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This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics course enrollment and performance outcomes.

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics course enrollment and performance outcomes.

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics course enrollment and performance outcomes.

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics course enrollment and performance outcomes.

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics course enrollment and performance outcomes.

Model of active and collaborative learning applied in training specific subject makes clear advantage due to the goals of knowledge, enhanced activeness, skills that students got to develop successful future job. Studying and applying the model to build a learning environment in the Introductory Physics course with the support of ICT, especially social network and eLearning system of HNUE.

We report several simulation programs which can be used to teach the statistical foundation of thermal physics in the introductory college physics courses. These programs are simple applications of a technique of generating random configurations of many dice with fixed total value. By simulating dice throwing only we can demonstrate all the important principles of classical thermodynamics.

We report several simulation programs which can be used to teach the statistical foundation of thermal physics in the introductory college physics courses. These programs are simple applications of a technique of generating random configurations of many dice with fixed total value. By simulating dice throwing only we can demonstrate all the important principles of classical thermodynamics.

We report several simulation programs which can be used to teach the statistical foundation of thermal physics in the introductory college physics courses. These programs are simple applications of a technique of generating random configurations of many dice with fixed total value. By simulating dice throwing only we can demonstrate all the important principles of classical thermodynamics.

This paper presents some of the preliminary results of Project COEXIST at Dartmouth College, an NSF sponsored project to investigate ways to use computers in introductory physics and mathematics teaching. Students use the computer in a number of ways on homework, on individual projects, and in the laboratory. Students write their own programs, whenever possible. On occasion, it is more useful to have the student programs written and saved by the teacher. Five areas of work are described: (1) illustrations from a broad range of study areas are introduced to show the versatility of computer-connected graphic display devices such as X-Y plotters and cathode ray terminals; (2) a simple, intuitive approach to the propagation of waves in dispersive media is shown; (3) a program is described which can be used to calculate a large number of interference and diffractive patterns; (4) general methods are given to find a map field patterns for general distribution of charges and current loops; and (5) solutions are found to some simple Schrodinger equations using a computer program. (Author/TS)

This paper presents some of the preliminary results of Project COEXIST at Dartmouth College, an NSF sponsored project to investigate ways to use computers in introductory physics and mathematics teaching. Students use the computer in a number of ways on homework, on individual projects, and in the laboratory. Students write their own programs, whenever possible. On occasion, it is more useful to have the student programs written and saved by the teacher. Five areas of work are described: (1) illustrations from a broad range of study areas are introduced to show the versatility of computer-connected graphic display devices such as X-Y plotters and cathode ray terminals; (2) a simple, intuitive approach to the propagation of waves in dispersive media is shown; (3) a program is described which can be used to calculate a large number of interference and diffractive patterns; (4) general methods are given to find a map field patterns for general distribution of charges and current loops; and (5) solutions are found to some simple Schrodinger equations using a computer program. (Author/TS)

This paper presents some of the preliminary results of Project COEXIST at Dartmouth College, an NSF sponsored project to investigate ways to use computers in introductory physics and mathematics teaching. Students use the computer in a number of ways on homework, on individual projects, and in the laboratory. Students write their own programs, whenever possible. On occasion, it is more useful to have the student programs written and saved by the teacher. Five areas of work are described: (1) illustrations from a broad range of study areas are introduced to show the versatility of computer-connected graphic display devices such as X-Y plotters and cathode ray terminals; (2) a simple, intuitive approach to the propagation of waves in dispersive media is shown; (3) a program is described which can be used to calculate a large number of interference and diffractive patterns; (4) general methods are given to find a map field patterns for general distribution of charges and current loops; and (5) solutions are found to some simple Schrodinger equations using a computer program. (Author/TS)

Includes bibliographies

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on self-reported engagement outcomes.

Modern physics is largely defined by fundamental symmetry principles and Noether's Theorem. Yet these are not taught, or rarely mentioned, to beginning students, thus missing an opportunity to reveal that the subject of physics is as lively and contemporary as molecular biology, and as beautiful as the arts. We prescribe a symmetry module to insert into the curriculum, of a week's length.

Modern physics is largely defined by fundamental symmetry principles and Noether's Theorem. Yet these are not taught, or rarely mentioned, to beginning students, thus missing an opportunity to reveal that the subject of physics is as lively and contemporary as molecular biology, and as beautiful as the arts. We prescribe a symmetry module to insert into the curriculum, of a week's length.

Modern physics is largely defined by fundamental symmetry principles and Noether's Theorem. Yet these are not taught, or rarely mentioned, to beginning students, thus missing an opportunity to reveal that the subject of physics is as lively and contemporary as molecular biology, and as beautiful as the arts. We prescribe a symmetry module to insert into the curriculum, of a week's length.

