A survey of primary school teachers’ conceptions of force and motion

Summary This article reports the results of a survey designed to provide some quantitative evidence concerning the extent to which misconceptions about force and motion exist among primary school teachers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of its kind carried out in the UK. The survey questionnaire contained statements based on those made by primary teachers about every‐day situations involving forces and motion elicited during an earlier in‐depth interview phase of the research. This questionnaire was administered in person by a member of the research team in schools and at INSET courses, in the autumn term of 1988. Responses were obtained from 159 primary teachers with a variety of different backgrounds, ages and teaching experience. The results showed that nearly all of the respondents held views of force and motion that are not in accord with a Newtonian interpretation. Many of the respondents are best described as ‘naîve impetus believers’, in that their beliefs about motion resembled those of medieval impetus theorists. The frequencies of these kinds of views in the sample are reported, and some of the implications for INSET intended to help primary school teachers’ deliver the National Curriculum are discussed.