Teaching cosmology at the undergraduate or high school level requires simplifications and analogies, and inevitably brings the teacher into contact with at least one of the pedagogical interpretations of the expanding Universe. The by far most popular interpretation holds that galaxies in an expanding Universe are stationary, while space itself…

Objective: To develop and validate a scale measuring health beliefs about UV in cloudy climates that may impact UV exposure behaviors. Participants: Students at a large university in Oregon completed pilot (N = 115) and final (N = 335) scales online March-July, 2016. Five participants underwent cognitive interviews. Methods: Expert feedback,…

A simple computer interface for controlling a compact spectrograph for use as a spectrophotometer in an undergraduate teaching laboratory was developed. The project was implemented on a Raspberry Pi computer which permits the integration of a light source into the software. The interface was written in Python to facilitate modification by the user…

Light has the most interesting phenomena among physics concepts. We designed the light phenomena conceptual assessment (LPCA) to help teachers measure their students' conceptual understanding of light phenomena. We expected to measure increases in student understanding of light phenomena after learning about the wave and particle nature of light…

To span the great distance from the solar system to the farthest clusters of galaxies in the universe, astronomers break down the distance indicators into steps. The nearest ones are measured geometrically, with what is known as parallax. Among the objects whose distances are thus directly measured are a rare type of star known as a Cepheid…

Physically-based rendering (PBR) concept is widely use nowadays in 3D rendering works, this concepts interested in the ray of light for describes the interaction of light and materials. Understanding the principles of PBR can be easier to adjust shader parameters to be realistic, react correctly to changes in lighting condition and also giving the…

Contribution: A do-it-yourself (DIY) light wave sensing (LWS) and communication project was developed to generate interest and clarify basic electromagnetic (EM) and wireless sensing/communication concepts among students at different education levels from middle school to undergraduate. This article demonstrates the nature of the project and its…

Formative assessments serve to engage students in active sense-making, making them critical tools for both teachers and students. Though formative assessments may be an informal mode of assessing, they are one of the most important, especially when teaching science. As a subject, teaching science does not have the same kind of beginning-middle-end…

An experiment is described that uses easily obtained materials (glow sticks, chalk, and acetone or alcohol) to separate the dyes contained in glow sticks that actively emit chemiluminescent light. The experiment is very easy to carry out, making it amenable for students to perform in laboratory or outreach settings. The separation occurs fast…

Insomnia is a common source of distress in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two characteristics of ASD could be relevant to insomnia complaints by hampering the entrainment of a circadian sleep-wake rhythm. First, sensory hyper-reactivity could lead to bright light avoidance and thus affect photoperiodic input to the circadian system.…

The purpose of this study was to explore how students interacted with guidance to conduct a scientific inquiry in a physics simulation by using the eye-tracking techniques. The participants were 51 7th graders, and an eye-tracking system was used to record their visual behaviors and log data while they were using the simulation. As for data…

Laboratory experiments provide students a tangible means of understanding dry, abstract concepts. A simple and engaging introductory wet chemistry laboratory has been developed relating quantum mechanics to color, which has been implemented for a class of about 600 students per academic year for over three years at Brown University. Color is an…

Stargardt Disease was identified by German ophthalmologist Karl Stargardt in 1901. It is the most commonly inherited macular dystrophy condition (Light et al., 2017), with an estimated worldwide prevalence of 1 in 8,000 to 1 in 10,000 (Cai et al., 2018). Stargardt Disease is the juvenile version of macular degeneration (Daly, 2014), with its early…

Light is used ubiquitously across science and engineering to explore, characterise, understand matter, and catalyse processes. Relative to its utility in science and engineering, very little research has been conducted on how students develop an understanding of light-matter interactions, especially at the quantum level, which is necessary to…

The role of peer and teacher mediation in discussions about two original scientific texts in the final year of high school in Brazil is explored in this study. A text by James C. Maxwell, deals with the characterisation of light as an electromagnetic phenomenon, and refers to the continuous manner of the distribution of energy by radiation in…