The problem here dealt with concerns physics education, and specifically the concept of force. The idea behind this research is that a historical approach to the teaching of such a notion is of great help for the students to fully understand the meaning of this basic physical magnitude. For, most of scientific concepts can be better grasped by the…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination.] Epistemic beliefs about physics are most often investigated using quantitative instruments that reflect binary conceptualizations of those beliefs. This study reports from a qualitative study which used continua to represent the epistemic beliefs…

Transfer of structural math knowledge to physics is difficult for students. While research suggests various improvement techniques, enhancing parallelism of algebraic structures used in physics to those studied in mathematics courses seems underrepresented. This paper proposes an alternative way of introducing wave functions as a set of parametric…

The refractive index (RI) is probably the single most important parameter in optical systems. Chromatic dispersion, on the other hand, indicates how the RI depends on the wavelength and is central in, e.g., optical communication systems. Chromatic dispersion also plays an important role when teaching optics due to the captivating natural…

We present a new secondary school teaching method of quantum uncertainties of two-state systems. Intending to be a material teachable in schools, only two-state systems described by real numbers can be considered. An elementary argumentation based on school statistics leads to the identification of the uncertainty of a physical quantity in such…

This article analyzes and experimentally verifies the stability behavior of the equilibrium states of a conical pendulum. An analysis of the motion presents that the equilibrium states of the pendulum are determined by the pendulum angular speed. For a given pendulum length there exists a critical angular speed that determines stability…

Inquiring about students' learning and their difficulties understanding the concepts and models of physics is a familiar challenge in physics education research. Researchers have developed various methodologies, such as phenomenography, to address it. Phenomenography is an empirical approach to determining how people experience and understand…

The Crookes radiometer (also known as a light mill) is a fascinating sunlight-powered device, in which a set of vanes is placed inside a glass bulb within which a partial vacuum has been pulled. The vanes then rotate when sunlight shines on the bulb. The reason for the turning of the vanes was subject to intense debate and many students still have…

Data from the Kepler satellite were analysed using the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes database. With the participation of 53 students, we determined the parameters of the HAT-P-7b (Kepler-2) exoplanet system (transit duration, planet-to-star radius ratio, orbital period, semi-major axis and star mass). We used approaches that are easy to…

Qualitative studies in the domain of physics education research have become more common in the last several decades. Methodologically, this has been marked by an expansion of the types of data collected in physics education research (PER): namely, in the use of individual and group interviews, problem-solving sessions, and classroom…

History of education reveals that the perimeter of a school subject as well as the manner of teaching it may vary according to the time period, the country, its political situation and its economic needs. Furthermore, if it clearly depends on the level of the learners and on the school itself, sometimes the teacher's preoccupations can adapt it.…

Critical thinking is discussed in this book in relation to the ability to read and criticize explanatory texts in physics. It is argued that it is valuable but insufficient to know the general principles of critical analysis of texts, such as source control or knowledge of the main cognitive biases. We set out the objective of the book, that is,…

Many statistical methods (estimators) are available for estimating the consensus value (or average effect) and heterogeneity variance in interlaboratory studies or meta-analyses. These estimators are all valid because they are developed from or supported by certain statistical principles. However, no estimator can be perfect and must have error or…

"To Educate the Human Potential" by Maria Montessori, first released in 1948, conveyed the Montessori theme of human solidarity as a unifying force for human history and integrated the sciences of geography, chemistry, biology, and physics. The concluding chapter of this journal places the reader in touch with the great questions of life…

This paper presents a perspective of how the radiation and radioactivity themes have been discussed at the high school level in several locations around the world. In this context, scientific journals, academic journals, theses, dissertations, and media materials were analyzed. Recent research has shown that the concern with the discussion about…