Physics Education
The AstroCamp is an academic excellence program in the field of astronomy and physics for students in the last 3 years of pre-university education, which often includes a course (or a significant part thereof) on Relativity. After an…
Student learning in upper division thermal physics has not been studied to the same extent as in other courses like electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. Studies addressing reasoning and learning at the graduate level are even more…
In this work, the teaching content of a theoretical-chemistry (TC) course is reformed, establishing a theoretical contents from micro- to macro-system, and comprehensively introducing the theory of chemical reaction to undergraduate…
The current conventional approach in teaching STEM seems inadequate; it is failing both the students and the work-force demands in several aspects. Perhaps it is succeeding in equipping students with information and facts but surely falls…
Koehler transillumination is a powerful imaging method, yet commercial Koehler condensers are difficult to integrate into tabletop systems and make learning the concepts of Koehler illumination difficult. We propose a simple 4f Koehler…
This article proposes and discusses qualitatively the use of a didactic board game in Science Education for high school students. The game contemplates in an interdisciplinary way the areas of Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Astronomy and…
In this paper, we present a physical modeling activity whose objective is to allow students to determine the differences between a disk and a sphere using pure scientific criteria. Thereunto, we reproduce the Sun-Earth-Moon system with…
Sound educational policy recommendations require valid estimates of causal effects, but observational studies in physics education research sometimes have loosely specified causal hypotheses. The connections between the observational data…
This study uses social network analysis and the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) to characterize six research-based introductory physics curricula. Peer Instruction, Modeling Instruction, ISLE, SCALE-UP,…
The number and use of research-based assessments (RBAs) has grown significantly over the last several decades. Data from RBAs can be compared against national datasets to provide instructors with empirical evidence on the efficacy of their…
This addendum shows that a demographic grade gap is best understood using a course deficit model rather than the more common student deficit model. Students from a concepts-first class took the same final exam as the three other classes…
Measurement uncertainty and experimental error are important concepts taught in undergraduate physics laboratories. Although student ideas about error and uncertainty in introductory classical mechanics lab experiments have been studied…
We present an engaging levitation experiment that students can perform at home or in a simple laboratory using everyday objects. A cork, modified to be slightly denser than water, is placed in a jug containing tap water and coarse kitchen…
Collaboration among students is fundamental for knowledge building and competency development. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of student collaboration depends on the extent that these interactions take place under conditions that favor…
An analysis of 1,955 physics graduate students from 19 PhD programs shows that undergraduate grade point average predicts graduate grades and PhD completion more effectively than GRE scores. Students' undergraduate GPA (UGPA) and GRE…
We present a simple experiment that allows us to demonstrate graphically that the intensity of sound waves is proportional to the square of their amplitude, a result that is theoretically analysed in any introductory wave course but rarely…
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has greatly impacted all forms of social activities globally, including traditional classroom activities across all levels of instruction (kindergarten to universities). While many countries have…
In this paper, the use of cost-effective, custom home experiment kits for remote teaching of first-semester introductory physics labs is described. The kit experiments were designed to match the existing onsite lab experiment learning goals…
The ground-breaking image of a black hole's event horizon, which captured the public's attention and imagination in April 2019, was captured using the power of interferometry: many separate telescopes working together to observe the cosmos…
Quantum information science and technology (QIST) has progressed significantly in the last decade, such that it is no longer solely in the domain of research labs, but is now beginning to be developed for, and applied in, industrial…