Error analysis consumes much of the focus in introductory physics labs. Catastrophic cancellation is a spike in error that occurs when subtracting two measurements of roughly equal magnitude. Often termed "loss of significance" or "subtractive cancellation," this effect can easily relegate experimental results to utter…

We introduce a template to (i) scaffold the problem solving process for students in the physics 1 course, and (ii) serve as a generic rubric for measuring how expertlike students are in their problem solving. This template is based on empirical studies of the problem solving practices of expert scientists and engineers, unlike most existing…

Science is a human endeavor; the way it is taught, applied, and in some cases exclude populations from having access to it, may affect people for generations (NGSS Lead States 2013). Science education continues to be a complex civil rights issue (Tate 2001), but there is hope. Movements to promote just, equitable, and inclusive opportunities to…

Technology is changing the way students interact with knowledge, and open-ended activities are one of the main types of tasks that students engage with in technology-rich environments. However, the amount of guidance needed to promote learning in these environments remains unknown. We explore this issue by focusing on the effects of step-by-step…

Few workshops for teachers focus primarily on instruction methods for basic high school physics. In Northern California, Physics Teacher SOS (PTSOS) has gained popularity doing just that. PTSOS workshops are directed toward early-career science teachers, though veterans are welcome too. The program is not influenced by scientific supply companies,…

Learning physics often requires overcoming common misconceptions based on naïve interpretations of observations in the everyday world. One proposed way to help learners build appropriate physics intuitions is to expose them to computer simulations in which motion is based on Newtonian principles. In addition, playing video games that require…

In 4 experiments, participants viewed a short video-based lesson about how the Doppler effect works. Some students viewed already-drawn diagrams while listening to a concurrent oral explanation, whereas other students listened to the same explanation while viewing the instructor actually draw the diagrams by hand. All students then completed…

The persistent fear of physics by learners motivated the author to take action to increase all students' interest in the subject via a new curriculum for introductory college physics that applies Greene's model of Aesthetic Education to the study of contemporary physics, utilizing symmetry as the mathematical foundation of physics as well as the…

We describe an inquiry-based course in physics and chemistry for preservice K-8 teachers developed at California State University Fullerton. The course is one of three developed primarily to enhance the science content understanding of prospective teachers. The course incorporates a number of innovative instructional strategies and is somewhat…

Vortex flow, from millimeter to kilometer in scale, is important in many scientific and technological areas. Examples are seen in water strider locomotion, from industrial pipe flow (wastewater treatment) to air traffic control (safe distance between aircrafts on a runway ready for takeoff) to atmospheric studies. In this paper, we focus on a…

A single great teacher can change a life by introducing a new language, helping you master a new skill or opening a door you never knew was there. That's why every year, TNTP awards the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice: to celebrate a select cohort of public school teachers who demonstrate exceptionally effective teaching with…

As a substance is heated at constant pressure from near 0 K to 298 K, each incremental enthalpy increase, dH, alters entropy by dH/T, bringing it from approximately zero to its standard molar entropy S degrees. Using heat capacity data for 32 solids and CODATA results for another 45, we found a roughly linear relationship between S degrees and…

This paper focuses on the influence of high school science class size on students' achievement in introductory college science courses and on the variation of teacher practice across class size. Surveys collected information about high school science class experiences from 2754 biology, 3521 chemistry, and 1903 physics students across 36 public…

A 10-week project conducted with 12 gifted 4th and 5th grade students (10 boys and 2 girls) examined the effectiveness of the Logo computer programming language as a tool for helping students understand some basic principles of physics. Three assumptions were tested: (1) motivated elementary school students can learn both turtle graphics and word…

The Hands-On and Far-Out Physics project is part of the Center for Technology, Environment, and Communication (C-TEC), a project-based learning community at Piner High School in Santa Rosa (California). This article introduces the project team, discusses member activities, presents a walking-speed experiment, and describes a Mars Colony course…