A simple and low-cost, DIY-type, Arduino-driven experiment is presented for the study of friction and measurement of the friction coefficient, using a conductive rubber cord as a force sensor. It is proposed for high-school or college/university-level students. We strongly believe that it is worthwhile planning, designing and performing Arduino…

This work describes a simple experiment to measure the resistor temperature as a function of the applied power and proves that it is an efficient way to introduce some important physical concepts in classroom, including the Joule's first law, hot-spot temperature, thermal resistance, thermal dissipation constant, time constant and the Newton's law…

We present a method to analyse how pre-service science teachers relate events, ideas, characters and deeds in history of science and in cultural and general history. A group of 25 students presented their views they deemed to be of importance in history of science, culture, society and politics in era between 1550 and 1850. The sample is based on…

A low-cost alternative to the typical scientific laboratory water bath or a hot plate stirrer water bath is proposed. Readily available immersion circulators have been developed for sous vide cooking. These precision cookers are designed to maintain water at an exact temperature and thus are well-suited for the similar laboratory requirements of a…

Fostering the development of students' critical thinking (CT) is regarded as an essential outcome of higher education. However, despite the large body of research on this topic, there has been little consensus on how educators best support the development of CT. In view of some of the controversies surrounding the teaching of CT skills in higher…

Measuring understanding is notoriously difficult. Indeed, in formulating learning outcomes the word 'understanding' is usually avoided, but in the sciences, developing understanding is one of the main aims of instruction. Scientific knowledge is factual, having been tested against empirical observation and experimentation, but knowledge of facts…

Project-based learning has been shown to be an effective pedagogical strategy that motivates students and thus promotes learning. In this article we describe a project-based unit centered on the physics of solar cookers (Fig. 1 and 3). Our goal was to elevate the solar cooker from a summer camp activity to a college-level project that could be…

The Institute of Physics curriculum committee has been looking at ways of framing schoollevel physics so that it gives students a rewarding and productive experience of physics and leaves them with positive views of the discipline and its cultural contribution, as well as lasting and detailed skills, knowledge and understanding. The result is some…

Addressing student conceptions with instruction has been a major issue in physics education for decades. However, too often the focus is on treating student ideas as "misconceptions" rather than as potentially productive ideas with varying degrees of sophistication. This paper introduces "learning progressions" as models that…

An important but challenging problem-solving technique in introductory mechanics is that of using "tilted axes." For inclined plane and centripetal motion problems, using axes that are aligned relative to the ramp direction or the radial direction (rather than the horizontal and vertical) yields equations that are conceptually more…

When students first encounter energy bands in semiconductors, and how the properties of simple semiconductor devices such as the "p-n" junction diode depend on them, the concept can be a bit difficult to grasp. As part of an undergraduate physics course for non-STEM majors that includes semiconductors and simple devices based on the…

North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and, more recently, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) has added a grave threat to world order. The threat presented by these weapons depends critically on missile range, i.e., the ability to reach North America or Europe while carrying a nuclear warhead. Using the limited information available…

Costume jewelry beads are employed to demonstrate how a beam of beads are able to transform into a simple pendulum (single bead) where the pendulum length remains constant throughout. These beads are common and inexpensive for instructors, as well as attractive and exciting for students. Beads are removed from the top, keeping the same pendulum…

This dissertation presents results from research and curriculum development related to student understanding of the principle of superposition in introductory optics and upper-division quantum mechanics courses. The focus is on the extent to which students are able to relate the mathematical formalism used in physics to real-world phenomena. In…

What proof of the Pythagorean theorem might appeal to a physics teacher? A proof that involved the notion of mass would surely be of interest. While various proofs of the Pythagorean theorem employ the circumcenter and incenter of a right-angled triangle, we are not aware of any proof that uses the triangle's center of mass. This note details one…