Force and Motion: Virtual Reality as a Study Instrument of Alternative Conceptions in Dynamics

Abstract

Alternative conceptions in dynamics have been subject of research in physics teaching since the early 1980's. Currently, conceived as the fact that a normal student interpreting phenomena of nature according to their prior knowledge, usually titled alternative conceptions, which are not treated as "wrong", though not agree with the accepted scientific explanations. On the one hand, various studies have contributed to these developments, other research has focused on the development of teaching methodologies and tools for study and research to help students and teachers in raising awareness of the existence of these concepts and training of scientific knowledge. In this context, the Virtual Reality (VR) has gained ground and supporters of their use in physics teaching. Considered by many researchers as a powerful tool for studies of complex situations and capable of providing a direct user interaction with learning objects, VR offers many resources to the study of alternative conceptions in dynamics. Relying on this advantage, we developed the software Force & Motion, "which addresses alternative conceptions in dynamics from four simulations: Shot Gun; Salto Moto; Launch Aircraft; Rotational and platforms.