The Flight Physics Concept Inventory: Reliably Evaluating Aerodynamic Lift, Drag and Associated (Naïve) Concepts of Flight in Class and In-Game

Abstract

Students often struggle to transfer conceptual understanding from isolated instruction to a coherent mental model. This is especially true for the context of flight physics, fluid dynamics, or the concepts of aerodynamic lift, drag, stall, center of mass, and angle of attack. To elicit naïve concepts and expert models, we have developed a new, automatically scored multiple-choice test on introductory fluid dynamics. The Flight Physics Concept Inventory (FliP-CoIn) was developed for online or paper use as well as for pre-and/or post-evaluation. In its gamified form as a free-to-use Particify™ quiz, FliP-CoIn can also serve as a formative assessment and collaborative team-building event. Distractors are based on naïve student concepts