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This article discusses a three-year study (2020 - 2022) of dominantmisconceptions (DMs) for a large cohort of first-year physics course studentsat the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. Our study consideredpre-test scores on the Force Concept Inventory using a graphical method, wherewe found statistical differences between the mean DM scores for the 2020cohort, as compared to the 2021 and 2022 cohort; possibly due to the onset ofCOVID lockdowns. We also compared our data from South Africa with cohorts basedin Spain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the method of DMs was alsoapplied. From this comparison, we found some differences in the preconceptionknowledge of the cohorts. Furthermore, we included an analysis of DMs throughthe `gender lens' for the South African cohort, finding no statisticallysignificant difference between the means for DM scores of students who identifyas male or female. Finally, given the diverse language backgrounds and levelsof matriculation preparation for university level physics courses, we have alsoshown how quickly responding to student misconceptions can be efficientlyaddressed using the method of DMs.

A three-year comparative study of dominant misconceptions among first-year physics students at a South African university