A.

Understanding Misconceptions In Physics Subjects

Physics is a science that examines a natural phenomenon along with the symptoms that occur
around it which go through a series of scientific processes and the results are recognized as
scientific products consisting of concepts, principles and theories. Physics is important to be
taught and applied in schools because it provides knowledge to students and makes a forum for
the growth of scientific work skills/skills in order to solve problems that exist in everyday life.

Before studying physics, students come to class not with an empty head. Students' cognitive
structures have been formed as preconceptions about events and understanding about physics
concepts. The result of mixing these concepts results in wrong interpretations. Students'
interpretation of a concept that is different from that of physical scientists is called a
misconception. Misconceptions occur in various scientific fields, one of which is physics. There
are many misconceptions experienced by students in studying physics because a lot of abstract
material makes it difficult for students to understand the correct concept. Currently there are
various studies that focus on research studies on misconceptions which will certainly have a
negative impact on learning. Everyone can experience misconceptions and misconceptions can
also occur at various levels of education.

Misconception is "an understanding of material/concepts that is not in accordance with

scientific understanding or the understanding accepted by experts in that field". These
misconceptions are related to students' level of understanding in capturing different subject
matter. This difference can occur because before participating in the formal learning process at
school/institution, students already have a certain understanding of a material concept that they
have developed through their life experiences.

Physics learning still pays little attention to students' preconceptions, teachers tend to assume
students do not have initial concepts or preconcepts and immediately provide material without
first asking what concepts students know. Misconceptions that occur among students are caused,
among other things, by teachers giving concepts or facts regardless, so that students receive
incomplete concepts or experience confusion. The use of teaching methods by teachers that are
not in accordance with the objectives of the material to be taught causes students to accept
concepts other than those intended. Teachers tend to still use methods that do not involve
students actively, most teachers only use the lecture method and students only listen.
Misconceptions can also occur in the reference books used, these books present incomplete
concepts or use other concepts that students may not be familiar with to explain or define the
concept. Generally books only contain generalizations without paying attention to exceptions so
that teachers experience doubts in explaining the concepts in the book.

Physics materials or concepts at the high school (SMA)/Madrasah Aliyah (MA) level have
varying levels of difficulty, consisting of: easy, medium, and difficult. The diversity of difficulty
levels will certainly give different responses from students, among which will appear the
diversity of students' understanding levels. For example, material that is considered moderate
will get various responses such as easy, moderate, and difficult by some students. This diversity
of difficulty levels of material allows misinterpretation of the material/concept to occur.
Mistakes in interpreting this concept will give rise to misconceptions.

The source of errors in understanding a concept can come from: the student's initial wrong
interpretation, or an error that has occurred to the teacher and is passed on to the student.
Conveying correct information and understanding concepts will also produce correct information
to students. If initially the information received by the teacher is wrong, then the information
received by students will also be wrong. Students will always understand things wrong and be
carried away forever. The formal education process is a long and continuous process.
Misconceptions that stem from students (preconceptions) that are already wrong will continue
and continue. The success of each level of education is influenced by the success of students in
mastering the competencies at the previous level. A good understanding will be used as a good
basis/foundation for the next level.

In general, the steps used to help overcome this problem misconceptions are: 1) finding
misconceptions by students 2) trying to find the causes of student misconceptions 3) looking for
appropriate treatment solutions to overcome them. Several means are provided to resolve
misconceptions that are inappropriate or unsuccessful because educators cannot know the exact
cause of these misconceptions, so the method used is inappropriate.

Some of the characteristics of misconceptions are as follows: (1) cannot be generalized, (2)
built (constructed) on the basis of common sense, (3) is a pragmatic explanation of a reality, (5)
understanding is only shown in the guarantee of successful action (pragmative motive).

B. Physics Concepts That Cause Many Misconceptions Among High School Students In
Class X

From the Physics textbook studied, there are six main topics identified material
misconceptions. The six topics of discussion include measurement, vectors, kinematics of
straight motion, kinematics of circular motion, dynamics of straight motion, and dynamics of
circular motion.

From the identification of misconceptions in the textbook, in addition to finding concepts that
have the potential for misconceptions to occur, five incomplete concepts, one wrong concept,
and one typo in the book were also found. This incomplete concept includes the concept of
standard units, drawings of parts of calipers and screw micrometers, the concept of
multiplication of a vector with a scalar, and the concept of determining the direction of a vector
from its vector components. Basically the concept is correct, it's just that the concept is
incomplete. The wrong concept in the book is the concept of scalar quantities. Errors in this
concept can be identified because the concept is not in accordance with the concept results from
the literature study and consultation with a team of experts (supervisors). While the typo concept
is found in the example of calculating significant figures in root removal and root operations.

The material that has the most misconceptions is the medium category of optics, and the
lowest is dynamic electricity. In the concept of temperature and heat, students experience low
category misconceptions.

There are several types of concepts that can lead to misconceptions about the concepts of
temperature and heat, dynamic electricity, and optics. The type of concept that influences many
misconceptions regarding the concepts of temperature and heat is an abstract concept with
concrete examples and the lowest is a concept that expresses symbols. There are four types of
concepts that influence misconceptions about optical concepts. The type of concept that has a lot
of influence is an abstract concept with concrete examples and the lowest is a concrete concept.
1. concept of temperature and heat
Many high school students experience misconceptions about the indicators of applying the
black principle in heat exchange events.
2. dynamic electricity concept
High school students experience moderate category misconceptions regarding indicators
identifying the characteristics of direct current in daily life
3. optical concept
Many high school students experience misconceptions about indicators describing the nature
of the image in a plane mirror.

Bibliography
Rohman Entin, Eko Hariyon, Nurita Apridiana Lestari. (2022). Analisis Miskonsepsi Peserta Didik Sekolah
Menengah Atas pada materi Fisika. PENDIPA Journal of Science Education , 177-182.

Sari, K. (2018). Miskonsepsi Pembelajaran Fisika pada Konsep Gerak Lurus di SMA Negeri 1 Baitussalam
Aceh Besar. Jurnal Serambi PTK , Volume V, No.2.

Suwarna, I. P. (n.d.). ANALISIS MISKONSEPSI SISWA SMA KELAS X PADA MATA PELAJARAN FISIKA
MELALUI CRI (CERTAINTY OF RESPONSE INDEX) TERMODIFIKASI.