THE SYSTEMATIC USE OF MOTIVATING MATERIALS WAS DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED THROUGH THE TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A VIDEO-SOUND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING PROGRAMED TELEVISION TO INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS. FIVE PHYSICS PROGRAMS WERE DEVELOPED AND RECORDED ON VIDEOTAPE. EACH OF THE FIVE PROGRAMS HAD SEQUENCES PRECEDING IT WHICH WERE DESIGNED TO MOTIVATE THE STUDENT…

Investigated was the compatibility between the intellectual abilities of students and the level of intellectual operations required by secondary level physics textbooks. Student intellectual levels were determined for 949 tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students by administration of Piagetian tasks. Major concepts presented in physics…

Describes a cooperative research and construction project suitable for undergraduate physics students. Steps involved in the development of a device to demonstrate the distribution of molecular velocities in gases are detailed. (CP)

Reports on the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) physics department. Surveys the philosophy and objectives of the program, its organization, rules, funding, growth, atmosphere, problems, and accomplishments. (Author/CP)

The pedagogy and an extensive listing of topics suitable for large scale demonstrations are provided. (CP)

Provides a method by which students with different levels of ability may be taught on individual basis by one instructor. A pretest, skill session, and retest format are described. An appendix lists programmed materials in basic and advanced skills which are available. (CP)

Provides an account of the way in which one small university has coped with limited funds and a small staff to provide laboratory activities for freshman physics courses. (CP)

Provides the outline of an introductory college-level physics course which combines astronomy, astrophysics, relativity and communications with a study of civilizations and the conditions necessary for life. Student comments and an informal evaluation of the course are included. (CP)

This article examines: (1) some difficulties associated with teacher interaction analyses, (2) well known teacher interaction scales, (3) current directions in research and practice in observation, and (4) special applications of teaching interaction analyses to the field of physics. (CP)

Presents Unit Nine Change and Chance of the Nuffield Advanced Physics, dealing with energy conservation, and a novel statistical approach to diffusion, thermal equilibrium and thermodynamics. Information about energy resources, alternative sources of energy, and energy-cost of materials are also presented. (HM)

Presents a classroom demonstration that illustrates the Law of Conservation of Energy. The demonstration utilizes a coupled pendulum device that can easily be constructed from ordinary monofilament fishing line and two metal pendulum bobs. (HM)

Compares two teaching forms of an introductory laboratory course in physics. Concludes that the individualized version is more efficient in learning time and, on the whole, more effective than the traditional version, even though the latter one seems to reinforce student's existing positive attitudes towards physics experimentation. (Author/GA)

An interdisciplinary laboratory course is described in which the experimental methodology of physics is applied to problems of potential research interest to the nonphysicist. Special attention is given to those practical considerations which determine the structure and content of such a course with particular emphasis on the unique pedagogical…

As part of a senior high school physics unit on nuclear power, changes in student attitudes toward nuclear power plants and problems of energy supply were analyzed. Tests included a situational test, semantic differentials, knowledge or achievement, and a final questionnaire. The results are discussed. (CTM)

Describes a laboratory demonstration to show how to determine the focal length of a thin glass lens under water. (GA)