Mathematical reasoning with algebraic and geometric representations is essential for success in upperdivision and graduate-level physics courses. Complex algebra requires student to fluently move between algebraic and geometric representations. By designing a task for middle-division physics students to translate a geometric representation to…

This article concerns a lacuna in chemistry students' reasoning about chemical bonding. Although chemistry students are familiar with the charges that make up the atom--both positive and negative--they refer only to the attraction between unlike charges. Specifically, they ignore the repulsion between the positive nuclei. We named this disregard…

Cognitive psychology has undergone a paradigm shift in the ways we understand how knowledge is acquired and represented within the brain, yet the implications for how this impacts students' learning of material across disciplines has yet to be fully applied. In this article, we present an integrative review of embodied cognition, and demonstrate…

In quantum mechanics, probability amplitudes are complex numbers and the relative phases between the terms in superposition states have measurable effects. This article describes an investigation into sophomore- and junior-level students' reasoning patterns in relating relative phases and real-world quantum phenomena. The investigation involved…

Teacher professional development, in particular, has been at the center of efforts designed to increase teaching practice and the learning of students. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the 'teacher-led PD for teachers' program, developed by the researchers, on students' achievements. The study was conducted with six high…

Many studies provide insights into students' conceptions of various linear algebra topics and difficulties they face with multiple modes of thinking needed for conceptualization. While it is important to understand students' initial conceptions, students' transfer of learning of these conceptions to subsequent courses can provide additional…

Background: Qualitative interviewing is a common tool that has been utilized by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education researchers to explore and describe the experiences of students, educators, or other educational stakeholders. Some interviewing techniques use co-creation of an artifact, such as a personal timeline,…

Friction is one of the common forces that affect our everyday life and one of the oldest problems studied in physics. An interpretation of its nature is included in all general physics courses, in both high school and college. The desire and need to better understand it guided a long list of scientists who devoted themselves to the study of…

Undergraduate quantum mechanics (QM) uses a variety of notations, each with their own advantages and constraints, for representing quantum states and carrying out individual calculations. An example of this can be seen when calculating expectation values, which can be solved using several different methods. Analysis of written exam data given at…

Teachers are increasingly recognizing the need--and their power--to advocate on behalf of the teaching profession for the sake of their students and communities. National organizations like AAPT have a key role in amplifying teachers' voices. Building on the strategic vision for K-12 physics teacher professional development of the "Aspiring…

Analogies are suitable for teaching scientific concepts by comparing an unknown with a known. For this reason, they are widely used by textbook authors or science teachers for different aims such as introduction, clarification, or discrimination of new concepts. This study examines the analogies used in elementary science textbooks from 3rd to 8th…

A creative apparatus for use in a hands-on laboratory experiment that allows the visualization of the vapor pressure as a function of temperature is described in this paper. Inspired by homemade barometers and using simple materials that are easily accessible for teaching laboratories, a lowcost system for the establishment of the vapor-pressure…

A couple of experiments analyzing the vibration of bars in different configurations using as a vibration sensor an electric guitar pickup are presented. The device is a versatile and easy to operate sensor that can be used in experiments involving the analysis of vibrations in rods and bars of different composition and in different configurations.…

Teachers' professional knowledge is considered one of the most important predictors of instructional quality. According to Shulman, such professional knowledge includes content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge. Although recent research shed some light on the structure of the dimensions of professional knowledge, little is known how…

The ontologies students use--their conceptions about the nature of entities--impact the way they learn physics and reason through physics problems. We investigate students' capacities for flexible use of ontologies in a modern physics context, focusing on students' reasoning around two quantum entities (photons and electrons) for three canonical…