Related papers: Development of a Conceptual Framework for Knowledg…
Under certain conditions usually fulfilled in classical mechanics, the principle of conservation of linear momentum and Newton's third law are equivalent. However, the demonstration of this fact is usually incomplete in textbooks. We shall…
Group work is becoming increasingly common in introductory physics classrooms. Understanding how students engage in these group learning environments is important for designing and facilitating productive learning opportunities for…
Cognition is a core part of and a common topic among philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, AI, and cognitive science. Through a mechanistic lens, I propose a framework of defining, modeling, and analyzing cognition mechanisms.…
We present a critical analysis of the classical approaches to energy subjects, based on the work-energy theorem and the conservation of mechanical energy proposed in the courses of the first years of tertiary education. We show how these…
A priority of physics instruction is to help students make the connection between the formulae they think they are required to memorize and the real world in which they interact every day. If you ask students to describe a situation in real…
In teaching the physical sciences, a significant challenge lies in the student's tendency to consider the scientific world and the "real" world as separate. For example, Newton's 1st Law of Motion states that an object in motion remains in…
The notion of argumentation and the one of belief stand in a problematic relation to one another. On the one hand, argumentation is crucial for belief formation: as the outcome of a process of arguing, an agent might come to (justifiably)…
The concept of electromotive force (emf) may be introduced in various ways in an undergraduate course of theoretical electromagnetism. The multitude of alternate expressions for the emf is often the source of confusion to the student. We…
Most introductory quantum physics instructors would agree that transitioning students from classical to quantum thinking is an important learning goal, but may disagree on whether or how this can be accomplished. Although (and perhaps…
We developed a survey to probe student understanding of quantum mechanics concepts at the beginning of graduate instruction. The survey was administered to 202 graduate students in physics enrolled in first-year quantum mechanics courses…
The concept of "force" is abstract and challenging for many physics students, and many studies have revealed misconceptions that hinder students' understanding and learning in classical physics. One reason for this may be that physics…
When teaching an elementary logic course to students who have a general scientific background but have never been exposed to logic, we have to face the problem that the notions of deduction rule and of derivation are completely new to them,…
A specific form of the inertial law is presented by which we can have some deeper insight into the essence of mass and inertia. In this modified theory, there is no need to keep the concept of absolute space and Newton's third law as…
Computational thinking has been a recent focus of education research within the sciences. However, there is a dearth of scholarly literature on how best to teach and to assess this topic, especially in disciplinary science courses. Physics…
Newtonian gravity can be regarded as a hypothetic-deductive system where the inverse square law is the starting point from which gravitational phenomena are deduced. This operational form of presenting gravity endorses problem solving and…
This paper develops a Reasoning about Actions and Change framework integrated with Default Reasoning, suitable as a Knowledge Representation and Reasoning framework for Story Comprehension. The proposed framework, which is guided strongly…
In the present essay we attempt to reconstruct Newtonian mechanics under the guidance of logical principles and of a constructive approach related to the genetic epistemology of J. Piaget and R. Garc\'ia \citep{piag89}. Instead of…
One of the major difficulties in learning physics is for students to develop a conceptual understanding of the core concepts of physics. Many authors have argued that student conceptions of basic physical phenomena are rooted in basic…
Highly successful students, as measured by grades and by scores on the Force Concept Inventory, still struggle with fundamental concepts in mathematics and physics. These difficulties, which turn physics into parrot learning and include…
Quantum mechanics can seem like a departure from everyday experience of the physical world, but constructivist theories assert that learners build new ideas from their existing ones. To explore how students can navigate this tension, we…