Mobile-Assisted Experimentation Using the Phyphox Application: Effects on Grade 8 Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Pendulum Motion

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of mobile-assisted experimentation using the Physical Phone Experiments (Phyphox) application in enhancing Grade 8 students’ conceptual understanding of pendulum motion. A quantitative quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was employed involving 90 Grade 8 students assigned to three instructional conditions: traditional instruction, Phyphox-assisted experimentation with teacher assistance, and teacherless Phyphox-assisted experimentation. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 40-item two-tier conceptual understanding test with a Kuder–Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) reliability coefficient of 0.934. Results of the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test revealed significant improvements in conceptual understanding across all groups: traditional instruction (Z = −4.102, p < .001), Phyphox-assisted experimentation with teacher assistance (Z = −4.788, p < .001), and teacherless Phyphox-assisted experimentation (Z = −4.430, p < .001). The Kruskal–Wallis H Test indicated no significant difference among the groups in the pretest scores (χ² = 0.157, p = .925) but revealed a significant difference in the posttest scores (χ² = 5.189, p = .045). Post hoc analysis using the Mann–Whitney U Test showed that the Phyphox-assisted experimentation with teacher assistance group significantly outperformed the traditional instruction group (U = 306.500, Z = −2.134, p = .033). In contrast, no significant differences were observed between the traditional and teacherless Phyphox groups (p = .075) or between the two Phyphox-assisted groups (p = .847). The Phyphox-assisted experimentation with the teacher assistance group obtained the highest posttest mean score (M = 89.90, SD = 3.10). The findings suggest that mobile-assisted experimentation represents a promising instructional approach for enhancing students' conceptual understanding of pendulum motion and that teacher facilitation may contribute to improved learning outcomes. However, the results should be interpreted within the limitations of a quasi-experimental design conducted in a single public secondary school. The study provides empirical support for integrating smartphone sensor-based experimentation into physics instruction, particularly in resource-constrained educational contexts.