epistemological and didactic problems

Newton’s laws of motion constitute a coherent system. From a didactic and practical point of view, «Newton’s School » is relatively the most appropriate one, but the conceptual problems it raises are real, particularly those having to do with the inertia and force concepts. It is not only a problem of how to deal with learners ’ misconceptions through the use of various didactic methods and increasingly clever teaching tools. The problem is much deeper. Certain basic concepts deserve to be re-examined. In this paper, we propose a reflection on Newton’s laws of motion and suggest some ways of dealing with the conceptual problems they raise, especially at college level where some deep questions that seemed to have been fully answered in high-school regain a new life. Palabras clave: Newton’s laws of motion, Epistemology, Didactics, Classical Mechanics teaching. Newton’s laws of motion constitute a coherent system. From a didactic and practical point of view, « Newton’s School » is relatively the most appropriate one, but the conceptual problems it raises are real, particularly those having to do with the inertia and force concepts. It is not only a problem of how to deal with learners ’ misconceptions through the use of various didactic methods and increasingly clever teaching tools. The problem is much deeper. Certain basic concepts deserve to be re-examined. In this paper, we propose a reflection on Newton’s laws of motion and suggest some ways of dealing with the conceptual problems they raise, especially at college level where some deep questions that seemed to have been fully answered in high-school regain a new life