Some of you may remember the 1979 television series "Connections" that was written and narrated by James Burke, a British science writer. Burke's technique was to choose a number of seemingly unrelated ideas and show how they led to developments in science and technology. This is an enjoyable business, even if some of the connections…

The January 2018 issue of "The Physics Teacher" saw two articles that featured the RSpec Explorer as a supplementary lab apparatus. The RSpec Explorer provides live video spectrum analysis with which teachers can demonstrate how to investigate features of a diffracted light source. In this article I provide an introduction to the device…

The debate over the mechanisms responsible for the flow rates of simple tube siphons has received much attention in the physics education and general physics literature in the past decade. Particularly with regard to the driving mechanism for water siphons, some suggested explanations emphasize contributions, or lack thereof, from the atmospheric…

In the companion paper, "Aerodynamic Lift, Part 1: The Science," I described the key features of lifting flows. The objective of the present paper is to explain those features and the cause-and-effect relationships between them in a manner consistent with the laws of physics. [For Part 1, see EJ1195081.]

Following the global COVID-19 pandemic, digital learning environments have gained in importance in education all around the world. A new digital learning format called a "Digital Learning Module" (DLM) was developed within the Physics Education Research (PER) group at CERN, consisting of a series of prerecorded explanatory and experiment…

This study proposed a framework for Virtual Peer Learning by testing Peer Learning Model to engineering students at a university in Manila during the second semester of school year 2021-2022. Guided Peer Discussions method was applied using Virtual Think-Pair-Share and Virtual Gallery Walk as teaching strategies. Convergent-parallel mixed method…

This study uses an initial attitudinal survey and a subsequent follow-up survey to assess which qualities are correlated with the persistence of women in physics. The initial survey was given to participants at the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics, and the follow-up survey was given years later, after they…

This study presents the development and validation of a novel multiple-choice test designed to assess university students' conceptual understanding of electric field, force, and flux. The test of understanding of electric field, force, and flux was constructed based on the results of previous studies using a phenomenographic approach to classify…

This article focuses on bullying at lower secondary schools in Slovakia during typical daily routines and in the context of school segregation. The article is based on qualitative research and an ethnographic observation method, supplemented by interviews with teachers at the school. The findings indicate that bullying may represent a coping…

This study reports findings from an interview study with eleven teacher educators from a physics teacher training program in Finland. They represented the four training environments that students encounter during their education, i.e. the Department of Physics, the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, the Department of General…

A study was done at a mid-sized public university in the Midwest of the United States. At this university, there are three large classes taught in Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) classrooms: algebra-based introductory physics, calculus-based introductory physics, and introductory statistics.…

Despite the importance of physics practical work in higher education, its implementation is often hampered by various constraints and problems. Technology, such as learning management systems (LMS) and mobile learning, can offer solutions to some of these problems and enrich students' learning experiences. Therefore, this research proposes a model…

Declining enrolments in senior secondary science have heightened concerns for meeting the demands for more STEM-qualified workers and a scientifically literate society. Students' attitudes to science are formed during schooling, particularly in adolescence when they are exposed to a variety of science topics. Students' perceptions of their ability…

Physics graduate studies are substantial efforts on the part of individual students, departments, and institutions of higher education. Understanding the factors that lead to student success and attrition is crucial for improving these programs. One factor that has recently started to be investigated is the broadly defined students' experiences…

This study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate an instructional design model to enhance the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of physics student teachers. Model development is accomplished in five stages over two years: 1) problem identification, 2) preliminary identification of the product and design concepts, 3) preliminary theories and…