This paper reports on the design and enactment of an instructional strategy aimed to support students in constructing scientific explanations. Informed by the philosophy of science and linguistic studies of science, a new instructional framework called premise--reasoning--outcome (PRO) was conceptualized, developed, and tested over two years in…

This article explores how students' aspirations to study mathematics or physics in post-16 education are associated with their perceptions of their education, their motivations, and the support they feel they received. The analysis is based on the responses of around 10,000 students in England in Year 8 (age 12-13) and then in Year 10 (age 14-15).…

Computational experiment approach considers models as the fundamental instructional units of Inquiry Based Science and Mathematics Education (IBSE) and STEM Education, where the model take the place of the "classical" experimental set-up and simulation replaces the experiment. Argumentation in IBSE and STEM education is related to the…

This article discusses how modern technology, such as electronic response systems, PeerWise system, data collection and analysis tools, computer simulations, and modeling software can be used in physics methods courses to promote teacher-candidates' professional competencies and their positive attitudes about mathematics and science education. We…

The purpose of this study was to address Advanced Placement (AP)® policy-related questions from administrators at the University System of Georgia (USG) using current AP Exam records and student course performance at four institutions. Specifically, comparisons of sequent or subsequent course grades were made between AP and non-AP students. This…

Kepler's laws of planetary motion are acknowledged as highly significant to the construction of universal gravitation. This paper demonstrates different ways to derive the law of equal areas for the Earth by general geometrical and trigonometric methods, which are much simpler than the original derivation depicted by Kepler. The established law of…

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is discussed at the level of an advanced course of statistical thermodynamics, clarifying some formal and physical aspects that are usually not covered by the standard pedagogical literature. The non-conventional approach adopted starts by showing that the continuum limit, in certain cases, cancels out the crucial…

A physics teacher assigns problems to his or her students not to keep them indoors during sunny days, but to strengthen and deepen their understanding of the universe. Every problem has not only an answer, but also a "moral to the story"--a reason why that question and that answer are interesting and probing. It is an unfortunate fact that our…

The problem of a ladder leaning on a wall has been a staple of introductory physics for years. It is discussed in numerous physics textbooks and in journals. Now, it even has an Internet presence. Postings from students seek help for "ladder on a wall" problems. A quick review of those postings would show that they all deal with frictionless…

One of the oldest yet interesting experiments related to heat and thermodynamics is placing a string on a block of ice and hanging two masses from the ends of the string. Sometime later, it is discovered that the string has passed through the ice without cutting it in half. A simple explanation of this effect is that the pressure caused by the…

"Magic mirrors" were so named because, when they were positioned to throw a reflected patch of sunlight on a nearby wall, this area contained an outline of a design cast on the back of the (bronze) mirror. Investigations begun in the 19th century showed that this was a response to heavy localized pressures exerted on the face of the thin mirror…

At the introductory level, the demonstration and analysis of sound beating is usually limited to the superposition of two purely sinusoidal waves with equal amplitudes and very similar frequencies. Under such conditions, an observer hears the periodic variation of the loudness of a sound with an unchanging timbre. On the other hand, when complex…

This is our final article on teaching special relativity in the first week of an introductory physics course. One of the profound changes in our view of the world was Einstein's discovery of the lack of simultaneity. He illustrated this result with a thought experiment in which we observe a railroad car passing by us. We see the two ends of the…

Learning physics requires understanding the applicability of fundamental principles in a variety of contexts that share deep features. One way to help students learn physics is via analogical reasoning. Students can be taught to make an analogy between situations that are more familiar or easier to understand and another situation where the same…

A standard topic in an advanced undergraduate classical mechanics course is the determination of the orbits in a gravitational field. In the present paper we report on the calculation of bound orbits in the gravitational field of a spiral galaxy. Calculations such as these could serve to focus attention on an area of cutting edge astrophysics and…