A brief overview of LabNet, a project aimed at enhancing physics education, is provided. The article focuses on a description of LabNetwork which is one of several mechanisms designed to offer LabNet participants opportunities to give and receive peer support. (ZWH)

The consistency, if any, with which force concepts are used by individual students in different, but closely related, contexts was investigated. A total of 534 university and high school students were tested to elicit their beliefs about the forces acting on various objects. Students' beliefs about the forces acting on objects at rest and in…

Discussed is whether high school students of teachers trained in the use of open-ended historical experiments dealing with light and sound perceive physics in a more favorable light. The effect of the training on the participants' classrooms on both teachers and students (n=130) is investigated. (KR)

Presents results of longitudinal study of secondary school students. Focuses on the relationship between students' cognitive development and the understanding of dynamics. Shows that majority of younger pupils show little or no cognitive progress during three-year period whereas older pupils make reasonable progress. Concludes that different…

The effect of equations in scientific proofs on readers' comprehension was studied. Forty college undergraduates solved unfamiliar physics problems with or without a traditional series of related equations. Verbal proofs produced better responses than did equation-based proofs. Equations in proofs cause readers to shift attention away from…

This study examined the problem-solving protocols of 21 students in a grade 11 enriched physics course as well as 3 adult "experts" in physics. Experts and high performing students made more correct metastatements and more references to prior knowledge than did average performing students. (DB)

Addresses the problem that students balk at the notion velocities do not add algebraically. Offers a geometric model to verify the algebraic formulas that calculate velocity addition. Representations include Galilean relativity, Einstein's composition of velocities, and the inverse velocity transformation. (MDH)

Interactive computerized tests accepting unrestricted natural-language input were used to assess knowledge of clinical biophysics at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Comparison of responses to open-ended sequential questions and multiple-choice questions on the same material found the two formats test different aspects of competence.…

A technique for studying various properties of soap bubbles subjected to deformation, accompanied by some representative experiments to illustrate the versatility of the method, is presented. The measurement of the change of force that occurs when a bubble is stretched is calculated. (KR)

A graphical illustration is presented indicating how the mean proportional (geometric mean), once established for one set of conditions of a geometric identity, can be used to generate other sets of conditions for the same identity. Exemplified is the application of this principle in developing graphical solutions to engineering problems. (JJK)

Presents several electricity activities for developing student's science process skills of observation and inference. (PR)

Describes a student project to build a car powered by the energy in a mousetrap as part of a unit on simple machines. (PR)

Presents a three-lesson unit that uses fractal geometry to measure the coastline of Massachusetts. Two lessons provide hands-on activities utilizing compass and grid methods to perform the measurements and the third lesson analyzes and explains the results of the activities. (MDH)

Describes a science competition challenge that has students solve several hands-on physical science problems, thus reinforcing both problem-solving skills and science knowledge. (PR)

Describes a structure building activity using cocktail straws for helping students understand force and vectors. (PR)