THIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF "PHYSICS TODAY" REVIEWS THE STATUS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS, AS WELL AS COLLEGE PHYSICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. SECONDARY LEVEL PROJECTS INCLUDE PHYSICAL SCIENCE STUDY COMMITTEE PHYSICS, HARVARD PROJECT PHYSICS, THE ENGINEERING CONCEPTS CURRICULUM PROJECT, AND THE NUFFIELD PROJECT. THOSE AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL…

WRITTEN PRIMARILY FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS, THIS BOOK DEALS WITH TEST CONSTRUCTION WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON PLANNING, RULES FOR WRITING TEST ITEMS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF EXAMINATIONS. PRESENTED ARE SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTS TO TEST FOR (1) VARIOUS KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE, (2) UNDERSTANDING, AND (3) THE…

IN ADDITION TO THE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES, MANY PUBLISHERS ARE NOW PRINTING PROGRAMED MATERIALS IN COMMUNICATIONS. TWENTY-TWO PROGRAMS IN SUCH SUBJECTS AS ENGLISH GRAMMAR, SPELLING IMPROVEMENT, PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE, AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ARE REVIEWED. THE DISCUSSION…

This instructor's guide is designed for use with the Unified Technical Concepts (UTC) system for teaching applied physics in two-year postsecondary institutions. Following an introductory section, the first of three additional sections gives the background of the UTC approach to physics instruction. The second section describes the structure of…

It is conjectured that some skill entering into problem solving in physics courses might be responsible for making these courses so difficult. This might be the case if one or more basic problem-solving skills could not be mastered in the time and practice available. In order to test this hypothesis, a model of the way in which students solve…

Experiments to provide an understanding of the principles related to the pressure cooker are presented. Objectives included are designed to provide the learner with the ability to calibrate a thermistor for measuring temperature; explain the meaning of latent and specific heat; calculate latent and specific heat; use a Bourdon tube pressure gauge…

FACTORS WHICH WERE BELIEVED TO CONTRIBUTE TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WERE INVESTIGATED. THE SAMPLE WAS TAKEN FROM 130 FOUR-YEAR SECONDARY PUBLIC AND NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SOUTH DAKOTA. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS WAS COMPARED TO CLASS RANK, AND EXAMINED IN RELATION TO SUCH SCHOOL VARIABLES AS (1) SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, (2) SCIENCE AND…

This monograph was written for the purpose of presenting physics to college students who are not preparing for careers in physics. It deals with the nature of atoms, and treats the following topics: (1) the atomic hypothesis, (2) the chemical elements, (3) models of an atom, (4) a particle in a one-dimensional well, (5) a particle in a central…

The existence of a state of consciousness attained through transcendental meditation and characterized by specific qualities that would facilitate the acquisition of language is proposed. This theory is supported by analogies between certain conceptualizations of quantum physics and various aspects of transcendental meditation. Comparisons are…

This book discusses how some of the topics taught in a conventional physics course have been used to solve interesting technical problems in industry, medicine, agriculture, transportation, and other areas of society. The topics include heat, optics, magnetism and electricity, nuclear physics, and sound. (MLH)

This paper provides a broad reexamination of the correlates of faculty age, incorporating several measures of research activity and other related professional achievement variables. The data are derived from a large-scale, nationally representative survey of college and university faculty members; analyses are based on a subsample of all doctorate…

Fundamental concepts of motion are presented in this first unit of the Project Physics textbook. Descriptions of motion are made in connection with speeds, accelerations, and their graphical representation. Free-fall bodies are analyzed by using Aristotle's theory and Galileo's work. Dynamics aspects are discussed with a background of mass, force,…

This programmed instruction booklet is an interim version of instructional materials being developed by Harvard Project Physics. It is the first in a series of three booklets on vectors and covers the definitions of vectors and scalars, drawing vector quantities to scale, and negative vectors. For others in this series, see SE 015 550 and SE 015…

This is the second of a series of three programmed instruction booklets on vectors developed by Harvard Project Physics. It covers adding two or more vectors together, and finding a third vector that could be added to two given vectors to make a sum of zero. For other booklets in this series, see SE 015 549 and SE 015 551. (DT)

This is the third of a series of three programmed instruction booklets on vectors developed by Harvard Project Physics. Separating vectors into components and obtaining a vector from its components are the topics covered. For other booklets in this series, see SE 015 549 and SE 015 550. (DT)