物理教育
Studies of scientists building models show that the development of scientific models involves a great deal of subjectivity. However, science as experienced in school settings typically emphasizes an overly objective and rationalistic view.…
The surface gravity on Mars is smaller than the surface gravity on Earth, resulting in longer falling times. This effect can be simulated on Earth by taking advantage of air resistance and buoyancy, which cause low density objects to fall…
We describe the development and implementation of research-based learning tools such as the Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorials (QuILTs) and peer instruction tools to reduce students' common difficulties with issues related to…
Quantum information science and technology is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field drawing researchers from science and engineering fields. Traditional instruction in quantum mechanics is insufficient to prepare students for research…
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…
We analyze the problem solving strategies of physics professors in a case where their physical intuition fails. A non-intuitive introductory-level problem was identified and posed to twenty physics professors. The problem placed the…
Investigations related to expertise in problem solving and ability to transfer learning from one context to another are important for developing strategies to help students perform more expert-like tasks. Here we analyze written responses…
We investigate student understanding of energy and momentum concepts at the level of introductory physics by designing and administering a 25-item multiple choice test and conducting individual interviews. We find that most students have…
I believe that most teachers develop a belief in a set of pedagogical practices. As we teach, we try different ways to teach topics and then judge how successful the methods were. After several years, we have a compilation of techniques in…
Learning physics requires understanding the applicability of fundamental principles in a variety of contexts that share deep features. One way to help students learn physics is via analogical reasoning. Students can be taught to make an…
In order to study graduate teaching assistants (TAs) beliefs and values about the design of instructor problem solutions, twenty-four TAs were provided with different solutions and asked to discuss their preferences for prominent solution…
Individual interviews are often considered to be the gold standard for researchers to understand how people think about phenomena. However, conducting and analyzing interviews is very time consuming. This paper presents the Group…
Prior research suggests that many students believe that the magnitude of the static frictional force is always equal to its maximum value. Here, we examine introductory students' ability to learn from analogical reasoning (with different…
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…
Identifying the relevant physics principles is a central component of problem solving. A major goal of most introductory physics courses is to help students discern the deep similarities between problems based upon the physics principles so…
The Stern Gerlach experiment has played a central role in the discovery of spin angular momentum and it has also played a pivotal role in elucidating foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Here, we discuss investigation of students'…
We discuss the development and evaluation of five research-based tutorials on Coulomb's law, superposition, symmetry and Gauss's Law to help students in the calculus-based introductory physics courses learn these concepts. We discuss the…
The Stern-Gerlach experiment has played a central role in the discovery of spin angular momentum. It can also play a pivotal role in teaching the formalism of quantum mechanics using a concrete example involving a finite-dimensional Hilbert…
Acceleration is a fundamental concept in physics which is taught in mechanics at all levels. Here, we discuss some challenges in teaching this concept effectively when the path along which the object is moving has a curvature and…
One finding of cognitive research is that people do not automatically acquire usable knowledge by spending lots of time on task. Because students' knowledge hierarchy is more fragmented, "knowledge chunks" are smaller than those of experts.…