National calls to transform undergraduate classrooms highlight the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As biologists, we use principles from chemistry and physics to make sense of the natural world. One might assume that scientists, regardless of discipline, use similar principles,…

Investigating student learning and understanding of conceptual physics is a primary research area within physics education research. Multiple quantitative methods have been employed to analyze commonly used mechanics conceptual inventories: the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). Recently,…

Students often use incoherent strategies in their problem solving involving force and motion, as revealed, e.g. when they are asked to draw force diagrams for amusement rides involving circular motion, whether in horizontal or vertical planes. Depending on the questions asked, assignments involving circular motion can reveal different types of…

Pole vaulting, the aim of which is to jump over a crossbar with the help of a long flexible pole, is considered to be one of the most complicated and technically demanding motions in track and field athletics. Pole vault performance is basically influenced by the energy exchange between the vaulter and pole. It depends on the sprinting, jumping…

For many years, Atwood's machine has been used to demonstrate, illustrate, or verify Newton's laws in introductory physics courses. It consists of two objects of different mass that are fastened to the ends of a string that hangs over a pulley. In an idealized situation, one assumes that pulley friction, the string's mass, and changes in the…

Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, F = "m"a, every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication…

During the last decade there has been a noticeable increase in the number and use of smartphones around the world, a fact evinced in the latest reports by the Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association (GSMA). Nowadays, 1 in 2 people in the world own and use a smartphone.

The analysis, calculations and graphical charts presented here in this paper are based directly on a recently published paper by the first two of the above-named authors. In the present paper, it is clearly demonstrated that all of the following nine (or eleven including the centripetal acceleration and total mechanical energy) principal physical…

The acceleration of gravity in Earth's interior is determined by the density distribution in Earth. A remarkable result is that the acceleration is approximately constant all over the mantle, which amounts to about 84% of Earth's volume. This result can be explained by a simple two-layer model of Earth, showing that the constancy of the…

Quadcopters, or drones, have come into wide use recently for a variety of applications including video inspection of otherwise inaccessible areas, real estate sales, and entertainment. Students are interested in them and in some cases own their own. The combination of high mobility, relatively low price, and autonomous operation is quite…

When learning about scientific phenomena, students are expected to "mechanistically" explain how underlying interactions produce the observable phenomenon and "conceptually" connect the observed phenomenon to canonical scientific knowledge. This paper investigates how the integration of the complementary processes of designing…

This study investigates the influence of computer-based simulations on students' academic achievement and attitudes toward learning Direct Current (DC) circuits in physics. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 40 secondary school students divided into an experimental group (20 students) and a control group (20 students). The…

Educators cannot overlook the affect's potential for students' educational success. In this study, affective analogies are proposed as a didactic resource to foster students' affect for chemistry learning and positive attitudes towards the physics-chemistry subject. To examine the influence of the affective analogies on it, we grouped contents of…

Nowadays, physics learning in the classroom should no longer only focus on achieving academics. It must prepare students to face challenges in the future. One of the abilities that are important for learners is problem solving, and the problem-solving ability that is becoming increasingly important in today's digital era is computational thinking…

This study explores the connection between patent citations and scientific publications across six fields: Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. Analysing 117,590 papers from 2014 to 2023, the research emphasizes how publication year, open access (OA) status, and discipline influence patent citations. Openly…