Physics Education
How students use mathematics in their physics classes has been studied extensively in the physics education literature. In addition to specific mathematical methods in specific physics contexts, possible effects of more general "cultural"…
Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) bring the excitement of research into the classroom to improve learning and the sense of belonging in the field. They can reach more students, earlier in their studies, than typical…
Interactive notebooks are a precious tool for creating graphical user interfaces and teaching materials. Python and Jupyter are becoming increasingly popular in this context, with Jupyter widgets at the core of the interactive…
This paper examines the integration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) into education, emphasizing the inclusion of the Arts to foster creativity alongside traditional STEM skills. STEAM encourages…
The Poisson spot is a fascinating lecture demonstration. Its simple explanation can lead to further questions, not only the one posed in the title, but also questions such as why the simple model that considers only light passing just…
Astronomical images can be fascinating to the general public, but the interaction is typically limited to contemplation. Numerical simulations of astronomical systems do permit a closer interaction, but are generally unknown outside the…
Studying the factors that influence the quality of physics PhD students' doctoral experiences, especially those that motivate them to stay or leave their programs, is critical for providing them with more holistic and equitable support.…
This work presents a simple alternative technique to observe the polarization of the skylight on Earth. Using a birefringent material and a polarizer to look at the polarized light from the blue sky, it is possible to see a colored pattern…
An accelerating elevator changes the apparent weight of any object inside it from the original weight, as measured inside the elevator, because the acceleration causes an inertial force on it. For any object in a running elevator, the…
Group Theory has become an invaluable tool in the physics community. Despite numerous introductory books, the subject remains challenging for beginners. Mathematica has emerged as a popular tool for research and education, offering various…
Quantum information science and engineering (QISE) is a rapidly developing field that leverages the skills of experts from many disciplines to utilize the potential of quantum systems in a variety of applications. It requires talent from a…
Since Galileo and (more recently) D'Arcy Thompson, it has been understood that physical processes and constraints influence biological structures and their resulting functions. However these cross-discpline connections -- and their…
Asteroid search is a global effort for planetary defense. The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) is the leading global educational outreach program that provides high-quality astronomical datasets to citizen scientists…
The most common way to find gravitational acceleration, g, in a laboratory is to use a simple pendulum and a clock. Alternately, g can be calculated by measuring time and distance for a free fall. Since the time of free fall in a laboratory…
The Special Theory of Relativity, introduced by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century, marked a radical shift in our understanding of space and time. Nevertheless, the theory's non-intuitive implications continue to pose conceptual…
Physics graduate studies are substantial efforts on the part of individual students, departments, and institutions of higher education. Understanding the factors that lead to student success and attrition is crucial for improving these…
This chapter narrates the journey of developing and integrating computing into the physics curriculum through three consecutive courses, each tailored to the learners' level. It starts with the entry-level "Physics Playground in Python" for…
Physics has a reputation among majority of life sciences students for being very complicated and tough. If we leave students with this impression, it is likely that students see physics class as useless and irrelevant to life sciences.…
On April 15-19, 2024, as a part of the eighth African School of Physics, ASP2024, we organized a program for learners from selected high schools in the vicinity of Marrakesh, Morocco. In this event, within a week, we reached out to over a…
In this paper, we take a vibration-damping devices in the well-known physical experimental instrument--scanning tunneling microscope as the study base, and with the help of GeoGebra software, we explain in detail the principle of damping…