Describes an electronic digital counter, a speed-of-light experiment using a television, a simple out-of-circuit method for determining if a transistor is made of silicon or germanium, and the use of dry cells to power TTL integrated circuits. (MLH)

Peer-reviewed, classroom-tested, and tailored specifically for introductory science courses, Favorite Demonstrations is a complement to every college instructor's lesson plans. The book is an all-in-one compilation of 36 popular classroom demonstrations published since 1993 in the "Favorite Demonstration" column of NSTA's Journal of College …

This research draws a group of women physicists' experience in organizing a local network to investigate how individuals' career decisions are affected by their identity transformation. Poststructuralist feminist theories of identity and discourse are used to compare three women physicists' cases with data collected from in-depth interviews and…

This paper investigates one high school student's use of gestures in an interview context in which he worked on the problem of understanding graphical representations of motion. The goal of the investigation was to contribute a detailed analysis of the process of learning as it occurred over a short time period in order to contribute to the…

This chapter addresses issues of action research from three perspectives. In the first section, what it means to engage in action research as a methodology for investigating teaching and learning in science education is overviewed and various conceptions of action research are explicitly made. The second perspective is that of an individual…

SCALE-UP is an extension of the highly successful IMPEC (Integrated Math, Physics, Engineering, and Chemistry) project, one of North Carolina State's curricular reform efforts undertaken as part of the SUCCEED coalition. The authors utilize the interactive, collaboratively based instruction that worked well in smaller class settings and find ways…

This document introduces the Alabama Graduation Examination Program (AGEP) which provides learning opportunities for high school students to meet the minimum competency requirements to earn a high school diploma in the state of Alabama. The Alabama High School Graduation Examination (AHSGE) content includes the subject areas of reading…

This paper summarizes the recent work of the Maryland Physics Education Research Group on analyzing student learning in introductory university physics. This work is carried out in a model of student thinking and learning based on principles from cognitive science. The model permits a better understanding of, and diagnosis for, the state of both…

This paper discusses the critical events in the personal and professional lives of Finnish Olympians that have helped them to actualize their talent in science. The data include quantitative data from 158 Finnish Olympians in math, physics, and chemistry. The qualitative data include twelve in-depth interviews of these Olympians and their…

This educator's guide contains background information on the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) designed to facilitate communication between astronauts in orbit and students on the ground. Through SAREX, astronauts make scheduled and unscheduled amateur radio contacts from the Shuttle orbiter with schools selected through a proposal process…

This report describes the population of newly enrolled graduate students in physics and astronomy who were at their current institutions for a year or less in fall 1997. The report contains information on student characteristics and explores the decision making process and critical transition points for entering graduate students. The report also…

The Working Group on Women in Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) subcontracted with the American Institute of Physics to conduct an international study of women in physics in two phases. The first part was a benchmarking study to identify reliable sources and collect data on the representation of women in…

The status and future direction of high school physics instruction is considered in this report. The text is supported by many tables and illustrations and is organized into six chapters. Chapters discuss physics enrollments and curriculum; demographics of the physics teacher population; current teaching conditions, resources, and activities; high…

This book is one of four books in the Science-by-Design Series crated by TERC and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). It integrates history, physics, mathematics, and technology in its challenge to high school students to design and build a working catapult system. Students investigate elasticity, projectile launching, and learn about…

This guide accompanies "Special Effects," a 40-minute IMAX film and "Special Effects II", a multimedia, interactive traveling exhibit designed by the California Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibit focuses on the underlying scientific and technical processes of special effects from the earliest motion picture to state-of-the-art digital…