2015/04/23 by Jonas Persson, Persson, J. R.
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Innovative Teaching Methods #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #Science Education and Pedagogy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1504.06099
openalex publication_date 2015/04/23 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was developed by Hestenes, Wells and Swackhamer, in order to assess student understanding of the concept of force. FCI has been used for over 20 years and in different countries. When applying the inventory in a new context it is important to evaluate the reliability and discrimination power of this assessment tool. In this study the reliability and discrimination power are evaluated in the context of Engineering education at a Norwegian university, using statistical tests, focusing on both item analysis and on the entire test. The results indicate that FCI is a reliable and discriminating tool in most cases. As there are exceptions, statistical tests should always be done when FCI is administered in a new context.