1.4 Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT)
[A] Authors
David Hestenes, Malcolm Wells
Physics Department, Arizona State University Department of Physics, P.O. Box 871504, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504, USA
hestenes@asu.edu
[B] Summary and Format
The instrument comprises of 26 questions that were based upon interviews with students about their misconceptions on basic topics in Newtonian mechanics. The test covers concepts in kinematics (linear and curvilinear motion), basic principles (Newtons’ First, Second, and Third Laws, superposition principle, energy conservation, impulse-momentum, and work) and special forces (gravity and friction).
[C] Citation
D. Hestenes, M. Wells
A Mechanics Baseline Test
The Physics Teacher, 30, 159-166, (1992).
[D] How to obtain
The Mechanics Baseline Test is available (as .pdf) from here by selecting on "Research and Evaluation". It is available in various languages. For the password, please e-mail David Koch - FCIMBT@verizon.net. David is a retired physics teacher who kindly volunteered in August 2009 for this service. When you e-mail him, please use your institutional email address, or provide the URL of your institutional homepage so that he can confirm that you are a teacher, rather than a student.
[E] Relevant literature
This link takes you to Google Scholar search for literature associated with this concept inventory.