This week Audrey and Matt talk labs! Physics labs! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sprouting-in-stem/support

This week Audrey and Matt talk labs! Physics labs! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sprouting-in-stem/support

Most introductory quantum physics instructors would agree that transitioning students from classical to quantum thinking is an important learning goal, but may disagree on whether or how this can be accomplished. Although (and perhaps because) physicists have long debated the physical interpretation of quantum theory, many instructors choose to avoid emphasizing interpretive themes; or they discuss the views of scientists in their classrooms, but do not adequately attend to student interpretations. In this synthesis and extension of prior work, we demonstrate: (1) instructors vary in their approaches to teaching interpretive themes; (2) different instructional approaches have differential impacts on student thinking; and (3) when student interpretations go unattended, they often develop their own (sometimes scientifically undesirable) views. We introduce here a new modern physics curriculum that explicitly attends to student interpretations, and provide evidence-based arguments that doing so helps them to develop more consistent interpretations of quantum phenomena, more sophisticated views of uncertainty, and greater interest in quantum physics.

We discuss the effect of administering conceptual and quantitative isomorphic problem pairs (CQIPP) back to back vs. asking students to solve only one of the problems in the CQIPP in introductory physics courses. Students who answered both questions in a CQIPP often performed better on the conceptual questions than those who answered the corresponding conceptual questions only. Although students often took advantage of the quantitative counterpart to answer a conceptual question of a CQIPP correctly, when only given the conceptual question, students seldom tried to convert it into a quantitative question, solve it and then reason about the solution conceptually. Even in individual interviews, when students who were only given conceptual questions had difficulty and the interviewer explicitly encouraged them to convert the conceptual question into the corresponding quantitative problem by choosing appropriate variables, a majority of students were reluctant and preferred to guess the answer to the conceptual question based upon their gut feeling.

The instructors' edition of Problems in Introductory Physics, by Crowell and Shotwell. The book's web page, including the link to the pdf of the student edition, is here .

The instructors' edition of Problems in Introductory Physics, by Crowell and Shotwell. The book's web page, including the link to the pdf of the student edition, is here .

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 and Kuo, which described the cultural differences between how math is used in math class and physics class, and the work by Fredlund et al, which described the importance of unpacking representations for physics student. I will describe how differences in the goals of numeric and symbolic problem solving lead to different set of affordances. In particular, the inability to distinguish variables, knowns, and unknowns in symbolic problem solving is a benefit when describing a generalized physical system. I also present evidence that observed errors when trying to solve symbolic problems are due to students acting on inappropriate cues associated with numeric problem solving.

This preregistration plan describes analyses focused on examining the effect of mindfulness training on physics problem solving and psychological threat.

There has been and continues to be considerable discussion in the educational community about different ways of relating the concepts of work and energy in introductory physics. The present article reviews a consistent and streamlined treatment of the subject, drawing particular attention to aspects seldom covered in textbooks. The paper is intended to clarify the central equations for introductory courses and to put the wider literature in context. It is specifically designed to tie closely in terminology and order of presentation to standard texts, so that it complements rather than supplants them. In brief, the key point is that there are two major categories of work, center-of-mass work and particle work. After an overview of these two approaches, I illustrate them with a couple of instructive examples that can be used in group problem-solving sessions in class.

The physics instruction at UC Davis for life science majors takes place in a long-standing reformed large-enrollment physics course in which the discussion/lab instructors (primarily graduate student teaching assistants) implement the interactive-engagement (IE) elements of the course. Because so many different instructors participate in disseminating the IE course elements, we find it essential to the instructors professional development to observe and document the student-instructor interactions within the classroom. Out of this effort, we have developed a computerized real-time instructor observation tool (RIOT) to take data of student-instructor interactions. We use the RIOT to observe 29 different instructors for five hours each over the course of one quarter, for a total of about 150 hours of class time, finding that the range of instructor behaviors is more extreme than previously assumed. In this paper, we introduce the RIOT and describe how the variation present across 29 different instructors can provide students in the same course with significantly different course experiences.

