Outlines an instructional approach that involves the collecting of stamps to lower student's resistance to the study of physics and raise their interest in the history of the subject. (ZWH)

Presents a problem involving the double-slit interference pattern that relates to the real-world situation of guiding an aircraft to a safe landing. (JRH)

Presents a technique that helps students concentrate more on the science and less on the mechanics of algebra while dealing with introductory physics formulas. Allows the teacher to do complex problems at a lower level and not be too concerned about the mathematical abilities of the students. (JRH)

Describes an exercise that allows the measurement of the sizes of biological samples by means of the diffraction of light. (JRH)

Highlights the connection between the achievements of Moseley and the spectrum of the hydrogen atom, the Bohr theory, and Slater's rules for screening constants. Uses modern data to show that Moseley's equation is actually an approximation and discusses the significance of this fact. (JRH)

Describes the use of light-emitting diodes (LED) instead of incandescent bulbs in experiments that generally use battery and bulbs to enable students to explore and understand fundamental electrical phenomena. Presents the following examples: Faraday's Law demonstration, conductors and insulators, and rectifying action of a diode. (JRH)

Investigation of (n=31) physics students' analysis of videodisc-recorded images with treatments over an extended time found no significant learning difference between using simultaneous-time and delayed-time analysis for student understanding of kinematics graphs. (Author/MKR)

Discusses the hermeneutic-phenomenological investigation of natural science, in which understanding plays a role comparable to creative construction. Suggests that the role of interpretation and hermeneutics is tied to the educative or "study-mode" of science and that this mode can apparently be found at all levels and stages of science.…

An analysis of the occurrence of conference proceedings in physics journals indicates that libraries may be spending a significant portion of their serials budget for conference proceedings that they may not have chosen to buy as separate monographs. It is suggested that conference proceedings should be published as monographs or in an electronic…

Discusses incidents of brush-ins with student proponents of the theory of creation science. Provides and answers eight questions typical of both the misinformation spread in creation science literature and the lack of research done by students. (MVL)

Finds that high school physical science students prefer textbooks with expository text that not only gives a correct concept but refutes common incorrect ideas. Finds that writing a comprehensible text is more difficult than the researchers had imagined. (SR)

Reports the use of a heavy duty hacksaw blade and a 1000 turn pick-up coil to form the basis of a mechanical oscillator for a laboratory exercise in mechanical resonance designed for either the elementary undergraduate course or in association with an upper level mechanics course. (LZ)

Describes an analysis of the direction taken by a baseball immediately after coming into contact with the bat. Uses geometry, trigonometry, and physics. (MKR)

Conducted a study to test the hypothesis that students who take a high school physics course do better in university physics courses than those who do not take a high school physics course. Results support this hypothesis but also indicate no correlation between high school physics achievement and university physics achievement. (JRH)

Describes an assignment that provides an alternative to the end of the chapter test. Students instead are asked to write a chapter of the text clarifying their ideas and explaining the material in a manner that a student unfamiliar with the subject of the chapter could understand. (ZWH)