Differential drift of item location parameters over a 10-year period is demonstrated in data from the College Board Physics Achievement Test. Item content and secondary school curricula shifts are associated with drift. Statistical procedures for detecting item parameter drift in item pools for long-term testing programs are proposed. (TJH)

Describes college physics courses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Presents honors degree courses, entry requirements, course structure, and further information from 93 colleges in the British Isles. (YP)

Describes college physics courses in Scotland. Presents honors degree courses, entry requirements, course structure, and further information from 15 colleges in Scotland. (YP)

Describes a high school physics teaching sequence including more modern topics. The first quarter covers cosmology, astronomy, optics, wave mechanics, relativity, gravity, and quantum theory. The second quarter covers classical mechanics. The third quarter covers electromagnetism and electronics. The fourth quarter consists of thermodynamics and…

Described is the manufacture of a superconductor from a commercially available kit using equipment usually available in schools or easily obtainable. The construction is described in detail including equipment, materials, safety procedures, tolerances, and manufacture. (Author/CW)

This article reports the status of an undergraduate course in introductory physics at the University of Ulster and its success over the past 11 years. The original plan, problems, changes, and an assessment of the course are discussed. Lists 11 references. (YP)

Discussed are two contrasting views about the nature of scientific thinking including Pearson's and Collingwood's. The contexts of questions, methods, problems, experiments, and history are described as contexts of inquiry. The physical thoughts of scientists from pre-Aristotelian times to the present are outlined in relation to contexts of…

Describes the theory and application of an atomic fountain which pushes the atoms by laser pulses. Discusses the applications in measuring atomic properties and in building an atomic clock. (YP)

Described is the subject of biological scaling for physics teachers including examples and in-depth reading. Topics are elements of scaling, terminal velocities, Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian, brain evolution, dolphin echolocation, surface tension, gravity change, food and oxygen, and seeing. Ten references on physics and size, and ten questions…

Evidence is presented negating the theory that gravitoinertial force is perceived. It is suggested that spatial orientation is based on information derived from patterns of motion of the organism, the surface of support, and compensatory actions of the organism. Recommendations for further research are outlined. (SLD)

Describes an experiment for determining the refractive index. Discusses the experiment procedure and mathematical expression for calculating the index. Provides two geometrical diagrams and a graph for determining the index with a typical data. (YP)

Discusses image reflection in a plane mirror. Illustrates several cases of the reflection and points out the possibility of confusing students by using the term "lateral inversion." (YP)

Discusses the use of logarithm and reciprocal graphs in the college physics classroom. Provides examples, such as electrical conductivity, reliability function in the Weibull model, and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation for latent heat of vaporation. Shows graphs with weighting of points. (YP)

Describes an experiment designed to disprove the belief that an electrical field originating from a point inside a closed conducting surface cannot produce an electric field outside this surface. (ZWH)