Standards-based grading (SBG) is an approach to assessment and reporting in which scores are attached to the specific learning objectives of a

Standards-based grading (SBG) is an approach to assessment and reporting in which scores are attached to the specific learning objectives of a

Standards-based grading (SBG) is an approach to assessment and reporting in which scores are attached to the specific learning objectives of a

In this companion paper, we explore the use of isomorphic problem pairs (IPPs) to assess introductory physics students' ability to solve and successfully transfer problem-solving knowledge from one context to another in mechanics. We call the paired problems "isomorphic" because they require the same physics principle to solve them. We analyze written responses and individual discussions to a range of isomorphic problems. We examine potential factors that may help or hinder transfer of problem-solving skills from one problem in a pair to the other. For some paired isomorphic problems, one context often turned out to be easier for students in that it was more often correctly solved than the other. When quantitative and conceptual questions were paired and given back to back, students who answered both questions in the IPP often performed better on the conceptual questions than those who answered the corresponding conceptual questions only. Although students often took advantage of the quantitative counterpart to answer a conceptual question of an IPP correctly, when only given the conceptual question, students seldom tried to convert it into a quantitative question, solve it and then reason about the solution conceptually. Misconceptions associated with friction in some problems were so robust that pairing them with isomorphic problems not involving friction did not help students discern their underlying similarities. Alternatively, from the knowledge in pieces perspective, the activation of the knowledge resource related to friction was so strongly and automatically triggered by the context, which is outside the conscious control of the student, that students did not look for analogies with paired problems or other aids that may be present.

Students should use words (their own words) to learn physics,and that is why it is important for students learning introductory physics to write as they learn. To teach physics badly, teach it as a bunch of equations with no underlying meaning, or make it scary and nearly incomprehensible. Physics is really about subtle ideas and concepts--it is difficult because the ideas are new to most students. Writing helps students in introductory physics courses to deepen conceptual understanding; allows them to think in multiple ways; and entices them to enlarge upon an idea and connect it to other realms. Teachers should show students the relationship in symbols after the concept is firmly lodged in the mind; otherwise, students become focused on memorizing relatively sophisticated but intellectually limited procedural skills. (A figure describing the concepts of motion, force, and energy and consisting of nothing but mathematical equations illustrates introductory physics when it is taught badly; and a figure expressing the same concepts entirely in words illustrates introductory physics when it is taught well. (RS)

Students should use words (their own words) to learn physics,and that is why it is important for students learning introductory physics to write as they learn. To teach physics badly, teach it as a bunch of equations with no underlying meaning, or make it scary and nearly incomprehensible. Physics is really about subtle ideas and concepts--it is difficult because the ideas are new to most students. Writing helps students in introductory physics courses to deepen conceptual understanding; allows them to think in multiple ways; and entices them to enlarge upon an idea and connect it to other realms. Teachers should show students the relationship in symbols after the concept is firmly lodged in the mind; otherwise, students become focused on memorizing relatively sophisticated but intellectually limited procedural skills. (A figure describing the concepts of motion, force, and energy and consisting of nothing but mathematical equations illustrates introductory physics when it is taught badly; and a figure expressing the same concepts entirely in words illustrates introductory physics when it is taught well. (RS)

Students should use words (their own words) to learn physics,and that is why it is important for students learning introductory physics to write as they learn. To teach physics badly, teach it as a bunch of equations with no underlying meaning, or make it scary and nearly incomprehensible. Physics is really about subtle ideas and concepts--it is difficult because the ideas are new to most students. Writing helps students in introductory physics courses to deepen conceptual understanding; allows them to think in multiple ways; and entices them to enlarge upon an idea and connect it to other realms. Teachers should show students the relationship in symbols after the concept is firmly lodged in the mind; otherwise, students become focused on memorizing relatively sophisticated but intellectually limited procedural skills. (A figure describing the concepts of motion, force, and energy and consisting of nothing but mathematical equations illustrates introductory physics when it is taught badly; and a figure expressing the same concepts entirely in words illustrates introductory physics when it is taught well. (RS)

729 p. 24 cm

VIV, 800 S

Introductory lecture on experimental physics

Introductory lecture on experimental physics

Introductory lecture on experimental physics

Introductory lecture on experimental physics

The Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment University Physics (SCALE-UP) project at North Carolina State University (NCSU) is developing a curriculum to promote learning through in-class group activities in introductory physics classes up to 100 students. The authors are currently in Phase II of the project using a specially designed multimedia classroom for 54 students to teach the introductory physics course for engineering majors. This is an intermediate step to the full SCALE-UP classes (99 students) that will be taught in Fall 2000 when the larger classroom is completed. Both classrooms are designed to encourage students to work in groups of three, provide each group with a laptop computer that has access to the Internet, and allow instructors to interact with each student group. Traditional lecture and laboratory are replace with an integrated approach using active-learning cooperative group activities. The project is investigating several aspects of instruction including classroom design, classroom management, and curriculum materials. The curriculum materials include adaptation of research-based/informed activities from the literature to the SCALE-UP classroom and development of new activities. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the project, in particular, evaluating whether students are achieving the learning objectives for the curriculum. Several of the course learning objectives overlap the ABET 2000 criteria, including: learning to work well in groups (teamwork); communicating effectively; being able to apply knowledge of mathematics and physics to new situations; and conducting, analyzing and interpreting experiments in addition to building a functional understanding of the course content. Evaluation methods of the SCALE-UP classes taught during the 1998-2000 school years include concept tests, individual and group exams, peer evaluation, and focus group interviews. The results show that students are building a better understanding of the main physics concepts, are more successful at solving problems, and are generally on-task and communicating well during group activities. (Contains 13 endnotes.) (DDR)

