This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social), the Humanities, and the private and public sectors of…

This study explored the impact of "Technology Enabled Active Learning" (TEAL) on students learning general physics, focusing on differences between genders and among various achievement levels. A quasi-experimental investigation was conducted on two semesters of courses offered in 2008. Data sources consisted of pre-tests, post-tests,…

There is an increased interest in finding connections with mathematics and areas outside mathematics such as hard and soft sciences. This increased interest reflected in many of curriculum reforms that took place during the past few decades including the one in Turkish elementary and secondary mathematics education. Hence we believe that Turkish…

We present a simple computer-based laboratory experiment for evaluating absolute zero in degrees Celsius, which can be performed in college and undergraduate physical sciences laboratory courses. With a computer, absolute zero apparatus can help demonstrators or students to observe the relationship between temperature and pressure and use…

This paper focuses on the influence of high school science class size on students' achievement in introductory college science courses and on the variation of teacher practice across class size. Surveys collected information about high school science class experiences from 2754 biology, 3521 chemistry, and 1903 physics students across 36 public…

In this work, our goal is to examine the attitude of the Greek scientific community towards Quantum Mechanics and establish the history of teaching of this theory in Greece. We have examined Physics textbooks written by professors of the University of Athens, as well as records of public speeches, university yearbooks from 1923 to 1970, articles…

This study is addressing both upper secondary students' views of whether it is possible to combine a scientific view of the universe with a religious conviction, and their views of miracles. Students are asked about their own views as well as the views they associate with physics. The study shows that in some cases the students' own views differ…

This paper describes the construction of a slide-rule computer that allows one to quickly determine magnitudes of several effects that result from the detonation of a nuclear device. Suggestions for exercises are also included that allow high school and college-level physics students to explore scenarios involving these effects. It is hoped that…

Developments in the laboratory-based teaching of physics and astronomy are resulting from the collaboration between conventional and distance teaching universities. The collaboration, piCETL, is one of the Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning established as a result of a broad initiative by the Higher Education Funding Council for…

A review of literature reveals that self-efficacy (SE) has been shown as a successful predictor of students' course-taking. Many factors have been reported to have influences on physics self-efficacy (PSE), but most of them are contextual variables. This article suggests that learning content is also an influencing factor. Physics learning content…

The term "conceptual simulation" refers to a type of everyday reasoning strategy commonly called "what if" reasoning. It has been suggested in a number of contexts that this type of reasoning plays an important role in scientific discovery; however, little "direct" evidence exists to support this claim. This article proposes that conceptual…

This article concerns the development of conceptual understanding of a physical phenomenon through the use of computational representations. It examines how students make sense of and interpret computational representations, and how their understanding of the represented physical phenomenon develops in this process. Eight studies were conducted,…

The law of conservation of momentum is one that students often have difficulties understanding. This experiment allows students to use childhood toys to examine and calculate the muzzle velocity of their favourite water gun by using an air track, a spark timer or data logger and the law of conservation of momentum in a one-dimensional case, a…

Throughout our enquiry-based teaching course, we realized that, while our trainees performed well during the course, they could not actually meet the objective of the course, "being able to design and conduct classroom enquiry." In this article, using a case study, it is intended to illustrate how some crucial factors of a course could help…

How do students bridge everyday life views into physics understanding? We report from in-depth analysis of one group of four students, video-recorded over 135 min solving a context rich problem (CRP). Through transcripts of the group's conversations and from flow-charts made of the group talk we have categorised how students' experiences develop…