This paper describes how a short, repeated and structured opportunity to reflect was integrated in the storyline of a serious game in order to stimulate the development of a meta-cognitive skill: the ability to self-assess the degree of confidence in own answers. An empirical validation of the approach, conducted with 28 secondary school pupils,…

The central roles that modelling plays in the processes of scientific enquiry and that models play as the outcomes of that enquiry are well established (Gilbert & Boulter, 1998). Besides, there are considerable similarities between the processes and outcomes of science and technology (Cinar, 2016). In this study, we discuss how the use of…

For decades now, the laser has been used as a handy device for performing ray traces in geometrical optics demonstrations and laboratories. For many ray- trace applications, I have found the laser level 3 to be even more visually compelling and easy for student use than the laser pointer.

This paper is an attempt to reconstruct how C.V. Raman, a peripheral scientist in the early 20th century colonial India, managed to develop a research programme in physical optics from his remote colonial location. His attempts at self-training and self-education eventually led him to the discovery of the Raman Effect and to the Nobel Prize in…

In the fall of 1999 I was shown an Ocean Optics spectrometer-in-the-computer at St. Patricks College at Maynooth, Ireland, and thought that I had seen heaven. Of course, it could not resolve the sodium D-lines (I had done that many years before with a homemade wire diffraction grating), and I began to realize that inside was some familiar old…

In this paper, an in-class activity concerned with real image formation by a converging lens in the context of accommodation in human eyes is described. In the first part of the activity, students are encouraged to experience the accommodation of their eyes in a prescribed way using simple materials. In the second part, the accommodation function…

Since the invention and dissemination of domestic laser pointers, observing optical phenomena is a relatively easy task. Any student can buy a laser and experience at home, in a qualitative way, the reflection, refraction and even diffraction phenomena of light. However, quantitative experiments need instruments of high precision that have a…

Is moonlight "silver" or "cold"? In this paper we discuss the interesting combination of factors that contribute to the common descriptions of moonlight. Sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface and red-shifted. When traversing the atmosphere, moonlight is further depleted of short wavelength content by Rayleigh scattering.…

Surprisingly colourful views are possible from sparkling white snow. It is well known that similarly colourful features can exist in the sky whenever appropriate ice crystals are around. However, the transition of light reflection and refraction from ice crystals in the air to reflection and refraction from those in snow on the ground is not…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the university-level application of an Argument-Based Inquiry Approach, as compared to the traditional laboratory teaching method, on the ability of students to learn about optics and to demonstrate critical thinking. In this quasi-experimental study, pretest-posttest scores and CCDTI were…

In this article we propose an activity aimed at introductory students to help them understand the Stefan-Boltzmann and Wien's displacement laws. It only requires simple materials that are available at any school: an incandescent lamp, a variable dc energy supply, and a computer to run an interactive simulation of the blackbody spectrum.…

We piloted a semester-long, interdisciplinary, introductory science course using recently developed optogenetic technique as a main context. In neuroscience application, this technique introduces the gene of light-sensitive membrane protein into a targeted class of neurons, whose activity then can be modulated with a laser of specific wavelength.…

This paper describes the authors' experiences transforming a "cookbook" lab into an inquiry-based investigation and the powerful effect the inquiry-oriented lab had on our students' understanding of lenses. We found the inquiry-oriented approach led to richer interactions between students as well as a deeper conceptual…

We designed a physics laboratory exercise around pulse oximetry, a noninvasive medical technique used to assess a patient's blood oxygen saturation. An alternative to a traditional optics and light lab, this exercise teaches the principles of light absorption, spectroscopy, and the properties of light, while simultaneously studying a common…

This paper describes a set of demonstration school experiments where infrared radiation is detected using thermal sensitive foils. The possibility of using standard glass lenses for infrared imaging is discussed in detail. It is shown that with optic components made from glass, infrared radiation up to 2.5 µm of wavelength can be detected. The…