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The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory

Title:

The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory

Lasry, Nathaniel, Rosenfield, Steven, Dedic, Helena, Dahan, Ariel and Reshef, Orad (2011) The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory. American Journal of Physics, 79 (9). p. 909. ISSN 00029505

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3602073

Abstract

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has influenced the development of many research-based pedagogies. However, no data exists on the FCI’s internal consistency or test-retest reliability. The FCI was administered twice to one hundred students during the first week of classes in an electricity and magnetism course with no review of mechanics between test administrations. High Kuder–Richardson reliability coefficient values, which estimate the average correlation of scores obtained on all possible halves of the test, suggest strong internal consistency. However, 31% of the responses changed from test to retest, suggesting weak reliability for individual questions. A chi-square analysis shows that change in responses was neither consistent nor completely random. The puzzling conclusion is that although individual FCI responses are not reliable, the FCI total score is highly reliable.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Education
Concordia University > Research Units > Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Lasry, Nathaniel and Rosenfield, Steven and Dedic, Helena and Dahan, Ariel and Reshef, Orad
Journal or Publication:American Journal of Physics
Date:2011
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1119/1.3602073
ID Code:36084
Deposited By: ANDREA MURRAY
Deposited On:21 Nov 2011 19:14
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:36
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