Related papers: Developing Tutorials for Advanced Physics Students…
As part of a larger study to understand instructors' considerations regarding the learning and teaching of problem solving in an introductory physics course, we investigated beliefs of first-year graduate teaching assistants (TAs) regarding…
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…
Over the last four years, we have developed a series of lectures, labs and project assignments aimed at introducing enough technology so that students from a mix of disciplines can design and build innovative interface devices.
Computational physics is a key part of what it means to do physics in the twenty-first century. However, upper division computational physics remains a largely understudied area. We set out to understand the experiences of students in an…
The ability to categorize problems is a measure of expertise in a domain. In order to help students learn effectively, instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) should have pedagogical content knowledge. They must be aware of the prior…
We present two programs that address needs to better prepare graduate students for their roles as professional physicists, particularly in the areas of teaching and education research. The two programs, Preparing Future Physicists (PFP) and…
We discuss parallels between students and teachers in the process of pedagogical reform. Reform aims for students to develop their own process for becoming independent learners, and to gain personal ownership. Likewise teachers can develop…
Students' curiosity often seems nearly nonexistent in a lecture setting; we discuss a variety of possible reasons for this, but it is the instructor who typically poses questions while only a few students, usually the better ones, respond.…
We present three versions of a pendulum lab activity to explore how theoretical commitments, motivations, and aspirations reflect in curriculum design. In earlier work, Boudreaux & Elby (2020) discussed how different theoretical…
We have developed a set of laboratories and hands on activities to accompany a new two-semester interdisciplinary physics course that has been successfully developed and tested in two small test classes of students at the University of…
The use of agile principles and practices in software development is becoming a powerful force in today's workplace. In our quest to develop better products, therefore, it is imperative that we strive to learn and understand the application…
This review presents an overview and analysis of the body of research on special relativity theory (SRT) education at the secondary and lower undergraduate level. There is currently a growing international interest in implementing SRT in…
This workshop aims to demonstrate how the Tracker Video Analysis and Modeling Tool engages, enables and empowers teachers to be learners so that we can be leaders in our teaching practice. Through this workshop, the kinematics of a falling…
This second paper in a multi-part series builds on the first, which introduced the Ways of Thinking for Engineering Design-based Physics (WoT4EDP) framework for STEM education in an introductory undergraduate physics course. Here, we apply…
Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in introductory physics courses at large research universities. Their grading practices can shape students' approaches to problem solving and learning. Physics education research…
This paper draws together nine strategies for creative visualization activities. Teaching visualization often involves running learning activities where students perform tasks that directly support one or more topics that the teacher wishes…
When considering performing an Introductory Physics for Life Sciences course transformation for one's own institution, life science majors' achievement goals are a necessary consideration to ensure the pedagogical transformation will be…
Thermodynamics could be seen as an expression of physics at a high epistemic level. As such, its potential as an inductive bias to help machine learning procedures attain accurate and credible predictions has been recently realized in many…
Correctness is one of the more important criteria of qualitative software. However, it is often taught in isolation and most students consider it only as an afterthought. They also do not receive sufficient feedback on code quality and…
Amid the growth of social media, students increasingly turn to short-form platforms for study support and advice. This study examines how A-level Physics is portrayed by student creators on TikTok, a popular platform amongst students for…