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University students taking introductory physics are generally successful executing mathematical procedures in context, but often struggle with the use of mathematical concepts for sense making. Physics instructors note that their students…
One of the objectives of the undergraduate physics curriculum is for students to become aware of the connections between the fundamental principles of classical physics and their personal experience. Nonetheless, numerous studies have shown…
This work is focused on the theory of Gravitoelectromagnetism (GEM). In the first part of this work we present a brief review of gravitoelectromagnetism, we locate and discuss all the problems which appear in this approach. We also try to…
In 1861, Maxwell derived two of his equations of electromagnetism by modelling a magnetic line of force as a `molecular vortex' in a fluid-like medium. Later, in 1980, Berry and colleagues conducted experiments on a `phase vortex', a wave…
It is a commonplace to note that in a world governed by special or general relativity, an observer has access only to data within her past lightcone (if that). The significance of this for prediction, and thus for confirmation, does not…
We describe a study focusing on students' and faculty members' reasoning about problems of differing cognitive complexity related to the double-slit experiment (DSE) with single particles. In the first phase of the study, students in…
We argue that the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron (a_e) can be used to probe new physics. We show that the present bound on new-physics contributions to a_e is 8*10^-13, but the sensitivity can be improved by about an order of…
A long-standing controversy concerning the causes of the magnetic field in and around a parallel-plate capacitor is examined. Three possible sources of contention are noted and detailed. The first is the ambiguous initial impression given…
We discuss student difficulties in distinguishing between the physical space and Hilbert space and difficulties related to the Time-independent Schroedinger equation and measurements in quantum mechanics. These difficulties were identified…
An important goal of graduate physics core courses is to help students develop expertise in problem solving and improve their reasoning and meta-cognitive skills. We explore the conceptual difficulties of physics graduate students by…
In a companion paper, we discuss students' ability to take advantage of what they learn from a solved problem and transfer their learning to solve a quiz problem that has different surface features but the same underlying physics…
This paper outlines a deceptively complex problem in classical mechanics which the paper names the "Falling Astronaut Problem," and it explores a method for teachers to implement this problem in an undergraduate classroom. The paper…
Starting with the most general form of Maxwell's macroscopic equations in which the free charge and free current densities, rho_free and J_free, as well as the densities of polarization and magnetization, P and M, are arbitrary functions of…
Electromagnetic theory is central to physics. An undergraduate major in physics typically takes a semester or a year of electromagnetic theory as a junior or senior, and a graduate student in physics typically takes an additional semester…
Physics faculty consider the photoelectric effect important, but many erroneously believe it is easy for students to understand. We have developed curriculum on this topic including an interactive computer simulation, interactive lectures…
Physics education research has probed for the relevance of physics in students' everyday lives. Attitudinal and epistemological surveys have asked students if they think of or use physics in their daily lives. We have previously documented…
The present technical notes offer a brief summary of the essential points of electromagnetism at the undergraduate physics level. Some problems are presented at the end of each section; those with solutions are marked with an asterisk.
The education system for students in physics suffers (worldwide) from the absence of a deep course in probability and randomness. This is the real problem for students interested in quantum information theory, quantum optics, and quantum…
The Physics First movement - teaching a true physics course to ninth grade students - is gaining popularity in high schools. There are several different rhetorical arguments for and against this movement, and it is quite controversial in…
A clinical study was performed comparing the efficacy of multimedia learning modules with traditional textbooks for the first few topics of a calculus based introductory electricity and magnetism course. Students were randomly assigned to…