To what extent do engineering students master and retain an understanding of newtonian mechanics throughout their university life

ABSTRACT: This research is to assess the conceptual understanding of towards learning Physics courses for master and undergraduate students among the first year and final year. The study examined engineering undergraduates (N = 272) and master students (N=10) for one year at EMU for 2012/2013 session. This is a descriptive quantitative research. Data was collected by using one instrument, namely the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). The data collected was analyzed by using three software package programs SPSS version 20.0, TAP version 12.9.23 and Stat disk version 12.0.2. The findings show that the mean scores obtained by the students „master and undergraduates” in FCI was 27.8%. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference between correct answered and “year, age, CGPA, and program”. This means there are no factors affecting on the correct answers of students in EMU. Also the results show that the Mean score for masters students is (M=30.3%), while the Mean score for undergraduate students is (M=26.6%). However, the results indicate that poor conceptual understanding due to misconceptions is detected among students. Keywords: Force Concept Inventory, Correct answer, Language, and Item analysis. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………