FCI pre-test comparison: Cuesta College (SLO/NC campuses) versus UC-Davis

Students at both North County (Paso Robles) and San Luis Obispo campuses of Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA) and the University of California at Davis were administered the Force Concept Inventory (Doug Hestenes, et al.) during the first week of instruction. Physics 205A and Physics 7B are both algebra-based introductory general physics courses covering Newtonian mechanics.

The FCI results of NC and SLO campus students can be compared to each other.

     Cuesta College    Cuesta College    
     Physics 205A      Physics 205A
     Fall Semester     Fall Semester
     2009 NC           2009 SLO
N    17 students*      57 students*
low   4                 2
mean 10.0 +/- 4.8       9.7 +/- 4.4
high 23                27

*Excludes students with negative informed consent forms (*.pdf)

Despite a slightly higher mean score for NC campus students over SLO campus students, a "Student" t-test of the null hypothesis results in p = 0.20, thus there is no significant difference between NC and SLO campuses of Cuesta College.

With both NC and SLO campuses of Cuesta College students pooled together, they can be compared to students at UC-Davis.

     Cuesta College    UC-Davis
     Physics 205A      Physics 7B
     Spring Semester   Summer Session II
     2009              2002
N    74 students*      76 students
low   2                 2
mean 10.1 +/- 4.7       9.0 +/- 4.3
high 27                27

*Excludes students with negative informed consent forms (*.pdf) 

Despite a slightly higher mean score for Cuesta College students over UC-Davis students, a "Student" t-test of the null hypothesis results in p = 0.14, thus there is no significant difference between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI pre-test scores.

Later this semester (Fall 2009), a comparison will be made between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI post-tests, along with their pre- to post-test gains.

D. Hestenes, M. Wells, and G. Swackhamer, Arizona State University, "Force Concept Inventory," Phys. Teach. 30, 141-158 (1992).
Development of the FCI, a 30-question survey of basic Newtonian mechanics concepts.

Previous FCI results:

• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Spring semester 2009 pre-tests and post-tests.
• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Fall semester 2008 pre-tests and post-tests.
• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Spring semester 2008 pre-tests and post-tests.
• Cuesta College versus UC-Davis, Fall semester 2007 pre-tests and post-tests.