Diagrams and figures play a central role in science and science education. Research has indicated that, when presented and used properly in a classroom setting, these external representations can contribute to students' understanding of scientific concepts; however, it is apparent that students do not always use, understand, interpret, or value…

This study presents and interprets some conceptual difficulties junior-level physics students experience with Ampere's law. We present both quantitative data, based on students' written responses to conceptual questions, and qualitative data, based on interviews of students solving Ampere's law problems. We find that some students struggle to…

In this paper, canonical transformations generated by constants of motion in the case of the Kepler problem are discussed. It is shown that canonical transformations generated by angular momentum are rotations of the trajectory. Particular attention is paid to canonical transformations generated by the Runge-Lenz vector. It is shown that these…

Problem-solving activities let students use knowledge gained in various areas of their academic education. They bring together skills and knowledge from such areas as science, math, art, and English by simulating activities and projects students will encounter later in career and life experiences. A very important feature of most problem-solving…

Movie clips can provide data for content-rich problem solving, show students exotic phenomena, allow them to apply science concepts in a new setting, and foster connections between science and the humanities. Though the latest release will have the advantage of pop-culture currency, films old enough to be released on DVD give teachers more…

This paper discusses a chemistry lesson plan based on the use of ethanol as an alternative and renewable energy source. The lessons were developed by participatory action research and follow a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to chemistry teaching. This approach specifically focuses on the handling of scientific and technological…

In this study, we examine introductory physics students' ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is widely endorsed as a desirable learning method, particularly in science. Especially in light of the method's heavy demand on resources, evidence-based practice is called for. Rigorous studies of the method's effectiveness, however, are scarce. In Study 1, college students enrolled in an elementary physics course…

Communicative self-efficacy serves as an important link between discussing controversial issues and civic engagement because confidence in one's discourse skills is important to managing conflicting perspectives and developing solutions to community-based problems. Freely available to schools, "Word Generation" is a cross-content…

Effectively using strategies to solve complex problems is an important educational goal and is implicated in successful academic performance. However, people often do not spontaneously use the effective strategies unless they are motivated to do so. The present study was designed to test whether educating students about the importance of effort in…

Background and purpose: Chemistry examinations can favour the deployment of algorithmic procedures like Le Chatelier's Principle (LCP) rather than reasoning using chemical principles. This study investigated the explanatory resources which high school students use to answer equilibrium problems and whether the marks given for examination answers…

In this article, the CLICK ("C"omputer Games and "L"iteracy "I"ntegrated with "C"ontent "K"nowledge) design model for high school education is proposed and developed as an instructional response to concerns about content coverage versus deeper content knowledge, learners' inability to grasp the meanings embedded in complex text, and disregard for…

This paper outlines the solution that the Team of Austria found to problem number 7, "skateboarder", presented in the finals of the 22nd International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) in Tianjin, China. We investigated how a skateboarder can accelerate from rest on a horizontal surface without touching an external support. The focus was laid on…

We conducted a series of experiments to investigate the extent to which prompting the construction of a force diagram affects student solutions to simple mechanics problems. A total of 891 university introductory physics students were given typical force and motion problems under one of the two conditions: when a force diagram was or was not…

Radiation pressure is an important topic within a standard physics course (see, in particular, Refs. 1 and 2). The physics of radiation pressure is described, the magnitude of it is derived, both for the case of a perfectly absorbing surface and of a perfect reflector, and various applications of this interesting effect are discussed, such as…