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors of student grades in introductory physics courses utilizing problem-based learning (PBL) approach and traditional lecturing. The study employed correlational/predictive methods to investigate and describe/explain relationships of students' physics grades with their expectations, attitudes, epistemological beliefs about physics and physics learning, and demographic variables. The subjects involved in this study were 264 freshmen engineering students (PBL, n = 100; traditional, n = 164) at Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) in Izmir, Turkey. All students were surveyed at the beginning and at the end of the spring 2007 semester using the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) to determine their expectations, attitudes, and epistemological beliefs about physics and physics learning. Students' physics learning was measured via their end of semester physics grades. Correlational analyses indicated significant relationships between variables of the study. Forward stepwise linear regression analyses revealed the effort cluster and selected background variables (e.g., gender) as significant predictors of physics grades. Results suggest that further study is needed to investigate predictors and correlates of students' physics learning using qualitative measures to support and more clearly interpret the numerical findings. (Contains 5 tables.)

This paper describes an instructional design for introductory physics that integrates previous research results of physics problem-solving and the use of external representation into direct instruction (DI). The research is a part of research in obtaining an established instructional design to support mental-modeling ability. By integrating with the previous research results of problem-solving and external representation with the characteristics of DI, we obtained stages of a hypothetical design. The hypothetical design has been developed by implementing phases of formative research to obtain a final model of enhanced direct instruction (EDI). Results of experimental phase showed that EDI can support the students' mental-modeling ability.

We report on seven years of attitudinal data using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey from University Modeling Instruction (UMI) sections of introductory physics at Florida International University. This work expands upon previous studies that reported consistently positive attitude shifts in UMI courses; here, we disaggregate the data by gender and ethnicity to look for any disparities in the pattern of favorable shifts. We find that women and students from statistically underrepresented ethnic groups are equally supported on this attitudinal measure, and that this result holds even when interaction effects of gender and ethnicity are included. We conclude with suggestions for future work in UMI courses and for attitudinal equity investigations generally.

Model of active and collaborative learning (ACLM) applied in training specific subject makes clear advantage due to the goals of knowledge, skills that students got to develop successful future job. The author exploits the learning management system (LMS) of Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) to establish a learning environment in the Introductory Physics course Part 2, which supports to the blended learning, for the 1st year student. The method of pattern languages is taken to redesign learning content in the framework of ACLM, which focused on analysing real-life application and doing exercises, with the support of information and communication technology (ICT). Both formative and summative assessments were used to evaluate competency of students. An online survey in middle course was used to collect 82 responses of students in closed with 63 questions and 6 open forms which indicated not only soft skills of students but knowledge of contents and technical enhanced. The result suggested that students should be attached to weekly tasks for doing work properly and practising to overcome negative attitudes to collaboration. Art performance in the welcome or the rest of the lecture was a solution to increase students' learning interest. The conclusion recommended that deploying ICT in combination of social network and LMS with blended learning mode will increase the efficiency of ACLM so it need to be studied and supported.

Introductory Nuclear Physics Wong

Based on an analysis of structured interviews with 6 research university physics faculty members, this paper presents our initial hypothesis of instructors' beliefs about how their students learn to solve problems in an introductory physics courses. The hypothesis shows that these instructors have very general beliefs about the process of student learning that do not include many details about actual learning mechanisms. (Author)

This comprehensive text provides an introduction to basic nuclear physics, including nuclear decays and reactions and nuclear structure, while covering the essential areas of basic research and practical applications. Its emphasis on phenomonology and the results of real experiments distinguish this from all other texts available. Discussions of theory are reinforced with examples which illustrate and apply the theoretical formulism, thus aiding students in their reading and analysis of current literature. The text is designed to provide a core of material for students with minimal background in mathematics or quantum theory and offers more sophisticated material in separate sections.

This comprehensive text provides an introduction to basic nuclear physics, including nuclear decays and reactions and nuclear structure, while covering the essential areas of basic research and practical applications. Its emphasis on phenomonology and the results of real experiments distinguish this from all other texts available. Discussions of theory are reinforced with examples which illustrate and apply the theoretical formulism, thus aiding students in their reading and analysis of current literature. The text is designed to provide a core of material for students with minimal background in mathematics or quantum theory and offers more sophisticated material in separate sections.

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