物理教育
In high school physics and physics at university level anti-commutative and non-commutative quantities play an outstanding role at the theoretical description of physical relations. But while using commutative quantities, the basic formal…
Stewart has presented a position-space derivation of the identity for the volume integral of a product of two vector fields noted by Gubarev, Stodolsky, and Zakharov, and applied the results to classical electromagnetic theory. I present a…
I have the rare experience of being on both sides of the mentor--undergraduate student relationship in the same program (Caltech's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, or SURF, program). In this essay, I will discuss how this…
To better understand how student and faculty perceptions of the learning climate in science/mathematics classes influence success and persistence, we followed a cohort of 1425 academically able students who entered CEGEP in the fall of…
Buchanan et al. [Nature 436, p. 475 (2005)] have shown that it is possible to recognize paper samples via their speckle pattern by using a line-shaped laser focus, four photo detectors and a scanning mechanism. In this report recognition of…
In this paper we present an example of a simple study of velocity proportional resistance force. Some experimental determinations are presented.
In our days, the necessity of laboratory apparatus accustoming by building up specific software objects for studying the virtual evolution of physical phenomena is a major request. In this respect, the aim of the present paper is to present…
We present two methods for describing, from a pedagogical point of view, the solutions of Einstein's equations applied to a homogeneous and isotropic universe. In the first method, we define an effective gravitational potential of the…
Most introductory physics textbooks ask students to ignore air resistance but include no analysis of the appropriateness of that approximation. Indeed the approximation is inappropriate in many textbook problems. This short supplementary…
Physics in Films is an alternative version of the physical science course offered to non-science majors at the University of Central Florida. The course uses the popularity of Hollywood films to generate interest in science and to engage…
Writing-to-learn initiatives such as Writing Across the Curriculum or Writing in the Disciplines occupy the center of writing programs nationwide. Nevertheless, research to support the core of the writing-to-learn philosophy--that the…
We present two programs that address needs to better prepare graduate students for their roles as professional physicists, particularly in the areas of teaching and education research. The two programs, Preparing Future Physicists (PFP) and…
Students express a wide range of preferences for learning environments. We are trying to measure the manifestation of learning styles in various learning environments. In particular, we are interested in performance in an environment that…
Physics Education Research (PER) has made significant progress in developing knowledge about teaching and learning as well as effective instructional strategies based on this knowledge. Disseminating knowledge and strategies to other…
Mathematics is an essential element of physics problem solving, but experts often fail to appreciate exactly how they use it. Math may be the language of science, but math-in-physics is a distinct dialect of that language. Physicists tend…
We present a study of student understanding of energy in quantum mechanical tunneling and barrier penetration. This paper will focus on student responses to two questions that were part of a test given in class to two modern physics classes…
We describe a course designed to help future educators build an integrated understanding of the different elements of physics education research (PER), including: research into student learning, content knowledge from the perspective of how…
Experiments on the oscillatory motion of a suspended bar magnet throws light on the damping effects acting on the pendulum. The viscous drag offered by air was found the be the main contributor for slowing the pendulum down. The nature and…
Brief overview of the `Pseudoscience' flavor of the `Physics in Films' project at the University of Central Florida.
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…