Physics Education
We report the development of a user-friendly nano-visualization software program which can acquaint high-school students with nanotechnology. The visual introduction to atoms and molecules, which are the building blocks of this technology,…
Students must learn effective problem solving strategies in order to develop expertise in physics. Effective problem solving strategies include a conceptual analysis of the problem followed by planning of the solution, and then…
We describe an undergraduate course where physics students are asked to conceive an outreach project of their own. The course alternates between the project conception and teachings about pedagogy and outreach, and ends in a public show. We…
We treat, as an illustrative example of gravitational time dilation in relativity, the observation that the center of the Earth is younger than the surface by an appreciable amount. Richard Feynman first made this insightful point and…
An earlier investigation found that the performance of advanced students in a quantum mechanics course did not automatically improve from midterm to final exam on identical problems even when they were provided the correct solutions and…
Atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are ubiquitous in research laboratories and have recently been priced for use in teaching laboratories. Here we review several AFM platforms (Dimension 3000 by Digital Instruments, EasyScan2 by Nanosurf,…
Student attitudes and approaches to problem solving can impact how well they learn physics. Prior research in the US using a validated Attitude and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey suggests that there are major differences…
Research suggests that students often have difficulty transferring their learning from one context to another. We examine upper-level undergraduate and graduate students' facility with questions about the interference pattern in the…
A primary goal of physics is to create mathematical models that allow both predictions and explanations of physical phenomena. We weave maths extensively into our physics instruction beginning in high school, and the level and complexity of…
Physical quantities and physical dimensions are among the first concepts encountered by students in their undergraduate career. In this pedagogical review, I will start from these concepts and, using the powerful tool of dimensional…
The study is about a basic shadow experiment, which was enriched with a simulation to understand the reasoning of participants when we use a trick. Two light sources create an umbra and penumbra behind the objects. With this experiment, we…
We describe the difficulties advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with concepts related to addition of angular momentum in quantum mechanics. We also describe the development and implementation of a research-based learning…
We describe the difficulties that advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with quantum measurement within the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. We explore the possible origins of these difficulties by analyzing student…
An experiment to demonstrate the Fourier transform of an electric signal using the Kundt's tube is described. The results of finding the component frequencies and an approximation to the amplitudes of two sinusoidal signals which compose an…
The importance of additive manufacturing (AM) to the future of product design and manufacturing systems demands educational programs tailored to embrace its fundamental principles and its innovative potential. Moreover, the breadth and…
Initiatives to increase the number, persistence, and success of women in physics in the US reach pre-teen girls through senior women. Programs exist at both the local and national levels. In addition, researchers have investigated issues…
We present an original undergraduate level compilation for the physics of electromechanical systems with special attention to power flow. An approach based on energy considerations is presented that is specially suited to compute the…
"Self-diagnosis tasks" aim at fostering diagnostic behavior by explicitly requiring students to present diagnosis as part of the activity of reviewing their problem solutions. The recitation classes in an introductory physics class (~200…
Previously we discussed how well students in an introductory physics course diagnosed their mistakes on a quiz problem with different levels of scaffolding support. In that case, the problem they self-diagnosed was unusually difficult. We…
Understanding instructor attitudes and approaches to teaching quantum mechanics can be helpful in developing research-based learning tools. Here we discuss the findings from a survey in which 13 instructors reflected on issues related to…