Indonesian Review of Physics (IRiP) Vol. 3, No 1, June 2020, pp. 19-22  
 DOI: 10.12928/irip.v3i1.1944 

 

http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/irip 
19 

 

Analysis of Students' Understanding of Concepts on Momentum and Impulse 
Material Using Research-Based Learning (RBL) Models 

Nanda Safarati*and Rahma 
Department of Physics Education, Universitas Almuslim  
Jl. Almuslim, Bireuen, Aceh, Indonesia 
*Email: nandasafarati@umuslim.ac.id 
 

Article Info ABSTRACT 

Article History 
Received Mar 21, 2020 
Revised May 17, 2020 
Accepted June 18, 2020 

This study aims to analyze students' understanding of concepts in the material of 
momentum and impulses using research-based learning (RBL) models. This type of 
research is quantitative research with a descriptive approach. The population in this 
study were students of class XI of SMA 3 Bireuen, the subjects in this study were 
students of class XI2 of SMA 3 Bireuen as many as 30 students. The results of this 
study indicate that 30 students in class XI2. 53.3% of students in the category 
understood the concept, 20% students in the guessing category and 26.7% students in 
the don't understand the category. This shows students will better understand the 
concepts of momentum and impulses by using research-based learning models. 

Keywords: 
Concept understanding 
Momentum and impulse 
Research-Based Learning 

To cite this article: 
N. Safarati and Rahma, “Analysis of Students’ Understanding of Concepts on Momentum and Impulse Material Using 
Research-Based Learning (RBL) Models,” Indones. Rev. Phys., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 19–22, 2020. 

 
 
I. Introduction 

Education has an important role in a nation and is 
demanded to be relevant to the continued development of 
science and technology so that through education it is 
expected to be able to form people who have the skills to 
survive in the current globalization. According to 
Mudyaharjo [1] education is all learning experiences that 
take place in all environments and throughout life. One of 
the goals of education is to facilitate students to reach an 
understanding that can be expressed verbally, in the form 
of numbers and positive thinking frameworks [2]. 

Learning that requires understanding is learning to 
think at a high level because in it there is a concrete 
thinking process, namely the ability to think spiritually, 
think creatively, solve problems, and make decisions. 
According to Alatas [3], understanding is the result of 
teaching and learning that has indicators and each 
individual can explain or define a piece of information in 
his own words. 

According to Deviyanti [4], physics learning aims 
so that students can understand scientific products 
(concepts, laws, principles, theories) based on scientific 
processes, so physics learning must actively involve 
students to interact in the learning process, physically or 
mentally and not just doing activities hand-on but also 
mind-on. The statement above is in line with the opinion 
[5], the most appropriate initial step to study physics is to 
understand the concept first. These concepts are arranged 
systematically, so that mastery of concepts is needed in 
each material. 

Mastery of concepts is a basic ability that must be 
possessed by students to be able to understand concepts 
in accordance with the understanding of scientists [6]. 
This is reinforced by [7] which states that the purpose of 

learning is that students have good conceptual abilities so 
that students can develop the knowledge that students 
have previously had. BSPN [8] also states that mastery of 
good and correct concepts can improve students' 
intellectual abilities in solving problems related to natural 
phenomena. 

Based on the results of research conducted by 
researchers at SMA Negeri 3 Bireuen, teachers in the 
learning process still use conventional methods and are 
teacher-centered. Also Besides, the demands of the 
institution and curriculum that requires the completeness 
of several some materials taught, so that the results take 
precedence over the learning process itself. The teacher 
tends to explain the material, give examples of questions 
and give practice questions that must be done by students, 
so students have accidentally been given an 
understanding that physics is a subject that deals only 
with numbers and calculations mathematically without 
explaining related concepts with material first. 

As a result of the learning process carried out, 
students become passive and assume physics is a very 
frightening subject with a variety of formulas and 
numbers, so students do not understand the concepts of 
physics material they learn. Also besides, students are not 
able to connect between the material learned with a 
variety of knowledge and use in everyday life.  

One of the materials students must master is 
momentum and impulses. Momentum and impulses are 
quantities related to the velocity and mass of an object, 
referring to the quantity of motion of an object and the 
mass of an object. The definition of momentum and 
impulse itself is interpreted as a quantity obtained from 
the multiplication between the magnitude of the velocity 
vector and the scalar mass of an object. 



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http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/irip p-ISSN: 2621-3761 
e-ISSN: 2621-2889 

 

Based on these problems, RBL is a learning model 
that helps students to learn effectively to find meaningful 

physics concepts. Trinasih [9] states that research-based 
learning provides opportunities for students to develop 
contextual concepts that emphasize the real situation with 
the stages that must be passed by discovering new things 
from the process of conducting research. The RBL 
learning model trains students to think critically and carry 
out research activities (conducting traces, hypotheses, 
collecting data, processing data and drawing 
conclusions). 

 

II. Theory 
Concept Understanding 

Understanding concepts is a very important aspect 
and must be applied in learning because with the 
understanding of student concepts, the ability of students 
to understand learning material becomes faster and more 
developed. According to [10], understanding is how 
someone distinguishes, suspects, expands, concludes, 
gives examples, rewrites, and estimates. Rusman [11] 
states that understanding is the process of individuals 
who receive and understand information obtained from 
learning obtained through attention. 

According to Soedjadi [12], concepts are abstract 
ideas that can be used to classify or clarify a group of 
objects. Students who master the concepts can identify 
and treat new questions that are more varied. Also 
besides, if the child understands a concept, then students 
can generalize an object in various other situations that 
are not used in learning situations [13]. Gusniawati [14] 
states that understanding concepts is an ability to find 
abstract ideas to classify objects that are usually 
expressed in terms and then poured into examples and not 
examples so that someone can understand a concept 
clearly. 

