We investigated the intersectional nature of race/racism and gender/sexism in broad scale inequities in physics student learning using a critical quantitative intersectionality. To provide transparency and create a nuanced picture of learning, we problematized the measurement of equity by using two competing operationalizations of equity:…

Research experience is increasingly considered an important component of science education at the secondary school and undergraduate levels. This paper presents a case study of students learning in a unique apprenticeship model in which students are engaged in long-term (18 month) open-ended research projects in physics that are done at the…

We investigated students' conceptual learning of energy topics in an innovative college-level introductory mechanics course, entitled Matter & Interactions (M&I) Modern Mechanics. This course differs from traditional curricula in that it emphasizes application of a small number of fundamental principles across various scales, involving…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Ethiopian physics undergraduate students' conceptual change in the concepts of electric potential and energy (EPE) and electromagnetic induction (EMI). A quasi-experimental design was used to study the effect of cognitive perturbation using physics interactive simulations (CPS) in relation to cognitive…

Reasoning skills are major contributors to academic and everyday life success. Epistemological commitments (ECs) are believed to underlie reasoning processes and, when considered, could do much in delineating the complex nature of scientific reasoning. This study examined the relationship between ECs and scientific reasoning among college science…

In this theoretical article we use an interpretative study with physics undergraduates to exemplify a proposed characterization of student learning in university science in terms of fluency in disciplinary discourse. Drawing on ideas from a number of different sources in the literature, we characterize what we call disciplinary discourse as the…

There were no differences in the understanding of physical optics and ability to solve physical optics problems after instruction or on a delayed test between students with or without prior instruction in wave motion. (AL)

This study aimed to investigate the comparative value of experimenting with physical manipulatives (PM) in a sequential combination with virtual manipulatives (VM), with the use of PM preceding the use of VM, and of experimenting with PM alone, with respect to changes in students' conceptual understanding in the domain of heat and temperature. A…

To explain college students' (N=110) achievement in mechanics, a causal model consisting of three constructs (Newtonian physics, mathematics ability, and science experience) was proposed. Implications for physics instruction are discussed based on results indicating plausibility of the model. (Author/SK)

Beginning physics students (n=42) were constrained to analyze mechanics problems according to a hierarchical scheme that integrated concepts, principles, and procedures. After five one-hour sessions, students increased their reliance on the use of principles in categorizing problems according to similarity of solution and in writing qualitative…

Presents procedures, results, and conclusions of a study to see if psychological relations of association and similarity are consistent with a model to account for learned relations among concepts by college physics majors. The role of these relations in evaluating conceptual knowledge is dismissed. (DS)

Some early results are reported of a study to examine trends of student evaluations in college level physics courses. Higher ratings were consistently given for higher level courses. (PS)

College physics students' understanding of the process of science, as measured by the Science Process Inventory, was better for students in a traditional, structured laboratory than in an inquiry laboratory that covered the same experiments. (MLH)

Surveys most important intellectual abilities for physics students. Found four factors: visualization; mathematics; logic; and problem solving. Explores the variations between respondent classification (researcher, teacher) and student goal (physicist, scientifically aware layman) on the ratings. (Author/YP)

Over the last two decades, a significant body of research has documented the nature of intuitive physics knowledge--the knowledge of the world that students bring to the learning of formal physics. However, this research has yet to document the roles played by intuitive physics knowledge in expert physics practice. In this article, I discuss three…