High school students' difficulties with quantum physics (QP) are partly due to their limited understanding of the nature of science (NOS). The essence of QP can only be understood with informed views about NOS aspects such as the role of models and the relevance of controversies between physicists. Inversely, QP is an ideal topic for teaching…

Throughout the long history of astronomy, scientists have repeatedly written fictional stories, which often lend themselves to use in the classroom thanks to the authors' in-depth knowledge and an appealing storyline. This article uses the novel 'The Black Cloud', written by the well-known astronomer Fred Hoyle, to show which physical-astronomical…

A lot of new science has been inspired by common phenomena and even by old traditions practiced in our daily lives. Eventually, after deep exploration, this may engender unexpected new technologies. In this paper, inspired by the wearing of a traditional cloth called a "sarong," by the community in South East Asian countries and others,…

We developed new teaching materials, electrical resistors and capacitors, using carbon nanotube (CNT) paper and carbon fibre (CF) paper to foster students' creative thinking, thereby deepening and extending learning. Using a CNT-paper electrical resistor, it is possible to elucidate the dependence of the resistance value on the length and width.…

Quantum technology is an emerging field of physics and engineering and important applications are expected in quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum cryptography, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology. Thus the need for education in this field is increasing, while still remaining challenging. While the need for basic education in quantum…

In this paper I present various equatorial sundial designs that use diffraction on a CD to display time. The designs described in the paper include a transparent CD sundial equipped with a small terrestrial globe. This sundial is compact, pedagogically useful, can be used throughout the year, and provides the user with a wealth of information.

In an earlier contribution in "Physics Education" (Bitzenbauer and Meyn 2020 "Phys. Educ." 55 055031 [see EJ1263541]), we presented a new teaching sequence on quantum optics on the secondary school level, and we reported on promising results of a first pilot study concerning its learning effectiveness. In the sense of…

Developed by using ARKit, a novel app which can be used to detect position in physics experiments was introduced. The ARKit relies on a new technique. The result of the experiment presented in this study was satisfactory, suggesting that the new technique can be employed in position detection experiments/demonstrations that are conducted using…

For good science teaching, it is necessary to have knowledge of your students' preconceptions. Numerous studies have been conducted about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom in science education research. Unfortunately the domains of which we know preconceptions are not distributed evenly and there is a lack of studies about…

With the start of the LHC, the new particle collider at CERN, the ATLAS experiment is also providing high-energy particle collisions for educational purposes. Several education projects--education scenarios--have been developed and tested on students and teachers in several European countries within the Learning with ATLAS@CERN project. These…

We focus on the difficulties that visually impaired students have when dealing with graphics and diagrams in their study of geometrical optics. This case study suggests practices that use low cost materials, easy to find and to handle, and that provide a tactile perception for visually impaired students. The activities employ light and easy to…

Network for Astronomy School Education, NASE, is a project that is organizing courses for teachers throughout the entire world. The main objective of the project is to prepare secondary and primary school teachers in astronomy. Students love to know more about astronomy and teachers have the opportunity to observe the sky that every school has…

In order to increase scientific literacy and the knowledge of science and technology of Europe's citizens, the European Commission suggests a more student-centred implementation of natural sciences in education systems. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is not only an accepted method to promote students' interest and motivation, it also helps students…

Data projectors have become a common sight in school classrooms, often in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard. Long periods of continuous use coupled with the transfer of a large amount of thermal energy from the projector's bulb means that they frequently break down, often in such a manner that they become uneconomic to repair. In this…

Explains the necessity for a domain concept in understanding ferromagnetism and discusses various factors influencing the domain configuration in a crystal. (MLH)