The undergraduate years are a turning point in producing scientifically literate citizens and future scientists and engineers. Evidence from research about how students learn science and engineering shows that teaching strategies that motivate and engage students will improve their learning. So how do students best learn science and engineering?…

This study aimed to investigate the models that co-existed in students' cognitive structure to explain the interactions between electric charges and uniform magnetic fields. The sample consisted of 129 first-year civil engineering, geology and geophysics students from a large state university in western Turkey. The students answered five…

We describe a simple experiment demonstrating the variation in magnitude of a magnetic field with distance. The method described requires only an ordinary magnetic compass and a permanent magnet. The proposed graphical analysis illustrates a unique method for deducing a general rule of magnetostatics. (Contains 1 table and 6 figures.)

The purpose of this study is to introduce a problem-based learning material, the Satellite Module, that has integrated some of the subjects included in the disciplines of physics and mathematics at an introductory level in undergraduate education. The reason why this modular and problem-based material has been developed is to enable students to…

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) publishes 87% of the primary research journals in the discipline of physics in the United States. These journals have provided an indispensable communication mechanism for research results and education in physics and astronomy. A redesign of the present journal system is required because of expansions in…

Science communication techniques are expected to change markedly in the next decade because of the developments on an international scale of coupled information systems in various scientific disciplines and technological missions. A change in techniques is also expected because of growing needs of users as well as of producers of science…

Four hundred and ninety one primary journals covered by "Physics Abstracts" in 1965 have been studied and their basic characteristics analyzed in terms of sponsorship, distribution by country, language, frequency, and coverage by secondary services other than "Physics Abstracts," and the number of libraries holding each…

Discusses: (1) the physics of ice formation; (2) growth, melting, and regrowth of ice; (3) ice distribution; (4) ice movement; (5) the marginal ice zone; and (6) observations of ice dynamics. (JN)

Describes geophysical techniques such as seismic, gravity, and magnetic surveys of offshare acreage, and land-data gathering from a three-dimensional representation made from closely spaced seismic lines. (MLH)

In order to identify producers of physics research and to determine their relative productivity, institutional affiliations of authors as given in nine physics journals were studied. Organizations were classified and analyzed by type and geographical location, and productivity established. Findings indicate that organizations differ in their rate…

The basic characteristics of sixty-nine secondary services in physics were analyzed in terms of sponsorship and distribution by: (1) country of origin, (2) language, (3) age, (4) frequency of publication, (5) subject and geographical coverage and (6) size. The eight major services, in terms of size, are identified. The use of the services by the…

Approximately thirty years ago archivists began formulating new models to guide archival collecting, creating a literature that continues to grow. In the mid-1980s, the introduction of the documentation strategy collection model put new emphasis on cooperation between repositories and among stakeholders. The model initially focused on the history…

The American Institute of Physics is working toward the development of a national information system for physics, whose objective is the organization of the flow of physics information from the producers to the users. The complete physics information system has several constituent subsystems, among which are: one for the management of the flow of…