Farha Mohamed Yasin, Fatin Aliah Phang, Jaysuman Pusppanathan
Physics education continues to face challenges in helping students connect abstract concepts to real‑world technological applications. Drones are increasingly used in STEM activities, yet their integration into formal physics instruction remains fragmented, competition‑oriented and rarely aligned with national curriculum standards. Crucially, no validated content specification currently exists that systematically describes the physics underlying drone technology in ways that map onto the Malaysian KSSM Form 4 and Form 5 Physics syllabus. This study addresses that gap by developing and validating the Drone Physics Body of Knowledge (BOK‑PhyDrone), a curriculum‑aligned content document that specifies and organizes the core physics ideas related to drones. The focus is on conceptual structure rather than hardware implementation, so that the document can support instruction using physical drones, computer simulations or other low‑cost representations. Adopting a Design and Development Research (DDR) approach, the study was conducted in three phases: (1) a needs analysis with 106 secondary school physics teachers, using a questionnaire grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model to examine perceived usefulness, ease of use and intention to use drone contexts; (2) design and development of BOK‑PhyDrone through semi‑structured interviews with three teachers and a Fuzzy Delphi Method study with 13 experts to reach consensus on physics concepts, drone components and constructivist teaching approaches; and (3) usability evaluation with 10 expert teachers and interviews with five practicing teachers to assess clarity, relevance and practicality. Findings indicate strong teacher support for the drone context to bridge theory and practice, alongside limited capacity to independently design drone‑related physics content. The validated BOK‑PhyDrone provides a structured, syllabus‑mapped content reference that can guide teachers and curriculum developers in designing meaningful learning experiences, ensuring that students grasp the fundamental physics of drones even when learning occurs primarily through simulations. © The Author(s) 2026.
Faculty of Educational Sciences and Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia; Centre for Engineering Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia; Sports Innovation and Technology Centre (SITC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia; Department of cience Education, State University of Malang, Jl. Cakrawala No.5, Sumbersari, Kec. Lowokwaru, Kota Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Institute of Human Centered Engineering (iHumEn), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia
