Related papers: Mathematical Tutorials in Introductory Physics
Identifying and understanding student difficulties with physics content in a wide variety of topical areas is an active research area within the PER community. In many cases, physics topics appear multiple times in different contexts across…
Undergraduate physics students are known to have difficulties with understanding mathematical tools, and with applying their knowledge of mathematics to physical contexts. Using survey statements based on student interviews and written…
We conducted research on student difficulties and developed and evaluated a quantum interactive learning tutorial (QuILT) on Larmor precession of spin to help students learn about time-dependence of expectation values in quantum mechanics.…
The parts contributed by the author in recent discussions with several physicists and mathematicians are reviewed, as they have been occasioned by the 2006 book "The Trouble with Physics", of Lee Smolin. Some of the issues addressed are the…
We introduce an original approach to geometric calculus in which we define derivatives and integrals on functions which depend on extended bodies in space--that is, paths, surfaces, and volumes etc. Though this theory remains to be fully…
Introductory calculus-based physics textbooks state that electromagnetic waves are transverse and list many of their properties, but most such textbooks do not bring forth arguments why this is so. Both physical and theoretical arguments…
The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has been widely used to assess student understanding of introductory mechanics concepts by a variety of educators and physics education researchers. One reason for this extensive use is that many of the…
When talking to secondary school students, first impressions are crucial. Accidentally say something that sounds boring and you'll lose them in seconds. A physical demonstration can be an eye-catching way to begin an activity or spark off a…
Formally investigating the sources of students' difficulties around specific subjects is crucial for developing appropriate strategies to help students. We have been studying difficulties in understanding magnetism encountered by students…
A survey was developed to probe student understanding of quantum mechanics at the beginning of graduate instruction. The survey was administered to 202 physics graduate students enrolled in first-year quantum mechanics courses from seven…
Mathematics is a critical part of much scientific research. Physics in particular weaves math extensively into its instruction beginning in high school. Despite much research on the learning of both physics and math, the problem of how to…
This paper is presenting a set of laboratory classes to be taught as a part of a 1-year calculus-based physics class. It is composed out of 7 modules designed to bring together experiments and computer simulations (numerical simulations).…
The development of a workshop using the language, techniques, and processes of visual art to introduce particle physics concepts is described. Innovative delivery methods committed to the interaction and collaboration of different…
There is a substantial curricular overlap between calculus and physics, yet introductory physics students often struggle to connect the two. We introduce a quantity-based framing of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC) to help unify…
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) focus on manifold subjects, ranging from social sciences over languages to technical skills, and use different means to train the respective skills. MOOCs that are teaching programming skills aim to…
Several thoughts are presented on the long ongoing difficulties both students and academics face related to Calculus 101. Some of these thoughts may have a more general interest.
This mini-course gives an introduction to the techniques used in experimental particle physics with an emphasis on the impact of technological advances. The basic detector types and particle accelerator facilities will be briefly covered…
This article is based on lecture notes for the Marie Curie Training school "Initial Training on Numerical Methods for Active Matter". It provides an introductory overview of modeling approaches for active matter and is primarily targeted at…
Symbolic equations are one of the many representations used in physics. Understanding these representations is important for students because they are how students access knowledge in physics. In this paper I build off of the work by Redish…
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…