Newton's cradle, a device consisting of a chain of steel balls suspended in alignment, has been used extensively in physics teaching to demonstrate the principles of conservation of momentum and kinetic energy in elastic collisions. The apparent simplicity of the device allows one to test commonly hold views regarding the intuitive understanding…

In the early 1900s science magazines were published with a goal of interesting and exciting the public about science and technology. Articles described technology that was possible and perhaps even tested, but never embraced because of practical limitations. Articles were written in an effort to instill creativity in the reader and to stimulate…

The aim of this research is to determine and compare candidate teachers' level of relating scientific information with their daily lives. The teachers were studying in the 1st and 4th classes in Atatürk and Caucasian Universities, Education Faculty, Elementary School Science Teaching Department during the 2012-2013 academic year. The research was…

The purpose of this paper was to examine the perception pre-service teachers hold to the nature of the relationship between physics and mathematics. The study examined this relationship in reference to their performance in problem solving and strategies they used. The results of this empirical study suggested that most participants hold a naïve…

Visual representations play a critical role in teaching physics. However, since we do not have a satisfactory understanding of how visual perception impacts the construction of abstract knowledge, most visual representations used in instructions are either created based on existing conventions or designed according to the instructor's intuition,…

Physics education research has shown that students tend to struggle when trying to use mathematics in a meaningful way in physics (e.g., mathematizing a physical situation or making sense of equations). Concerning the possible reasons for these difficulties, little attention has been paid to the way mathematics is treated in physics instruction.…

In 1879, in the midst of the debate between English and continental scientists about the nature of cathode rays, William Crookes conducted an experiment in which a small mill or "paddle wheel" was pushed along tracks inside a cathode ray tube (CRT) (similar to that shown in Fig. 1) when connected to a high-voltage induction coil. Crookes…

In our science for non-science majors course "21st Century Physics," we investigate modern "Hubble plots" (plots of velocity versus distance for deep space objects) in order to discuss the Big Bang, dark matter, and dark energy. There are two potential challenges that our students face when encountering these topics for the…

Many educational researchers have investigated how best to support conceptual learning in science education. In this study, the aim was to design learning materials using Physlets, small computer simulations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these materials in supporting conceptual learning in secondary school physics. Students were taught in…

During the 2012-13 academic year, the Statistic Research Center (SRC) collected data from a representative national sample of over 3,500 public and private high schools across the U.S. to inquire about physics availabilities and offerings. This report describes their findings. SRC takes two different approaches to describe the characteristics of…

Post-problem reflective tutorial dialogues between human tutors and students are examined to predict when the tutor changed the level of abstraction from the student's preceding turn (i.e., used more general terms or more specific terms); such changes correlate with learning. Prior work examined lexical changes in abstraction. In this work, we…

The study investigated the Effects of a Target-Task Problem-Solving Model on Senior Secondary School Students' Performance in Physics. The research design was a quasi-experimental, non-randomized, non-equivalent pretest, post-test using a control group. The study was conducted in two schools purposively selected and involved a total of 120 Senior…

Studying physics for nonphysics majors at college level is usually a process of learning new problem-solving skills and sometimes seems a frustrating experience. In an attempt to provide students with more learning resources, online homework was required to supplement the instruction. This study reveals the role of the online homework assignments…

In this study, a new physics education programme is specifically developed for a famous theme park in Hong Kong to provide community-based science learning to her visitors, involving her three newly constructed rides. We make innovative use of digital technologies in this programme and incorporate a rigorous evaluation of the learning…

The purpose of this study is to examine relationships among pre-service science teachers' conceptual knowledge of electric current, motivational beliefs, and self-regulation. One hundred and twenty-seven students (female = 107, male = 20) enrolled in the science education program of a public university in Ankara participated the study. A concept…