Developing an Action Concept Inventory

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development of the Action Concept Inventory (ACI), a test designed to assess student understanding of action principles in physics, incorporating iterative feedback from experts and students to improve its effectiveness.

Contribution

It introduces a new assessment tool, the ACI, with a multi-stage development process that integrates expert and student feedback to identify misconceptions in action physics.

Findings

Identified common student misconceptions about action physics.

Developed an iterative process for refining the ACI based on feedback.

Created a tool applicable to introductory mechanics and quantum mechanics concepts.

Abstract

We report on progress towards the development of an Action Concept Inventory (ACI), a test that measures student understanding of action principles in introductory mechanics and optics. The ACI also covers key concepts of many-paths quantum mechanics, from which classical action physics arises. We used a multi-stage iterative development cycle for incorporating expert and student feedback into successive revisions of the ACI. The student feedback, including think-aloud interviews, enabled us to identify their misconceptions about action physics.