Describes a teaching sequence on gaseous pressure implemented in a group of pre-service primary teachers in Fiji that provides subjects with a strong visual model of particle behavior which they then applied to a series of collaborative science activities for which they attempted to construct explanations. Suggests that this teaching sequence…

Attempts to validate the use of microcomputer-based laboratories for the teaching of physics on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Includes a laboratory that addresses the voltage-current characteristics of several components. (Author/MM)

Presents a study that took place in an inner-city neighborhood school populated mainly by African American students characterized by poverty. Explores the discourse and practices of students and three co-teachers as a curriculum was enacted to provide opportunities for students to learn about the physics of motion through designing, building, and…

Explores high school students' collaborative efforts in solving qualitative physics problems and investigates how and whether confronting students with varying views improves problem solving skills. (Contains 22 references.) (DDR)

This study was undertaken to explore the effectiveness of the learning-cycle method when teaching direct current (DC) circuits to university students. Four Physics II classes participated in the study, which lasted approximately two and a half weeks in the middle of the spring semester of 2003. Participants were 120 freshmen (55 females and 65…

Eight years ago, a new senior interdisciplinary science course called "Oceans: Past and Present" for the McCallie School in Tennessee was designed. The idea stemmed from the combination of a physics teacher's desire for a course based on a summer program at sea and a writing center director/teacher's longing for the ocean from the…

At Tecumseh Middle School in Indiana the technology education teachers are part of a team consisting of language arts, math, social studies, and science teachers who work together on items of common interest and student needs. There is a scheduled period each day for instructors to meet to develop plans and activities to help students become more…

This paper describes the analysis of data collected by Durham University's YELLIS project, over the period of 1999 to 2004. Included in this data was the degree to which pupils in England at the end of their secondary education "liked" or "disliked" different subjects, and their expected examination grades in these subjects.…

Given the success of self-efficacy theory for predicting student success in scientific study, and the demonstrated effect that teaching approaches have on student self-efficacy in majors courses, the purpose of this study is to ask if similar relationships between pedagogy and self-efficacy exist in introductory science courses for non-physical…

This article examines the didactic suitability of introducing models at an intermediate (i.e. mesoscopic) scale in teaching certain subjects, at an early stage. The design and evaluation of two short sequences based on this rationale will be outlined: one bears on propulsion by solid friction, the other on fluid statics in the presence of gravity.…

We seek to demonstrate how digital video technology can contribute towards our understanding of the process of development of conceptual understanding in physics. We use digital video to analyze 4 brief Physics by Inquiry sessions with 2 groups of preservice teachers. The instances include independent group work and instructor-student…

Former baseball star Jim Lefebvre (1983) claimed that hitting a baseball may be the most talked about but least understood skill in all of sports. Historically, hitting instruction has been based on intuitive thinking by "hitting gurus," rather than on scientific fact, which has contributed to this lack of understanding (DeRenne, Stellar, &…

The primary goal of education is to help students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to solve the problems that occur in real-life situations. One of the most touted methods for achieving this goal is through curriculum integration. Physical education students can benefit from an integrated curriculum. NASPE's (National Association tar Sport…

We describe a project for calculus and differential equations students involving trajectories of a spacecraft whose propulsion system depends solely on muting gravitational effects of heavenly bodies. In particular, we consider the spacecraft imagined by H. G. Wells, and focus on getting his spacecraft from the Moon to the Earth. Cavorite, angular…

In light of the established validity of the pendulum as a topic in physics curricula (Matthews 2000), the study looked at the place of pendulum motion in the physics curriculum of the high school in Israel.The data is available through presenting results of the nationwide matriculation examination in its units of Mechanics and Research Laboratory…