When one end of a taut horizontal elastic string is shaken repeatedly up and down, a transverse wave (assume sine waveform) will be produced and travel along it. College students know this type of wave motion well. They know when the wave passes by, each element of the string will perform an oscillating up-down motion, which in mechanics is termed…

This paper shows a child psychotherapist learning and developing her technique as she attempts to make contact with a child who is extremely hard to reach. It is based on the first two years of three-times-weekly intensive psychotherapy of a latency girl who had little faith in a helpful therapeutic relationship. Her defences against such a…

We develop an Easy Java Simulation (EJS) model for students to experience the physics of idealized one-dimensional collision carts. The physics model is described and simulated by both continuous dynamics and discrete transition during collision. In designing the simulations, we discuss briefly three pedagogical considerations namely (1) a…

This mixed methods research utilized Action Based Learning Theory on a population of undergraduate college-aged students to determine if movement breaks in a predominately lecture-style college class affected a student's ability to demonstrate learning. Four professors from various disciplines, each teaching two sections of the same…

In order to increase the knowledge of locomotor disturbances in children with autism, and of the mechanism underlying them, the objective of this exploratory study was to reliably and quantitatively evaluate linear gait parameters (spatio-temporal and kinematic parameters), upper body kinematic parameters, walk orientation and smoothness using an…

Building students' ability to transfer physics fundamentals to real-world applications establishes a deeper understanding of underlying concepts while enhancing student interest. Forensic science offers a great opportunity for students to apply physics to highly engaging, real-world contexts. Integrating these opportunities into inquiry-based…

This paper reports the results of two sets of studies demonstrating 14-month-olds' tendency to associate an object's behavior with internal, rather than external features. In Experiment 1 infants were familiarized to two animated cats that each exhibited a different style of self-generated motion. Infants then saw a novel individual that had an…

This article introduces a research study on student model formation and development in introductory mechanics. As a point of entry, I present a detailed analysis of the Long Decay Model of one-dimensional projectile motion. This model has been articulated by Galileo ("in De Motu") and by contemporary students. Implications for instruction are…

This paper reports on a programme of research carried out over a period of twenty years by Joan Bliss, Jon Ogborn and others, and aimed at understanding how pupils and students reason about the everyday physical world. Our starting point was the science alternative conceptions literature, particularly force and motion, where the results puzzled…

This work ends a trilogy devoted to a journey into the foundations of special relativity. The first paper debated the meaning of the constancy of the two-way speed of light and its close relation to the conceptualization of time. The second one addressed the question of the possible constancy of the one-way speed of light and the trivial--but,…

Research on visual perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tries to reveal the underlying mechanisms of aberrant local and global processing. Global motion perception is one way to study this aspect of ASD. We used plaid motion stimuli, which can be perceived as a coherently moving pattern, requiring feature integration, or as two transparent…

This paper explores a variety of practices and classroom activities that engage the whole student. Grounded in a somatic perspective (from "soma" meaning the body in its wholeness--the integration of thinking, feeling, and acting), the discussion shows how students can be brought fully into learning through movement, music, and…

Anything that can capture the interest of students can be used to enhance the teaching of physics, and sport is practised, watched and followed fanatically by almost every young person. At the same time, in recent years, a wealth of research data has become available from the field of sports science. The purpose of this article is to draw from…

Using hand gestures is a great way to get students engaged in learning and more focused on reading comprehension strategies. This article presents descriptions of simple hand motions that teachers can use to help their students predict, question, clarify, and summarize while reading.

Visual information can specify spatial layout with respect to the observer (egocentric) or with respect to an external frame of reference (allocentric). People can use both of these types of visual spatial information to guide their hands. The question arises if movements based on egocentric and movements based on allocentric visual information…