Describes an investigation with the primary purpose of allowing students to generate and interpret a pressure/volume diagram of a Stirling engine. Explains how the Stirling engine can be used to demonstrate the principles of operation of a refrigerator and a heat pump. (DDR)

Analyzes conceptions of energy of physics students' in a pre-service teacher training program. Findings indicate that the students are considerably anthropocentric in their associations, their choice of pictures, and their alternative conceptions and hold a number of different, alternative conceptions when describing physical situations. Contains…

Examines the potential of global environmental issues as starting points for learning science by studying the preconceptions of children aged 12-13 about the nature, functions, and vulnerability of the ozone layer. Results indicate that children are familiar with the location and nature of the ozone layer but less informed about its magnitude and…

Describes the design and development of a method for high school physics instruction which actively engages students in understanding the physical world by constructing and using scientific models to describe, explain, predict, and control phenomena. Presents evidence for the effectiveness of the modeling method. Concludes that effectiveness of…

Presents an effective way to demonstrate the difference between direct current and alternating current using red and green LEDs. Describes how to make a tool that shows how an AC voltage changes with time using the afterimage effect of the LEDs. (Author/NB)

Presents an activity in which race cars are designed and constructed out of edible materials. Students explore relationships between speed, distance, and time using both math and science. Includes a chart that shows alignment with the National Science Education Standards. (DDR)

Describes an activity for designing, building, and launching rockets that provides students with an intrinsically motivating and real-life application of what could have been classroom-only concepts. Includes rocket design guidelines and a sample grading rubric. (KHR)

Investigates meanings of an innovative, reform-based curriculum (Active Physics) in various contexts. Explores how meanings of the curriculum transformed as it traveled across space and time. Discusses how aspects of the context enabled innovative science and those that constrained the potential of the curriculum. Demonstrates potential for…

Used computerized simulation models of qualitative, conceptual problem solving and quantitative problem solving to examine qualitative physics knowledge acquisition during textbook-based physics training. Found that qualitative knowledge was acquired on the basis of explicit textbook information, but there were also cases of qualitative learning…

Presents ideas for using spreadsheets to explore random numbers, electric-potential distributions, function fitting, and the frequency analysis of waveforms. Contains 18 references. (JRH)

A Lockheed flight controls engineer describes how, as an undergraduate, he taught first graders basic lessons in physics and engineering by using slides, monkey bars, and other playground equipment to demonstrate principles like gravity, friction, force, and inertia. The children learned more about lift and gravity by constructing and flying paper…

Describes a week-long activity for general to honors-level students that addresses Hubble's law and the universal expansion theory. Uses a discrepant event-type activity to lead up to the abstract principles of the universal expansion theory. (JRH)

Describes a protocol designed to help students taking their first undergraduate physics course acquire the basic skills of physics problem solving. Discusses the evaluation of the educational effectiveness of this protocol and its use in an interactive multimedia learning package. Contains 16 references. (Author/JRH)

Discusses the need for a student who is using computer-aided instruction to also study the actual learning process. Regardless of the superiority of the teaching materials, the restructuring of previously existing knowledge structures in the learner is difficult. Computer-aided instruction should be aimed at helping with this restructuring.…

Explains the design and development of curriculum materials that ask students to think about physics from a different view. These group-learning classroom materials specifically aim to bring about improvement of student understanding of sound waves. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/SOE)