Conceptual Understanding of Newton's Laws Through Interactive Simulations in Indonesian High Schools

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of interactive simulations in developing conceptual understanding of Newton's laws of motion among Indonesian high school students, addressing persistent difficulties students face in comprehending fundamental physics principles. Employing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, the research involved 240 tenth-grade students from six high schools in Jakarta and West Java, with experimental groups using PhET interactive simulations alongside traditional instruction while control groups received conventional teaching only. Data collection included the Force Concept Inventory administered pre- and post-intervention, conceptual diagnostic interviews, observation protocols documenting simulation engagement, and teacher reflective journals. Results demonstrate that students using interactive simulations achieved significantly higher conceptual understanding gains (normalized gain = 0.58) compared to traditional instruction groups (normalized gain = 0.28), with particularly strong improvements in understanding force-motion relationships, identifying action-reaction pairs, and recognizing net force concepts. Analysis reveals that simulations effectively address common misconceptions including impetus beliefs and confusion between velocity and acceleration. However, implementation challenges emerged including technological infrastructure limitations, teacher pedagogical content knowledge gaps, and time management difficulties. This research provides empirical evidence supporting simulation-based physics instruction in Southeast Asian contexts while identifying critical success factors for effective implementation.