Written as a letter to Galileo, an education graduate student narrates from course experiences that deepened her understandings of Galileo and natural and intellectual properties underlying his works. Having taken the Galileo-themed course with Elizabeth Cavicchi at MIT's Edgerton Center in three prior terms, on taking it a fourth time, this…

Students sometimes learn about a model of the "scientific method" that is linear and clear cut. While this approach may have pedagogical advantages, it does not reflect how science is often done in practice. The Experimental Modeling Framework (EMF) describes the complex and iterative process of experimentation in the domain of physics,…

Learning about the nature of science is an important aspect of becoming part of the culture of practicing physicists. While these topics have a long-standing tradition in U.S. curricula they are currently not part of German educational standards or curricula. And while there is some research concerning primary and secondary school students'…