Related papers: Introductory physics: The new scholasticism
While speed is an ubiquitous concept in physics, its inverse - known as slowness - sometimes proves more relevant. We discuss some case studies within classical physics where such a notion is fruitful, before exploring how it can be…
Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem solving heuristic that can transform a given problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving it. A major focus while helping introductory physics students learn problem…
A common hope of many physics educators and researchers is that students leave the course with a stronger sense that physics is relevant to them than when they entered the course. Multiple survey measures have attempted to measure shifts in…
Earthquakes rank among the most destructive manifestations of the Earth's dynamics. Can they be predicted? This is often the first question students ask. To answer that right away: no, at present it is not possible to anticipate the date,…
We outline two subjects of relativistic mechanics: (i) the set of allowable world lines, and (ii) the origin of the relativistic law of dynamics governing point particles. We show that: (i) allowable world lines in the classical theory of…
A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas gives the concept of field energy a prominent role in the physical sciences sections of its recommendations for K-12 science education. I examine what…
Recruiting and retaining highly qualified physics and physical science teachers is critical for maintaining America's global competitiveness. Unfortunately, only one third of the high school teachers in physics have a degree in physics and…
Learning to use math in physics involves combining (blending) our everyday experiences and the conceptual ideas of physics with symbolic mathematical representations. Graphs are one of the best ways to learn to build the blend. They are a…
We discuss the circumstances under which gravity might be repulsive rather than attractive. In particular we show why our standard solar system distance scale gravitational intuition need not be a reliable guide to the behavior of…
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…
Teaching about measurements and showing examples of instruments' non-ideal behaviour are important in physics education. Digital multimeter input impedance analysis is perfect for this, since these instruments are easily available, precise…
Our introductory classes in statistics and data science use too much mathematics. The key causal effect which our students want our classes to have is to improve their future performance and opportunities. The more professional their…
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…
A considerable share of the literature on physics education and on education more broadly focuses on the principles which should guide the design of courses and of classroom activities. In this short article I wish to place more attention…
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…
Students are often mystified by the reasoning that leads from the postulates of special relativity to the requirement of covariance. This is partly due to the lack of transparency resulting from the failure to clearly separate the roles the…
In the Special Theory of Relativity space and time intervals are different in different frames of reference. As a consequence, the quantity 'velocity' of classical mechanics splits into different quantities in Special Relativity, coordinate…
Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem solving heuristic that can transform a give problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving it. A major focus while helping introductory physics students learn problem…
The physics of air-water interfaces plays a central role in modern theories of the hydrophobic effect. Implementing these theories, however, has been hampered by the difficulty of addressing fluctuations in the shape of such soft…
The attractive and repulsive linear Hookean form of gravity is known to allow for analytic solutions to N-body systems for arbitrary masses and initial conditions. This linear system is very well suited for use in the advanced undergraduate…