Physics Education
Physics Education Research (PER) studies have demonstrated that undergraduate students struggle with fundamental principles from Electromagnetism (EM) and Special Relativity (SR). However, few studies have approached the intersection of the…
Uncertainty is an important concept in physics laboratory instruction. However, little work has examined how students reason about uncertainty beyond the introductory (intro) level. In this work we aimed to compare intro and beyond-intro…
Measurement uncertainty is an important topic in the undergraduate laboratory curriculum. Previous research on student thinking about experimental measurement uncertainty has focused primarily on introductory-level students' procedural…
This paper explores using large isomorphic problem banks to overcome many challenges of traditional exams in large STEM classes, especially the threat of content sharing websites and generative AI to the security of exam items. We first…
The Atwood Machine, a classic apparatus in physics education, has historically been pivotal in demonstrating Newtonian mechanics, specifically Newton's Second Law. This study introduces an innovative adaptation, the circular Atwood machine,…
Quantum mechanics is a field often considered very mathematical, abstract, and unintuitive. One way some instructors are hoping to help familiarize their students with these complex topics is to have the students see quantum effects in…
Providing high-quality professional development for teachers with diverse backgrounds and classroom experience is a challenging task. In this work, we investigate the Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) partnership program, which…
Computing has revolutionised the study of complex nonlinear systems, both by allowing us to solve previously intractable models and through the ability to visualise solutions in different ways. Using ubiquitous computing infrastructure, we…
When the education and outreach project of ATLAS, a leading experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, was initiated in 1995, we wanted to share the drama and excitement in the exploration and discovery of new science. The goal was to make…
We report on a study of the effects of laboratory activities that model fictitious laws of physics in a virtual reality environment on (1) students' epistemology about the role of experimental physics in class and in the world; (2)…
After the passage of the US National Quantum Initiative Act in December 2018, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Science and Technology Policy assembled an interagency working group and conducted a workshop titled "Key…
Covariational reasoning--considering how changes in one quantity affect another, related quantity--is a foundation of quantitative modeling in physics. Understanding quantitative models is a learning objective of introductory physics…
In this article, we discuss a novel education approach to control theory in undergraduate engineering programs. In particular, we elaborate on the inclusion of an introductory course on process control during the first years of the program,…
In this article, we present a simple, inexpensive, and effective method for measuring the capacitor charge and discharge processes using a light-emitting diode (LED) and the light meter of a smartphone. We propose a simple circuit in which…
The observation of space seems to have always caused wonder into people's collective consciousness, generating a series of historical myths. More recently specially with the development of better tools alongside the constant refinement of…
In this article we revisit the projectile motion assuming a retarding force proportional to the velocity, $\vec{F_r} = -mk\vec{V}$. We obtain an analytical expression for the set of maxima of the trajectories, in Cartesian coordinates,…
The nascent but rapidly growing field of Quantum Information Science and Technology has led to an increased demand for skilled quantum workers and an opportunity to build a diverse workforce at the outset. In order to meet this demand and…
Generative AI technologies such as large language models show novel potentials to enhance educational research. For example, generative large language models were shown to be capable to solve quantitative reasoning tasks in physics and…
In this era of incessant advancements in quantum computing, bridging the gap between quantum algorithms' hardware requisites and available devices has become crucial. A prime focus in this context is the Software and System Level support…
Group configurations play a pivotal role in shaping social skills and learning outcomes by fostering student interaction and collaboration. Yet, the factors influencing group formation, social cohesion, and group stability remain…