This report presents trend data on the status of physics PhDs one year after receiving their degree. For the last decade postdoctoral fellowships were the most commonly reported positions taken by physics PhDs in the year after receiving their degree. The type of initial employment for of physics PhDs varied depending on the subfield of their…

We examined the role of refutation texts in learning to replace science misconceptions. Calling a misconception to the foreground may help people overcome the misconception (Broughton & Sinatra, 2010). To test this claim, we had students who expressed a common misconception in physics read one of three passages about the issue. The passages…

The study of conceptual change in science education, specifically in the realm of physics, is not new, however, there is still much that is not well understood. Continuing with the trend of including characteristics of the learner in models of conceptual change, this study seeks to explore the role confidence plays in helping or hindering…

The educational project "From Soccerene to Fullerene" (FSTF) was a pioneering interdisciplinary experience accomplished by six pupils who discussed it in the 2013 Italian school-leaving examination. The author illustrated the FSTF in the 2014 national conference of the Italian Physical Society (Pisa) eliciting a genuine interest. Here we…

In this work we tackled the task of Automatic Short Answer Grading (ASAG). While conventional ASAG research makes prediction mainly based on student answers referred as Answer-based, we leveraged the information about questions and student models into consideration. More specifically, we explore the Answer-based, Question, and Student models…

The present study was conducted to analyze the understanding level of the prospective teachers studying in the second grade of elementary mathematics undergraduate program, on the topic of electric charge which is taught in compulsory Physics II. Totally 45 prospective teachers, 36 women and 9 men, have participated the study. The data of the…

Prior research aimed at identifying linguistic features of tutoring that predict learning found interactions between student characteristics (e.g., incoming knowledge level, gender, and affect) and learning. This paper addresses the question: "What do these interactions suggest for developing adaptive natural-language tutoring systems?"…

Mental models help us understand the formation of objects, the development of the process and to state an opinion about it. Therefore, in this study, we understand a mental model as 'an internal representation, which acts out as a structural analogue of situations or processes. Although mental models are the representations of knowledge created…

Creativity can be viewed from different perspectives, such as the creative thinking process, the product, the creative environment and the individual. The physics domain, which is based on experiments, research, hypotheses and thinking outside the box, can serve as an excellent grounding for creativity development. This article focuses on creative…

This work deals with the experimental demonstration of coupled oscillators using simple tools in the form of mechanical coupled pendulums, magnetically coupled elastic strings or electromagnetic oscillators. For the evaluation of results the data logger Lab Quest Vernier and video analysis in the Tracker program were used. In the first part of…

This study utilized multiple data sources to examine the beliefs about learning and teaching physics and the instructional practices of five beginning teachers and seven experienced teachers from Singapore. Our study was implemented in the unique context of teachers teaching the topic of electricity to students grouped according to academic…

This study explored the theory and applications of complementary colors using a technology-based activity designed from the perspective of STEAM education. Complementary colors and their areas of use were examined from the perspective of physics, mathematics and art, respectively. The study, which benefits from technology, makes the theory of…

Waves are a relevant part of physics that students find difficult to grasp, even in those cases in which wave propagation kinematics can be visualized. This may hinder a proper understanding of sound, light or quantum physics phenomena that are explained using a wave model. So-called "human" waves, choreographed by people, have proved to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceptions to changes to the learning environment of their undergraduate physics laboratories, in which their scientific inquiry processes were stimulated. Design/methodology/approach: The activities students engaged in were redesigned to reflect a guided inquiry approach and to…

The article reports the results of a study, the main aim of which was to find out correlations among the three components of the Culture of problem solving (reading comprehension, creativity and ability to use the existing knowledge) and six dimensions of Scientific reasoning (conservation of matter and volume, proportional reasoning, control of…