Perhaps the most commonly cited student idea about forces in the literature is the notion of an impetus force, defined as the "belief that there is a force inside a moving object that keeps it going and causes it to have some speed," that can then "fade away as the object moves along." According to the literature, even after…

When deriving the equation describing the transverse motion of a one-dimensional vibrating elastic string, introductory physics textbooks often assume constant tension and/or small amplitude vibrations. However, these simplifying assumptions are not only unnecessary, but they overlook the elastic nature of the tension and yield an inconsistent…

Newton's laws are essential for understanding causes and description of mechanical motion. Great attention is paid to them during physics education. Unfortunately, many students, not only in high school, but also undergraduates, can recite them but do not understand their essence. Therefore, it is useful to demonstrate different experiments in the…

Of the many disciplines that rely on calculus, physics is among those with the strongest connections to this branch of mathematics. For instance, the derivative--one of the key notions of calculus--is used to describe velocity and acceleration, which play a central role in mechanics. In post-secondary education, in particular at the college level,…

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to investigate the robustness of the human movement effect and its stability over time by comparing the effectiveness of dynamic and static presentations on acquisition and retention of a gross motor skill. Methods: One hundred and seven first-year students studying for the certificate in Physical…

Electromagnetism (E&M) is often challenging for students enrolled in introductory college-level physics courses. Compared to mechanics, the mathematics of E&M is more sophisticated and the representations are more abstract. Furthermore, students may lack productive intuitions they had with force and motion. In this article, we explore the…

The aim of the present work is to demonstrate the expediency of using information technologies on the study of Brownian motion. The importance of using such software as VirtualDub, Tracker and Google Sheets for the study of Brownian motion has been substantiated. This made it possible to determine the values that cannot be measured directly (the…

This study proposes methods of reporting results of physics conceptual evaluations that more fully characterize the range of outcomes experienced by students with differing levels of prior preparation, allowing for more meaningful comparison of the outcomes of educational interventions within and across institutions. Factors leading to variation…

Ciphers based on rotor machines were the state-of-the-art in the mid-1900s, with arguably the most famous being the German Enigma. We have found that students have great interest in the Enigma and its cryptanalysis, so we created our own rotor cipher that is simulated with shifting tables and can be cryptanalyzed. Ours and the historic rotor…

In this study, we have explored the effectiveness of two instructional approaches in the context of the motion of objects falling at terminal speed in the presence of air resistance. We ground these instructional approaches in dual-process theories of reasoning, which assert that human cognition relies on two thinking processes. Dual-process…

Contribution: This work seeks to ascertain the validity of a remote-controlled experiment of the Physics Remote Lab in the educational context, specifically among students from engineering courses. Background: In 2012, it has been started the development of the Physics Remote Lab at the Federal University of Itajubá, Brazil, a laboratory with a…

Recent scholarship in 4E Cognition posits what dancers intuitively know so well--that our conceptual maps and communicative strategies emerge directly from and in fluid relationship with our own bodily habitation of our world. This article offers a pedagogical strategy aimed to bridge the ontological divide between dancing and writing through the…

This article looks at an interdisciplinary college movement and mathematics course from the perspectives of one of its co-creators and a mathematics education researcher. It suggests deep, embodied use of choreographic problem solving can form an effective path to mathematics learning through (a) conceptual overlap between mathematics and dance,…

Developing design concepts is crucial in architectural engineering education, yet helping students to develop these concepts is a challenging task. Despite previous research exploring design concepts, statistical analysis is scarce to evaluate their effectiveness. This study used the body movement methods from existing literature, combined with…

Teachers' spatial behaviours in the classroom can strongly influence students' engagement, motivation and other behaviours that shape their learning. However, classroom teaching behaviour is ephemeral, and has largely remained opaque to computational analysis. Inspired by the notion of Spatial Pedagogy, this paper presents a system called 'Moodoo'…