Constructed-Response as an Alternative to Interviews in Conceptual Change Studies: Students’ Explanations of Force

Although interview formats support rich data collection in conceptual change studies, interview formats limit
sample sizes. This study explores the possibility of using constructed-response formats as an alternative or
supplement for collecting similarly rich data across larger pools of subjects in conceptual change studies. While
research in physics education has successfully employed a variety of constructed-response formats to explore
important questions, less research has explored the comparability and interchangeability of the data collected
through constructed-response and interview formats. The current study compares analyses of data collected
using both constructed-response and interview formats across a common pool of subjects. At its core, the current
study explores the degree to which the data sets collected through the constructed-response and interview
formats support similar inferences when coded with the rubrics from a recent series of studies on knowledge
structure coherence. The results suggest that larger samples of students can be analyzed using the constructedresponse
format for this type of study. Future research is recommended to explore minor but significant
differences that were detected in terms of tertiary variables that contribute to the focal outcome variables.