Based on the opinion above, it can be concluded that 
understanding the concept is the process by which 
students discover, master and understand information 
obtained through thinking and acting in understanding 
each concept of an object. 

 

Research-Based Learning (RBL)  
The research-based learning model (RBL) is one of 

the new learning models that allow students to learn to 
build knowledge from research steps such as having to 
search for information, formulate hypotheses, collect 
data, analyze, make conclusions and prepare reports [15]. 
Research-based learning (RBL) is learning that builds 
student understanding, learning by developing prior 
knowledge, learning which is a process of social 
interaction and meaningful learning achieved through real 
experience. The learning process with this model requires 
students to be able to find, explore to face the problems 
faced, then test the truth of that knowledge [16]. 

The stages of the research-based learning (RBL) 
model according to [17] can be seen in Table 1. 

Table 1. Sintax of the research-based learning model 
No Phase Activity 
1 Formulating a general 

Question 
Provide a formula in the 
form of a topic or a 
problem in the form of a 
question 

2 Overview of research-
literature 

Examining reference 
material from various 
literatures 

3 Defining the question Define question or 
formulate a hypothesis 

4 Planning  
research  activities, 
clarifying methods/ 
methodologies 

Explain, research 
methods /methodology 

5 Undertaking 
investigation, analyzing 
data  

Investigate by taking 
data through observation 
to school and to analyze 

6 Interpretation  and  
consideration of results  

Analysis of the data 
obtained is interpreted 
and considered through 
group discussion. 

7 Report and presentation 
of results 

Write it in report and 
presenting 

 

III. Methodology 
This research uses quantitative research with a 

descriptive approach. Quantitative research methods are 
research methods that are based on the philosophy of 
positivism, used to examine a population or specific 
sample, collecting data using research instruments, 
analyzing quantitative/statistical data to test established 
hypotheses. Descriptive research is research conducted to 
determine the value of independent variables, either one 
or more variables (independent) without making 
comparisons or connecting with other variables [18]. So 
quantitative research with descriptive approach is 
research obtained from the results of population and 
sample analysis with the statistical method that you want 
to use. With the steps of formulating questions in the 
form of questions, studying literature, formulating 
hypotheses, conducting research methodologies, 
observing, analyzing and making reports.  

According to [18], the population as a generalization 
area consisting of objects/subjects that have qualitative 
and certain characteristics determined by researchers to 
be studied and then drawn conclusions. The population in 
this study were all students of class XI IPA of Bireuen 
Public High School 3. Samples are part of that population 
[18]. The sample in this study were students of class XI 
IPA2 consisting of 30 students. 

The research instrument used was a physics concept 
understanding test instrument in the form of a multiple-
choice test consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions.  
The reason for using multiple choice tests is because they 

are objective tests, and facilitate assessment. Material 
momentum and impulses to be tested that include the 
concept of momentum, impulse, conservation of 
momentum, and system momentum. 

The percentage category of students' understanding 
level can be seen in Table 2. 



N. Safarati, et al. / Indonesian Review of Physics 3(1), 2020,  19-22 21 
 

http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/irip p-ISSN: 2621-3761 
e-ISSN: 2621-2889 

 

 
Table 2. Percentage of Shiva's Understanding Level [19] 

No  Percentage  Category 
1 %30  Low 
2 %6030  x  Medium  
3 61-100% High 

 
Criteria for understanding students' concepts can be 

seen in Table 3. 
 

Table 3. Student Answer Criteria [19] 
No  Question  Answer Category 

1 
Multiple 
Choice 

Right 
Understand 
the concept 

2 
Multiple 
Choice 

Right To guess 

3 
Multiple 
Choice 

Right 
Don't 

understand 
the concept 

 

IV. Results and Discussion 
The results of data analysis that have been carried 

out at SMAN 3 Bireuen, on the material of momentum 
and impulse using research-based learning (RBL) 
learning models can be seen in Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Percentage of students' understanding of concepts 

 
Based on the results of data analysis shows that the 

understanding of students' concepts in the material of 
momentum and impulses using research-based learning 
(RBL) is in the medium category. From 30 students, the 
percentage of students understanding the concept 
category was 53.3%, the percentage of students guessing 
the category was 20% and the percentage of students in 
the category, not understanding was 26.7%.  

Understanding the concept of sub-matter in the 
matter of momentum and impulse can be seen in Figure 
2. 

 

 Figure 2. Percentage of students' understanding of the concept of Peru material 

 
Based on the results of data analysis on students' 

understanding of the concept of sub-material, it can be 
seen that the submission of conservation of momentum is 
the most widely understood concept by students, with a 
percentage of 60%, while for understanding the concept 
the least amount is contained in impulse material with a 
percentage of 10% With a total of 10 multiple choice 
questions.  

The most guessed category is found in the 
momentum submitter with a percentage of 30% while the 
least guessed category is found in the momentum 
submitter with a percentage of 16.7%. 

The category of not understanding the concept is 
mostly found in impulse submersion with a percentage of 
66.7% while the category of not understanding the 
concept is the least in the submission of conservation of 
momentum with a percentage of 10%. 

 

V. Conclusion 
The conclusion of this study is based on the analysis 

of research data, namely the understanding of students' 
concepts becomes more visible when researchers use the 
RBL learning model. This can be seen from the 
percentage of the results of data analysis which shows 
that of the 30 students in class XI2, the percentage of 
students understanding the concept category was 53.3%, 
the percentage of students guessing the category was 20% 
and the percentage of students in the category, not 
understanding was 26.7%. This shows students will better 
understand the concept of momentum and impulse by 
using research-based learning (RBL) learning models. 

 
 

Reference 



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e-ISSN: 2621-2889 

 

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