Student teachers’ misconceptions about gravity

The aims of this research were to explore misconceptions held by student teachers of physics concerning gravity and to reveal the level of the misconceptions. The subject of the research consisted of 73 Physics Education Department students attending Introductory Physics course in a state university in Indonesia. The instrument used was a set of diagnostic test comprised of selected items from the Indonesian version of the FCI. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The result of the study showed that the student teachers of physics experienced five kinds of misconceptions concerning gravity with the most common misconception (79.45%) was the heavier objects always fall faster. Four other misconceptions were gravity increases as objects fall (47.95%), gravity acts after impetus wears down (21.92%), air pressure-assisted gravity (16.44%), and gravity intrinsic to mass (4.79%). It can be concluded that the student teachers hold firm misconceptions about gravity. The findings of the research are similar to other research findings from other countries. The implication of the research is teachers should concern with students' conceptual understanding in their classrooms. It is suggested to conduct further research to apply conceptual change learning to overcome the misconceptions.