The objective of this study is to present "The Spiral Model for the Development of Coordination" (SMDC), a learning model that reflects the complexity and possibilities embodied in the learning of movement notation Eshkol-Wachman (EWMN), an Israeli invention. This model constituted the infrastructure for a comprehensive study that examined the…

Perceived position depends on many factors, including motion present in a visual scene. Convincing evidence shows that high-level motion perception-which is driven by top-down processes such as attentional tracking or inferred motion-can influence the perceived position of an object. Is high-level motion sufficient to influence perceived position,…

The purpose of the study was to analyze the science outreach program, Science In Motion (SIM), located in Mobile, Alabama. This research investigated what impact the SIM program has on student cognitive functioning and teacher efficacy and also investigated teacher perceptions and attitudes regarding the program. To investigate student…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of conceptual change-based instruction and traditionally designed physics instruction on students' understanding of projectile motion concepts. Misconceptions related to projectile motion concepts were determined by related literature on this subject. Accordingly, the Projectile Motion…

The National Science Education Standards [National Research Council (1996) National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press] recommend that students understand the apparent patterns of motion of the sun, moon and stars by the end of early elementary school. However, little information exists on students' ability to…

For a given orbital period and eccentricity, we determine the maximum time lapse between the winter solstice and the spring equinox on a planet. In addition, given an axial precession path, we determine the effects on the seasons. This material can be used at various levels to illustrate ideas such as periodicity, eccentricity, polar coordinates,…

We illustrate the derivations of Jeans' criteria for the gravitational instabilities in a static homogeneous Newtonian system for pedagogical objectives. The critical Jeans density surface is presented in terms of dimensionless sound speeds and (characteristic) length scales. (Contains 1 figure.)

We study a particle sliding on a rough inclined plane as an example of a mechanical problem with nonholonomic constraint. The particle is launched in an arbitrary direction so that its motion has both a horizontal and a "vertical" (i.e., up- and downhill) direction. The friction force acts along the instantaneous velocity, so that the horizontal…

A magnetically controlled pendulum is used for observing free and forced oscillations, including nonlinear oscillations and chaotic motion. A data-acquisition system stores the data and displays time series of the oscillations and related phase plane plots, Poincare maps, Fourier spectra and histograms. The decay constant of the pendulum can be…

We investigate a possible universal constraint on spatial meaning. It has been proposed that people attend preferentially to the endpoints of spatial motion events, and that languages may therefore make finer semantic distinctions at event endpoints than at event beginnings. We test this proposal. In Experiment 1, we show that people discriminate…

For most of the 20th century, innovators promoted the use of technology to improve learning in schools. As Larry Cuban noted in "Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920" (1986), there has been no end to promises of how motion pictures, radio, and television would transform the learning process. In each case,…

In the "Solar Sprint" activity, students design, test, and race a solar-powered car built with Legos. The use of ratios is incorporated to simulate the actual work of scientists and engineers. This method encourages fourth-grade students to think about multiple variables and stimulates their curiosity when an activity doesn't come out as…

Memory for feature binding comprises a key ingredient in coherent object representations. Previous studies have been equivocal about human capacity for objects in the visual working memory. To evaluate memory for feature binding, a type identification paradigm was devised and used with a multiple-object permanence tracking task. Using objects…

Walking without vision results in veering, an inability to maintain a straight path that has important consequences for blind pedestrians. In this study, the authors addressed whether the source of veering in the absence of visual and auditory feedback is better attributed to errors in perceptual encoding or undetected motor error. Three…

This article discussed an apparatus to measure the variables of size, speed, distance, direction, and height on body movement patterns. (JS)