An Experimental Investigation of Alternative Ideas of Force in Autistic Adolescents

While research on the understanding of physics concepts in individuals with autism remains scarce, the ever-increasing number of these students in inclusive education nowadays makes their systematic education in all fields of learning necessary. For this purpose, an experimental investigation was conducted to compare 19 autistic adolescents with a matched group of 55 non-autistic adolescents without any identified disability on their alternative ideas. Drawing from constructivist/conceptual change approaches, a computerized instrument was developed to explore participants' alternative ideas on the concept of force. Autistic adolescents seemed to use the same force models as the comparison group, but with a different frequency. Another interesting finding was the significant difference between the autistic adolescents and the comparison group in terms of the consistency on their most frequently used model. The findings from the present study can inform the design of appropriate instructional interventions to support the conceptual understanding of force in autistic students. [Author abstract]