What textbooks are physics teachers using? How highly do they rate those textbooks? What other types of materials do teachers use? The textbooks and other resources used by high school physics teachers in the US have evolved along with the changing demands of physics classes and the evolving set of options available to teachers. In this report,…

The importance of high-tech careers has risen as the international competitiveness of US students on tests of science and math has declined. The problem is compounded by a persistent inequity in STEM participation and achievement in the US across gender and racial and ethnic groups. Bridgewater State University's Student Retention Enhancement…

This report presents the characteristics and initial outcomes of exiting master's degree recipients in physics and astronomy. The report covers the degree classes of 2006, 2007 and 2008. The status of exiting physics master's varied greatly by the citizenship of the degree recipient. The majority of US citizens entered or remained in the workforce…

This note presents and discusses a class of real integrals involving a hyperbolic function by means of complex integration. An integral representation is obtained which appears in several fields of physics, including statistical mechanics, condensed matter and quantum optics and more in the so called dispersion relations.

This paper presents data covering the representation of African Americans among physics and geoscience degree recipients at each stage of the educational system. The data were collected by several statistical agencies and are here provided in far more detail than has ever been available before. By placing all the data in one place, this paper…

A BASIC computer program was written for an experiment that measures the time of a fall of a ball-bearing dropped through a measured distance. However, the timing subroutine was written in machine language. The reason for using machine language, the machine language program, hardware used, and the experiment are discussed. (JN)

The analysis of tautochrone problems involves the solution of integral equations. The paper shows how a reasonable assumption, based on experience with simple harmonic motion, allows one to greatly simplify such problems. Proposed solutions involve only mathematics available to students from first year calculus.

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted by the American Institute of Physics. The roster contains data reported by degree-granting physics departments in the United States for 1998-1999 introductory physics course enrollments, 1998-1999 degrees, and fall 1999 undergraduate majors and graduate…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted in the 2000-2001 academic year, which contacted all degree-granting physics departments in the United States. Of the 770 degree-granting physics departments, 751 (98%) contributed to the data on 1999-2000 introductory course enrollments, 1999-2000…

This report describes the initial employment and educational paths pursued by physics and astronomy degree recipients at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels for the classes of 2002-03 and 2003-04. The report includes starting salaries, primary work activities, ratings of professional challenge and other aspects of initial employment. The…

This roster contains detailed information from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. The report contains data reported by degree-granting astronomy departments in the United States for 1998-1999 introductory astronomy course enrollments, 1998-1999 degrees, and fall 1999 undergraduate majors and graduate student enrollments. In the United…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted in the 2001-2002 academic year. The roster contains data reported by physics departments in the United States for their 2000-2001 introductory course enrollments, 2000-2001 degrees, and fall 2001 undergraduate major and graduate student enrollments. Of…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. The survey was conducted in the 2002-2003 academic year. It includes all degree-granting physics departments in the United states. Presented in this roster are the data reported by those departments for their 2001-2002 introductory course enrollments, 2002-200…

This report describes how the representation of women in physics has changed, presenting data comparing the representation of women in physics to the representation of women in other fields and in academics overall. Highlights include: an increasingly large number of girls have some exposure to physics by taking it in high school; women's…

In spring 2007, four Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) operational tests were introduced at the high school level (grades 9 and 10): Biology, Chemistry, Introductory Physics, and Technology/Engineering. Over 100,000 Massachusetts public high school students in grades 9 and 10 participated…