The framework of professional noticing describes three components (attending, interpreting, and deciding) that allow teachers to better understand the thinking of their students. Via this method, teachers attend to their classroom by observing relevant cues from students, interpret these cues based on their knowledge of student development, and…

Advanced placement (AP) physics performance is an important metric for examining precollege student preparation for post-secondary study. The present study examined potential predictors of AP Physics 1 performance including gender, teacher, and school-level characteristics. A theoretical framework proposed teacher preparation and experiential…

The academic self-concept (ASC) is a domain-specific construct, which plays an influential role in academic motivation and choices. Although some ASC models and instruments have been developed for mathematics and science, none have been specifically designed to measure the physics ASC. Therefore, this study focuses on designing and validating a…

Findings from physics education research strongly point to the critical need for teachers' use of multiple representations in their instructional practices such as pictures, diagrams, written explanations, and mathematical expressions to enhance students' problem-solving ability. In this study, we explored use of problem-solving tasks for…

The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided middle school (U.S. Grades 6-8) teachers (N = 81) with intensive professional development (PD) in chemistry, geosciences, and physics, with teachers enrolled in one scientific discipline per year. Because some teachers were retained and rotated into different disciplines, the TANS program…

Before we can effectively apply specific interventions through professional development, it is important to determine what is occurring in our high school physics classrooms. This study investigated common professional practices in physics teaching among a representative sample group of schools and teachers from a diverse, geographically large…

This article examines the process of shifting to a "Physics First" sequence in science course offerings in three school districts in the United States. This curricular sequence reverses the more common U.S. high school sequence of biology/chemistry/physics, and has gained substantial support in the physics education community over the…

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of curricular or instructional innovations, researchers often attempt to measure change in students' conceptual understanding of the target subject matter. The measurement of change is therefore a critical endeavor. Often, this is accomplished through pre-post testing using an assessment such as a…

Research has indicated that experts' subject matter knowledge structures (SMKSs) differ from those of novices in that they contain more cross-linking, interconnections, and overarching thematic elements, characteristics that are in accordance with those espoused in current reform documents. Unfortunately, teachers' SMKSs are not…

In an effort to maintain the global competitiveness of the United States, ensuring a strong Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce is essential. The purpose of this study was to identify high school courses that serve as predictors of success in college level gatekeeper courses, which in turn led to the successful…

Analogies are known to foster concept learning, whereas discovery learning is effective for transfer. By combining discovery learning and analogies or similarities of concepts, attractive new arrangements emerge, but do they maintain both concept and transfer effects? Unfortunately, there is a lack of data confirming such combined effectiveness.…

Details early work on laws of motion, particularly inertia, through the use of Galileo's writings. (CP)

Suggests an instructional presentation designed to give students an intuitive understanding of the uniform acceleration of a body falling toward the earth. (JR)

Bernoulli's Theorem yields information on what goes on inside a fluid while Newton's Third Law explains the external encounter, such as a lift-producing encounter between air and a wing. (DF)