Influenced by the project entitled "Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics", this document is intended to guide a physics department in initial, or mid-stream evaluation of a program of undergraduate physics education. The original Guidelines were developed by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in 1986. The…

This American Association of Physics Teachers/Physics Teaching Resource Agents (APPT/PTRA) spiral-bound manual features labs and demos physics teachers can use to give students hands-on opportunities to learn about impulse and momentum. "Make-and-take activities" include AAPT Apparatus Contest winners "An Air Impulse Rocket," "A Fan Driven…

The naturalistic inquiry is premised on a story narrative to describe classroom experiences. In an ongoing dissertation research study into the teaching and learning of secondary science, classroom stories were constructed to portray a student's point of view. The student's classroom goals, roles, and expectations for the teacher are discussed.…

Olae is a computer system for assessing student knowledge of physics, and Newtonian mechanics in particular, using performance data collected while students solve complex problems. Although originally designed as a stand-alone system, it has also been used as part of the Andes intelligent tutoring system. Like many other performance assessment…

This collection of 5 issues of Imagine cover the time period from November/December 2001 through May/June 2002. Designed for gifted youth, the issues focus on dramatic arts, physics and astronomy, communications, law and politics, and robotics, and contain the following featured articles: (1) The Story of a Play (Gemma Cooper-Novack); (2)…

This study investigated the impact of different teaching styles on students' perceived effective learning strategies, and students' perceived learning goals for a university physics course. Participants included 55 students taught by an education researcher (the author) based on a constructivist view of learning, and 51 students taught by a…

This study investigated United Arab Emirates (UAE) high school students' views about the epistemology of science. About 1,600 high school science students, from the seven Emirates that constitute the UAE, participated in the study during the 1997-98 school year. Students responded to a questionnaire composed of 15 items selected mainly from the…

Discusses different kinds of material presentation in the teaching of electromagnetism at the university level, including three "classical" approaches and the Keller personalized proctorial system. Indicates that a general introduction to generators and motors may be useful in an electromagnetism course. (CC)

Discusses problems in using multiple-choice items on criterion-referenced tests, offering alternative methods to determine if objectives have been met. These include batteries of true-false items, structural communication grids, concept linkages, and a scoring system which takes partial knowledge into consideration. (JN)

Traces the history and development of temperature scales which began with the 17th-century invention of the liquid-in-glass thermometer. Focuses on the work of Olaf Romer, Daniel Fahrenheit, Rene-Antoine de Reamur, Anders Celsius, and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). Includes experimental work and consideration of high/low fixed points on the…

Discusses the uses of talk in science classrooms in general and physics classrooms in particular. Presents examples from three physics lessons illustrating the issues raised, focusing on the use of thematic systems of science--ways of talking about particular phenomena. (Author/JN)

Provides an annotated list of technical and nontechnical astronomy books (reviewer's remarks, cost, publisher's name/address). Topics include general astronomy, general astronomy textbooks, solar system, amateur astronomy, astronomy history, archeoastronomy, space exploration, related physics books, pseudoscience, and others. (JN)

An instrument for the continuous assessment of high school physics students' laboratory performance was developed and evaluated. Physics teachers (N=25) observed students conducting experiments on film to judge student performance against a standard set of criteria. Results suggest increases in observational objectivity and precision as well as…

Suggests a teaching strategy for water habitat studies to help students make a meaningful connection between physiochemical data (dissolved oxygen content, pH, and water temperature) and biological specimens they collect. Involves constructing a poster and using it to make predictions. Provides sample poster. (DC)

Describes an apparatus for plotting electric fields using burglar alarm window tape for electrodes and carbonized electronic stencil paper as sheet resistance. Also describes a simple pentode modulator circuit which will modulate a typical helium-neon gas laser, providing an audio channel for demonstration purposes. (SK)