To address existing challenges in teaching theoretical mechanics and enhance instructional quality, the teaching team implemented innovative reforms. Guided by a "student-centered" philosophy and powered by digital intelligence technologies with "Chaoxing" AI as the engine, the course reconstructed a three-dimensional objective…

Physics teacher identity encompasses teachers' beliefs and views toward being a physics teacher. Physics teacher identity is influenced by teachers' perspectives on physics teaching and learning. Previous studies on teacher identity in general suggest that the construct is complex and malleable. Studies further suggest that it influences…

Writing is a critical skill for modern science, enabling collaboration, scientific discourse, public outreach, and more. Accordingly, it is important to consider how physicists and astronomers are trained to write. This study aims to understand the landscape of science writing education, specifically in physics and astronomy, in higher education…

Neutrinos are perhaps the least understood of the known denizens of the subatomic world. They have nearly no mass, interact only via the weak nuclear force and gravity, and, perhaps most surprising, the three known species of neutrinos can transform from one variant into another. This transformation, called neutrino oscillation, has been…

The need to modernise school physics to encompass the fundamentals of Einsteinian physics is widely recognised. While the ability of students to comprehend qualitative Einsteinian concepts has been demonstrated, little information exists to determine the best student age and the duration of instruction required for introducing Einsteinian physics…

The present study reports an Arduino-based STEM education material that resolves the kinematics of a moving object, specifically focusing on two dimensional motion of the object. Throughout the work, a sample application that can be prepared in a classroom where students are active and including the acquisitions of Technology, Engineering, Physics…

The refractive index is a number that governs how light changes its direction of propagation as it enters one material medium from another. This phenomenon is known as refraction and the angles of incidence and refraction of light, referred to the normal to the interface of the two media at the point of incidence, are related by Snell's law. The…

Most physics courses begin with one-dimensional kinematics, which is usually restricted to the case of constant acceleration. Here we report a unique exercise for an introductory algebra-based physics course involving the running and non-constant acceleration of the theropod dinosaur "Dilophosaurus wetherilli" and the world-famous…

When students are learning to use math in physics, one of the most important ideas they need to learn is that equations are not just calculational tools; they represent relationships between physical variables that change together (co-vary). How much a change in one variable or parameter is associated with a change in another depends on how they…

On April 14, 1912, the British passenger liner R.M.S. "Titanic" struck an iceberg. The ship sank in a fraction of the time designers had estimated following a worst case scenario. The purpose of this article is to examine the atmospheric refractive phenomena that might have played a significant role in obscuring the iceberg from…

The interference pattern between two harmonic oscillations with slightly different frequencies are called beats. The beats, as a combined motion, have two different periods, one approximately equal to the period of the original oscillations, and another that is significantly longer and is related to the variable amplitude of the motion. The main…

In this article, we construct a very simple double pendulum (the concept of a pendulum should be familiar to all beginning students of classical mechanics). Since a double pendulum has two degrees of freedom, we suggest that this pendulum can be used in the classroom environment to illustrate the concept of normal modes, and we use video software…

Light and its spectrum are central concepts in many introductory physics, astronomy, geology, and conceptual physics courses. The Sun and its spectrum are usually primary examples, likely due to the Sun's everyday familiarity and the full spectrum it generates when dispersed. To enhance such discussions with a hands-on student activity, we've…

The cross diagram is a way to illustrate and plan the solutions for all kinds of constant-acceleration kinematics problems--including projectile motion, multistage, and multiple-object problems. The cross diagram arranges the kinematic variables in a logical way, making the kinematic relationships between them easy to identify. Combined with a…

The reflection and refraction of light are more familiar to students than the reflection and refraction of sound. Reflection and refraction that occur during the transmission of sound waves are common phenomena in everyday life but are often difficult to understand during actual learning. In this study, we developed a sound reflection and…