisting among all the students, irrespective or age, class or programme of study. The paper makes recommendations for management of teaching and review of textual materials for students development of new teaching strategies and future research.