Education research: FCI concerns and protocols

Charles Henderson at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI addresses and lays to rest three common concerns regarding the Force Concept Inventory (Doug Hestenes et al., 1992) in a large population study published in 2002 (N = 1,856 students):

1. The FCI is not appropriate for use as a placement test [this supports the recommendations of Hestenes et al.].
   
2. There is little difference between FCI scores when the test is given graded versus ungraded.
   
3. Giving the FCI as a pre-test does not affect the post-test results.

Following Henderson's (2002) guidelines, the FCI is not used as a placement test for Physics 8A at Cuesta College, nor is it graded for credit. However, Physics 8A students who take the FCI in a serious and conscientious manner do receive credit towards their total quiz grade (it is counted as a "perfect quiz score" regardless of their actual pre- and/or post-instruction performance, which can then be used to replace their lowest quiz score).

Also, as Henderson (2002) finds that pre-instruction familiarity with the FCI does not affect post-instruction FCI scores, Cuesta College FCI pre-instruction scores and post-instruction scores are respectively pooled for each class as a whole, even though some students (typically late adds) did not take the FCI in the first week of instruction, and many students (due to drops) did not take the FCI in the last week of instruction.

C. Henderson, "Common Concerns About the Force Concept Inventory," Phys. Teach. 40, 542 (2002).

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.