20090130

FCI pre-test comparison: Cuesta College versus UC-Davis

Students at both 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.

Cuesta College UC-Davis
Physics 205A Physics 7B
Spring Semester Summer Session II
2009 2002
N 55 students 76 students
low 0 2
mean 10.0 +/- 5.6 9.1 +/- 4.3
high 25 27

A "Student" t-test of the null hypothesis results in p = 0.29, thus there is no significant difference between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI pre-test scores.

Later this semester (Spring 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:

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