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.
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September 2011
PAPERS|
September 01 2011
The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory
Nathaniel Lasry;
Nathaniel Lasry
Center for the Study of Learning and Performance,
Concordia University
, Montreal, Canada H3G 2V8 and John Abbott College, Department of Physics, Montreal, Canada H9X 3L9
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Steven Rosenfield;
Steven Rosenfield
Center for the Study of Learning and Performance,
Concordia University
, Montreal, Canada H3G 2V8 and Vanier College
, Department of Physics, Montreal, Canada H4L 3X9
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Helena Dedic;
Helena Dedic
Center for the Study of Learning and Performance,
Concordia University
, Montreal, Canada H3G 2V8 and Vanier College
, Department of Physics, Montreal, Canada H4L 3X9
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Ariel Dahan;
Ariel Dahan
Center for the Study of Learning and Performance,
Concordia University
, Montreal, Canada H3G 2V8 and Faculty of Science, McGill University
, Montreal, Canada H3A 2T6
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Orad Reshef
Orad Reshef
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences,
Harvard University
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
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Am. J. Phys. 79, 909–912 (2011)
Article history
Received:
November 08 2010
Accepted:
May 27 2011
Connected Content
Citation
Nathaniel Lasry, Steven Rosenfield, Helena Dedic, Ariel Dahan, Orad Reshef; The puzzling reliability of the Force Concept Inventory. Am. J. Phys. 1 September 2011; 79 (9): 909–912. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3602073
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