Lecturers may provide insufficient challenge when teaching first year university physics courses. Investigates comparisons in learning outcomes between a traditional teaching group and a constructivist-orientated teaching group along with lecturers' and students' perceptions of those courses. The lecturers emphasized the students' poor physics…

Discusses potential pedagogical difficulties arising from using physics-related contexts in high-school mathematics problems. Suggests that such problems should not require any external knowledge of physics by the students; meanwhile, the problems should not contradict the physics knowledge that the students may already have. Presents several…

Describes a simple computer interface that can be used to make reliable time measurements, such as when timing the swings of a pendulum. Presents a sample experiment involving a form of pendulum known as the compound pendulum. (Author/YDS)

Extends the modeling system presented in Part I. This model is applied to two widely diverse educational processes: "Student Actions" and "Do Homework Problem." Its computational syntax imposes completeness criteria on the modeling and its uniformity. (AIM)

Explains some of the properties of refrigerator magnets by conceptualizing their makeup as a line of tiny, consecutive horseshoe magnets. (WRM)

Describes a collection of free-body exercises for linear and circular motion. Offers new methods of drawing free-body diagrams. (CCM)

Finds that students taking algebra-based introductory physics have difficulty with one- and two-body problems in particle mechanics. Provides graded exercises for drawing and utilizing free-body diagrams. (CCM)

Compares various detector technology for measuring the direction and magnitude of magnetic fields. (CCM)

Describes an experiment undertaken to determine what relative electric charges would result if three or more pieces of transparent tape were placed on top of each other and then separated one at a time. Makes suggestions for using the project in high school and undergraduate classes. (WRM)

Describes an inquiry-based cooperative activity designed to give students a sense of the connection between stellar spectra and temperature. (WRM)

Investigates the effects of two instructional strategies--augmented activation activities vs. expository instruction--and three different presentation formats--microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL), simulation, and computer-based text--on individuals' ability to understand concepts in physics. Indicates significant main effect for presentation…

Presents a low-cost activity in which students dissect cameras and build telescopes. (WRM)

Explains the use of Newton's law of proportional cooling in creating a realistic heating curve. (WRM)

Examines the contents of textbooks used in physics courses between 1967 and 1997 in Victoria, Australia for curriculum balance and emphasis on different aspects of scientific literacy. (Author/CCM)

Describes a science laboratory that plays an important role in making modern physics accessible to teachers, school classes, and individual students. Claims it is a resource and a complement to the traditional education system. (Author/CCM)