Physicists seek to understand the world and often use mathematics to aid in attaining that goal. Thus when doing mathematics they often interrogate their results in order to ensure that they align with their expectations and to gain new insight into how the world works. This seeking of coherence between...
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Standardized assessment tests that allow researchers to compare the performance of students under various curricula are highly desirable. There are several research-based conceptual tests that serve as instruments to assess and identify students' difficulties in lower-division courses....
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Partial derivatives are used in a variety of different ways within physics. Thermodynamics, in particular, uses partial derivatives in ways that students often find especially confusing. We are at the beginning of a study of the teaching...
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] The formalism of quantum mechanics includes a rich collection of representations for describing quantum systems, including functions, graphs, matrices, histograms of probabilities, and Dirac notation. The varied features of these representations affect how computations are performed. For...
Several studies in recent years have demonstrated that upper-division students struggle with the
mathematics of thermodynamics. This paper presents a task analysis based on several expert attempts
to solve a challenging mathematics problem in thermodynamics. The purpose of this paper is twofold.
First, we highlight the importance of cognitive task...
On 26th December 2004, colossal waves known as tsunami engulfed the coastal nations around the Indian
Ocean. The disaster brought physical, psychological and emotional suffering beyond measure to many
communities. It resulted in immense devastation of many coastal vegetations and marine ecosystems. The
fisheries in the coastal villages in Sri...
Theorists and modelers have made significant progress in defining ecological and economic parameters
for measuring the 'costs' of fisheries. The social dimensions of such universal exercises, however, have
barely been worked upon. This is a serious omission. In the context of the EC-funded ECOST
programme, a group of social scientists...
At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning environment demands...
We use a sample of diphoton + dijet events to measure the effective cross section of double parton interactions, which characterizes the area containing the interacting partons in proton-antiproton collisions, and find it to be σeff = 19.3 ± 1.4(stat) ± 7.8 (syst) mb. The sample was collected by the...
Just as scientific knowledge is constructed using distinct modes of inquiry (e.g., experimental or historical), arguments constructed during science instruction may vary depending on the mode of inquiry underlying the topic. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how secondary science teachers construct scientific arguments during instruction...
The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist
in the level of coverage of resistance exercise in select four-year college and
university undergraduate physical education programs. The study also
examined whether differences exist between content suggested for training
resistance exercise specialists and the curriculum being offered. A...
The purpose of this research was to study the impact
phenomena of a tennis ball striking a hard surface.
Stroboscopic photography was used to collect the ball's
impact images from seven angles of incidence, ranging from
-23 degrees to -70 degrees with zero, top and back initial
spin respectively.
Through...
Forty-five young adult males were given 30 trials of Isometric
knee extension and 30 trials of isometric knee flexion. Each trial
consisted of a maximum of three second exertion followed by a 10
second intertrial rest interval. Subjects were ranked on the basis
of the mean of the first three...
The main purpose of this study was to examine the influence of
additional content from areas of mainstreaming and adapted physical
education on preservice elementary educators attitudes toward
teaching nonhandicapped and handicapped children in elementary
physical education. To achieve this goal (a) an instrument was
constructed to assess the attitudes...
George Kennedy discusses new directions in interdisciplinary teaching (including distance learning) and research
being adopted at The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. He discusses initiatives at different
levels: within one Faculty (College) - the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at UBC; across Faculties at UBC; and between
UBC...
Physics sensemaking is a growing topic of study within the physics education community. Many lenses have been used to study sensemaking but few have considered how time and instruction can impact student sensemaking practices and ideas. In this dissertation, I present four studies that address four major questions: What sensemaking...
The objectives of this study were to construct and
develop a two-tiered multiple-choice test for the measurement
of student misconceptions in optics at the level of
secondary education in Thailand, as well as to investigate
the effects of gender, grade level, and type of school upon
levels of student misconceptions....