"Self-diagnosis tasks" aim at fostering students' learning in an examination context by requiring students to present diagnoses of their solutions to quiz problems. We examined the relationship between students' learning from self-diagnosis and the typicality of the problem situation. Four recitation groups in an introductory physics class…

The problem of communication between observers in the vicinity of a black hole in a Schwarzschild metric is considered. The classic example of an infalling observer Alice and a static distant mother station (MS) is extended to include a second infalling observer Bob, who follows Alice in falling towards the event horizon. Kruskal coordinates are…

Physics students can encounter difficulties in physics problem solving as a result of failing to use knowledge that they have but do not perceive as relevant or appropriate. In previous work we have demonstrated that some of these difficulties may be epistemological. Students may limit the kinds of knowledge that they use. For example, they may…

We discuss common difficulties in upper-division electricity and magnetism (E&M) in the areas of Gauss's law, vector calculus, and electric potential using both quantitative and qualitative evidence. We also show that many of these topical difficulties may be tied to student difficulties with mathematics. At the junior level, some students…

Since it was first published 30 years ago, the seminal paper of Chi "et al." on expert and novice categorization of introductory problems led to a plethora of follow-up studies within and outside of the area of physics [Cogn. Sci. 5 121 (1981)]. These studies frequently encompass "card-sorting" exercises whereby the…

Research in physics education indicates that the use of multiple representations in teaching and learning helps students become better problem-solvers. We report on a study to investigate students' difficulties in solving mechanics problems presented in multiple representations. We conducted teaching/learning interviews with 20 students in a…

The Schrodinger equation for the ground state of a hydrogen atom confined at the centre of an impenetrable cavity is treated using variational perturbation theory. Energies calculated from variational perturbation theory are comparable in accuracy to the results from a direct numerical solution. The goal of this exercise is to introduce the…

The question whether to walk slowly or to run when it starts raining in order to stay as dry as possible has been considered for many years--and with different results, depending on the assumptions made and the mathematical descriptions for the situation. Because of the practical meaning for real life and the inconsistent results depending on the…

Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students' difficulties with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as epistemology. Students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder the activation and integration of productive knowledge they have. Such explanations, however, risk falling into a…

Item response theory (IRT) becomes an increasingly important tool when analyzing "big data" gathered from online educational venues. However, the mechanism was originally developed in traditional exam settings, and several of its assumptions are infringed upon when deployed in the online realm. For a large-enrollment physics course for…

This paper explores the effectiveness of using "structured examples in concert with prompting reflective questions" to address misconceptions held by mechanical engineering students about thermodynamic principles by employing pre-test and post-test design, a structured questionnaire, lecture room observation, and participants'…

A central goal of the learning sciences is to discover principles that determine the optimal amount of instructional assistance to support robust learning (Koedinger & Aleven, 2007). We examined learning outcomes from providing and withholding stepwise instructional explanations as students studied worked examples and solved physics problems. We…

Calculus is used across many physics topics from introductory to upper-division level college courses. The concepts of differentiation and integration are important tools for solving real world problems. Using calculus or any mathematical tool in physics is much more complex than the straightforward application of the equations and algorithms that…

This little problem arose because I was frustrated with the standard electromagnetism texts, which show the magnetic field due to a current-bearing wire outside the wire [proportional to] 1/r and inside [proportional to] r. However, they never point out that the moving electrons must be influenced by the magnetic field created by the other moving…

Physics instruction in secondary schools is a fundamental panacea towards achieving scientific knowledgeable citizens which can propel a nation in the realization of a sustainable economic force. This paper therefore x-rayed ordeals of physics instruction in Nigerian secondary schools and the way forward for the attainment of global…