Pre-Service Physics Teachers’ Problem-Solving Skills in Mechanics

Abstract

Problem-solving skills in Physics is a crucial process for teaching the subject. This study aimed to study twenty-two pre-service teachers’ problem-solving skills in the Mechanics topic. All participants enrolled in School Internship I and II during the fifth year of the course. The data was collected through a two-tier test item with essay form (Mechanics Problem- Solving Skills Test). Content analysis in conjunction with frequency and percentage were used to analyze how teachers solved the physics problem in the test. The four assessment criteria set included: naïve, fair, moderate, and excellent. The findings revealed that all teachers held various ability in problem-solving skills in mechanics. Overall, they ranged from naïve to excellent category. Seven of them held less than fifty percent of the score which was categorized into the naïve whereas three of them were in the excellent category. Our findings not only highlight a need for preparing pre-service physics teachers’ problemsolving skills in physics, especially in mechanics concept, but also provide intensive course before they go to school internship in the last year of teacher preparation.