The development of aids for teaching a general physics course to blind students is discussed. Described are how the materials should be used considering the topic of equilibrium of a rigid body. Results and improvements obtained with this method of teaching are briefly discussed. (KR)

The model for color vision put forward by Edwin Land is explained. The aspects of the theory that can be demonstrated within the classroom are described. A random arrangement of straight-edged colored areas mounted on a screen, called a Mondrian, projectors, and a computer are used to calculate reflectance. (KR)

The consequences of exchanging ideas while making joint decisions about the paths followed by falling objects are addressed. Based on the results from 12- to 15-year-old pupils (n=82) who responded to computer-presented problems, it is indicated that benefits are to be gained but that constraints additional to joint decision making may be…

Using a paper-and-pencil test consisting of multiple-choice situational questions which also require reasoning for the choices made, common misconceptions in light were identified. It was found that most of the students understand the basic properties of light at a knowledge level but had difficulty applying these concepts in novel situations.…

Uses diagrams and text to illustrate the use of Lissajous figures (the figures that are traced out when two simple harmonic motions are combined at right angles to each other) in teaching basic physics concepts. Covers the mathematics of the Lissajous Figure; demonstrating Lissajous Figures; and a typical class. (ZWH)

Describes a community-college curriculum that incorporates Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) laboratories into a new calculus-based preengineering physics sequence. SDI allows for group discussion labs that emphasize the concepts being taught in the lectures. (ZWH)

Discusses reasons for the decline in American student participation in the sciences and offers suggestions to reverse this trend. (ZWH)

Compares and reviews currently available brands of steel construction sets that are useful to physics teachers for building demonstrations, prototypes of mechanisms, robotics, and remote control devices. (ZWH)

Describes an interactive computer program (RelLab) that acts to introduce the fundamental ideas of relativity to students. Students working cooperatively investigate paradoxes of relative motion by constructing thought experiments and discussing their findings. (ZWH)

Described is the undergraduate curriculum in physics and its relationship to astronomy at Cambridge University. Discussed are the astronomical research and research establishments at Cambridge. Personal views of a student on the postgraduate research being done at Cambridge are also included. (KR)

An educational technique to calculate the lifetime of a comet using software-generated random numbers is introduced to undergraduate physiques and astronomy students. Discussed are the generation and eligibility of the required random numbers, background literature related to the problem, and the solution to the problem using random numbers.…

Suggests using poetry such as James Maxwell's "To the Chief Musician upon Nabla: A Tyndallic Ode" as a vehicle for learning physics. Discusses the physics concepts alluded to in the verses of the poem. (MDH)

Presents a laboratory exercise to reinforce the concepts of conductivity and resistance. Students measure resistance over rolled out Play-Doh of differing lengths and widths using the four-point resistance measurement method. (MDH)

Presents a method to convince students that the image produced by a plane mirror is actually behind the mirror. Uses observations that the letters of an eye chart posted on a mirror are twice the size of the images of letters of an eye chart they are holding. Provides two reproducible eye charts. (MDH)

Discusses problems for educational research posed by the unpredictability and indeterminism of human behavior. Presents a theory of purposeful behavior (perceptual control theory) to provide an explicit working model of how individuals produce repeatable outcomes via variable means. Describes primary characteristics of this theory and its…