Abstract:
This study was aimed at Newtonian mechanics conceptual understanding of 9th
grade
students, was conducted in the academic year 2009 E.C. with 33 male students and 6 female
students of a total 39 students of Gimbichu Preparatory and Secondary School. These
students were selected by simple random lottery sampling techniques. The research questions
were “what are the levels of conception of students? Does any misconception that specific to
target group? And what possible recommendation can be made?” A case study design
method, which encompasses triangulation of a mixed method approach, was employed on the
study. The instruments of this study were Newtonian Mechanics conceptual test, classroom
activities and interviews for the selected students. Data was gathered by using the
instruments from the sample students. The results of the study revealed that students were not
successful conceptual problem solvers. The conclusion is that students’ conceptions were
incomplete (under-developed), and inconsistent structure of concept understanding in
Newton’s first, second and third laws of motion. It is the indication of students’ conceptual
understanding difficulties. It is also pointed out that the concept understanding ability of
students increased with participation of students in constructing of concepts and applying the
concepts in real situation. The conceptual test reliability and means score and give the values
of 0.991 and 33.87, respectively. The implication is that the teaching and learning approaches
have to focus at enhancing students’ conceptual understanding, which is a major goal of
Newtonian mechanics.
