Inertia

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37. In what way, if any, do you find students’ preconceptions about inertia help or hinder their physics understanding?
38. In what way, if any, do you explicitly address the non-physics definition of inertia and other physics terms?
39. Do you continue to focus on inertia as you move on to mechanics or do you simply focus on it while covering Newton's First law?  Why or why not?
40. When teaching Newton's laws do you find it best to state them in terms of inertia, acceleration and other physics concepts or do you prefer to word them in "layperson's" terms?  Explain.
41. What interventions do you give your students to help them overcome misconceptions about inertia?
42. How do you relate inertia to real-life situations?
43. What specific activities do you give your students when you discuss inertia?
44. What type of evaluation do you think is best in assessing students' conceptual understanding of inertia?
45. What instructional strategy/strategies do you find the most effective in promoting conceptual change among students in teaching inertia?
46. What classroom activities do you provide your students in order to facilitate the integration of their qualitative knowledge and quantitative knowledge in inertia
47. What are the common difficulties you encounter in teaching inertia?
48. Most students have an Aristotelian view of the world that is quite consistent with their everyday experiences. What can an instructor in a large lecture class do enable students to accommodate their everyday experiences into a Newtonian framework?
49. Friction is commonly introduced as a particular example of an external force.  However, students have been experiencing friction for a long time. If we begin our discussion of forces and inertia with the inclusion of friction at the outset, do you believe that this change in approach can facilitate students' learning?  Why or why not?
50. How is the Aristotelian model of motion that I have seen most students demonstrate, different from the impetus model that is often talked about in literature?
51. How do you go about successfully changing the idea that a constant force is required to maintain constant motion?
52. In looking at constant acceleration in the case of freely falling objects, do you think it is necessary for students to work through thought experiments to understand how it is logical that the  acceleration of an object in free fall is independent of mass, or  does physically demonstrating this provide sufficient understanding? Why or why not?
53. What are the common misconceptions that students have concerning inertia?
54. What is the best method of getting students to differentiate between inertia & weight?
55. Would you use kinetic energy to teach about inertia?  Why or why not?
56. Would you introduce inertia with Newton’s first law?  Why or why not?
57. Would you use circular motion (rotation) to teach about inertia?  Why or why not?
58. Would you introduce inertia with mass? Why or why not?
59. Would you use acceleration to teach about inertia? Why or why not?
60. Is it necessary to talk about inertial reference frames in this level? If so, is there some good examples to give them clear illustration?
61. How do you use with other properties of matter, such as mass or weight to help students understand the concept of inertia?