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It is often taken for granted that students who are enrolled in a said
Bachelor’s Degree course in a university should have a much better understanding of
the said subject then when they were in school. Studies conducted have shown that
this may not necessarily be the case. They are often unable to apply the concepts
that have been studied in the introductory Physics course to the task of solving
related problems. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of Newtonian
Physics conceptual understanding of university students enrolled in Science
Education courses in order to investigate their preparedness in becoming future
Physics teachers. This survey-based study involved a sample of 200 third-year
B.Sc.Ed students from three universities in Malaysia. Data collected from the Test of
Conceptual Understanding of Newtonian Physics was analyzed descriptively and
inferentially to determine the level of the students’ Newtonian Physics conceptual
understanding. The findings confirmed that generally, undergraduates’ students are
still having problems to conceptually understand physics concepts taught at them.
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