In this article, we describe how to develop an inductive metal detector that can be integrated to any Android or iOS smartphone with a standard audio port at low cost. The results indicate the metal detector can be used in the physics teaching laboratory as a practical application of principles of electromagnetism. It allows one to differentiate…

In a recent "AstroNote," I described a simple exercise on the mass-luminosity relation for main sequence stars as an example of exposing students in a general education science course of lower mathematical level to the use of quantitative skills such as collecting and analyzing data. Here I present another attempt at a meaningful…

This paper describes a professional development model for developing science teacher leaders that has evolved and been refined through working with 16 high school chemistry and physics teachers in high-needs schools over the past 3 years. The theoretical framework draws upon Goodwin's notion of professional vision and Dempsey's four metaphors to…

Einstein's two theories of relativity were introduced over 100 years ago. High school science students are seldom exposed to these revolutionary ideas as they are often perceived to be too difficult conceptually and mathematically. This paper brings together the two theories of relativity in a way that is logical and consistent and enables the…

Tuvan throat singing, also called overtone singing, provides for an exotic demonstration of the physics of harmonics as well as introducing an Asian musical aesthetic. A low fundamental is sung and the singer skillfully alters the resonances of the vocal system to enhance an overtone (harmonic above the fundamental). The result is that the…

Some of the subjects have complex concepts, which are currently taught using deductive methods in the first years of University Degree. However, the experience shows the results obtained from students' learning goals were quite low. Therefore, the use of inductive method is a crucial factor to improve students' learning results and re-thinking the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Content Representations (CoRes) construction, and reflective peer discussions on pre-service physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Participants consisted of 16 third year pre-service physics teachers; 12 females and 4 males. The results show that the majority of participants…

The frequency ratios for the just diatonic scale are obtained by identifying musical intervals corresponding to Lissajous figures. The demonstration integrates the engineering physics of Lissajous patterns with the recognition of musical intervals through simple ear training. A free HTML5 app has been developed for this class activity and the…

Newton's laws of mechanics are a cornerstone in the development of modern science and its learning can be the very first opportunity for students to defy their common sense perceptions and replace them with a more robust world view. However, despite their fundamental importance, many studies demonstrate how difficult is the true comprehension of…

This study demonstrated that the constant average speed of a dynamic car could be measured and calculated using the smartphone magnetometer. The apparatus setup was built using a dynamic car, a linear track up to 1.50 m, a bunch of magnets, and a smartphone magnetometer application. The smartphone magnetometer application, 'Physics Toolbox Suite',…

During the Middle Platonic period, from the second-century CE on, and in a more elaborately structured way from the time of Iamblichus (early fourth-century CE) on, the Platonist Schools of later antiquity took their students through a fixed sequence of Platonic dialogues, beginning with the Alcibiades I, concerned as it was with the theme of…

Students use causal reasoning in their everyday lives to generate hypotheses as to why an event occurred, or to create predictions about future events. Also, causal reasoning skills are critical in the laboratory setting and are needed to (1) look for patterns in collected data, (2) determine if relationships exist between variables, and (3)…

The purpose of the study is to investigate the elementary education undergraduate students' understanding levels of one dimensional motion which they take in the compulsory general physics course in the second year, third term and instructors' predictions about the students' responses. The study is a descriptive study. The data of the study were…

In the Italian education system, secondary students (ages 14-19) face the foundations of quantum physics during the final term of scientific high school (pre-university year). The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) has remarked its importance in the syllabus to address the high school exit examination (30% of the 5th…

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are at the forefront of conversations in education, not only in Indiana, but across the country. This conversation is crossing boundaries from primary and secondary education, to academia, to government agencies, to industry. The inherent focus on STEM comes from an understanding of the impending…