Describes a procedure used to measure force and pressure in elastic arteries. Discusses the physics of the procedure and recommends the use of bovine arteries. Explains the preparation of the arteries for the procedure. (DDR)

Focuses on three main issues emerging from studies of conceptual development: (1) young children's naive theories of the world; (2) how innate constraints in conceptual development work; and (3) how innate and sociocultural constraints are integrated. Maintains that early development of core domains of thought (naive psychology, physics, and…

Draws from studies in the sociology of scientific knowledge to create a new perspective for understanding school science. Merges ethnography and discourse analysis to study science-in-the-making in a physics classroom. Investigates local conceptual ecologies. Contains 55 references. (DDR)

Provides an account of the instruction of university-level introductory physics courses using a framework characterized by curiosity-driven inquiry in science and science teaching. Describes the role of the instructor as providing students with the incentive to learn science through their pursuit of personally meaningful questions. Contains 25…

First-year students (n=369) at an engineering institute were divided into experimental and control groups and given pre- and post-tests. Experimental groups were taught force concepts in mechanics in a constructivist way. Results found the new method helped students understand the interaction idea of the force concept. (MKR)

Describes a technique that uses a helium neon laser, a steel rule, a wooden rule, and a piece of paper to measure the diameter of a hair using the diffraction of light. Details on technique, mathematics, and sources of error are provided. (DDR)

Reports the comments of students in an A-level revision course in physics on being asked to draw a concept map for energy. Students' comments on the task were generally positive and related to their feelings about the task and their own learning. (DDR)

Argues that high school physics should be grounded in motivating contextual activities and connected to a philosophically and historically valid theoretical structure. Explains the large context problem approach and its effect on generating questions and problems. (DDR)

Discusses the emphasis on physics instruction in the medical school curriculum, focusing on the career of J. K. Robertson (1885-1958), who taught physics to medical students at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, for nearly half a century. Reviews Robertson's combination of basic and applied physics instruction and emphasis on radiology. (MDM)

Describes a demonstration which creates the illusion of violating Archimedes Principle. The procedure involves two liquids with identical densities and produces drops of one liquid suspended in the middle of a column of the second liquid. (DDR)

Describes the Software Teaching of Modular Physics (SToMP), a software package that is structured to be a complete learning and teaching environment. Allows students to explore and learn about physics topics without necessarily having to refer to teachers or to other resources. (DDR)

Describes a simple experiment that uses a CCD video camera, a display monitor, and a laser-printed bar pattern to illustrate signal sampling problems that produce aliasing or moiri fringes in images. Uses the Fourier transform to provide an appropriate and elegant means to explain the sampling theorem and the aliasing phenomenon in CCD-based…

Describes an activity in which students use a bathroom scale and a long board to see how their weight changes on other planets and the moon. Materials list, procedures, tables of planet radii, comparative values, and gravitational ratios are provided. (DDR)

Explains how Venus changes visibility regularly from morning to evening because of its quick orbit time during part of the year. Includes a brief history of observations of this phenomenon and provides a detailed account from the Australian Aborigines. (DDR)