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arXiv2014

Writing Science Fiction Stories to Motivate Analysis of Journal Articles

For many students, college physics courses have little or even negative impact on their beliefs about the connection between physics and the everyday world. One way to help students see this connection is to incorporate analysis of science articles into the course. For introductory courses, one might have students discuss newspaper articles related to science or articles from popular science magazines while articles from peer-reviewed journals might be more appropriate for honors-level or upper-division courses. In this work, I describe a project done in a two-semester upper-division electricity and magnetism course at the United States Air Force Academy in which students were required to use the science from a peer-reviewed journal article to write a science fiction story. Although others have utilized science fiction stories in physics courses, this is the first article to describe a project in which students write their own science fiction stories in a physics course.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Currículo interdisciplinar para licenciatura em ciências da natureza

Descreve-se neste trabalho uma proposta de currículo interdisciplinar para a formação de professores de ciências da natureza. O curso permite a obtenção de quatro diplomas: professor de ciências para o ensino fundamental (nomenclatura brasileira), professor de biologia, física e química para o ensino médio. O diploma de professor de ciências é obtido com a integralização de créditos oferecidos ao longo dos três primeiros anos do curso. Para cada ano subsequente é possível obter os diplomas de professor do ensino médio. Os componentes curriculares pertinentes às ciências da natureza são inteiramente interdisciplinares nos três primeiros anos. No quarto ano são oferecidas disciplinas específicas de biologia, física e química, para a respectiva formação de professor do ensino médio. An interdisciplinary curriculum for science teaching undergraduate course will be described. The curriculum allows four degrees according the Brazilian educational legislation: science teacher for the middle school, biology, chemistry and physics teacher for the high school. The science teacher degree is obtained by accomplishing the three initial years syllabus. For each subsequent year it will be possible to obtain the other degrees. The components of the curriculum for the three initial years are radically interdisciplinary, with a pedagogical organization in such ways to prepare students for the subsequent year dedicated to a specific discipline (biology, chemistry or physics).

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

More network science for teenagers

Recently, Harrington et al.\ (2013) presented an outreach effort to introduce school students to network science and explain why researchers who study networks should be involved in such outreach activities. Based on the modules they designed and their comments on the success and failures of the activity, we have carried out a sequel with students from a high school in Madrid, Spain. We report on how we developed it and the changes we made to the original material.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Perspectival Computational Thinking for Learning Physics: A Case Study of Collaborative Agent-based Modeling

We examine the process through which computational thinking develops in a perspectival fashion as two middle school students collaborate with each other in order to develop computational models of two graphs of motion. We present an interaction analysis of the students' discourse and computational modeling, and analyze how they came to a joint understanding of the goal of the modeling activity. We show that this process involves bringing about coherence between multiple perspectives: the object in motion, the computational agent, the other student, and graphs of motion.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Demonstration of the Inverse Square Law with the aid of a Tablet/smartphone

In this paper we show how to obtain the Inverse-square law of the distance to the light intensity emitted from a small source in a simple, fast and with good precision way. With the aid of two smartphones, free apps and a ruler, one is able to measure the distances between the devices listed (one as a source and the other as a measuring light intensity) and the respective light intensities measured by the probeware in the device. The ease of reproduction of the proposed experiment and the penetration of the use of tablets and smartphones among students and teachers, could make the proposed activity a good alternative to the introduction of physical phenomena which exhibit the same functional dependence, such as the Law of Newton's Universal Gravitation and Coulomb's Law.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

K-12 Teaching and Physics Enrollment

We have collected and analyzed the relevant data from public schools in greater Houston area of Texas. Based and analyzed. Since the data is only limited to a few school, we are still working on getting more data so that we can compare and contrast the results adequately and understand the core of the enrollment issue at the national level. However, based on the raw data and partial analysis, we propose a few recommendations towards the improvement of science education in Texas Schools, in general, and greater Houston area schools in particular. Our results indicate that the quality of science education can be improved significantly if we focus on the improvement of high school education or even intermediate schools when students are first time exposed to science in a little technical way. Simply organizing teacher training programs at K-12 level as school education plays a pivotal role in the decrease in physics enrollment at the higher level. Similar analysis can actually be generalized to other states to find out the best way to increase the physics enrollment.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Examining Perceptions of Astronomy Images Across Mobile Platforms

Modern society has led many people to become consumers of data unlike previous generations. How this shift in the way information is communicated and received - including in areas of science - and affects perception and comprehension is still an open question. This study examined one aspect of this digital age: perceptions of astronomical images and their labels, on mobile platforms. Participants were n = 2183 respondents to an online survey, and two focus groups (n = 12 astrophysicists; n = 11 lay public). Online participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 12 images, and compared two label formats. Focus groups compared mobile devices and label formats. Results indicated that the size and quality of the images on the mobile devices affected label comprehension and engagement. The question label format was significantly preferred to the fun fact. Results are discussed in terms of effective science communication using technology.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2015

How physics instruction impacts students' beliefs about learning physics: A meta-analysis of 24 studies

In this meta-analysis, we synthesize the results of 24 studies using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) to answer several questions: (1) How does physics instruction impact students' beliefs? (2) When do physics majors develop expert-like beliefs? and (3) How do students' beliefs impact their learning of physics? We report that in typical physics classes, students' beliefs deteriorate or at best stay the same. There are a few types of interventions, including an explicit focus on model-building and/or developing expert- like beliefs that lead to significant improvements in beliefs. Further, small courses and those for elementary education and non-science majors also result in improved beliefs. However, because the available data oversamples certain types of classes, it is unclear whether these improvements are actually due to the interventions, or due to the small class size, or student population typical of the kinds of classes in which these interventions are most often used. Physics majors tend to enter their undergraduate education with more expert-like beliefs than non-majors and these beliefs remain relatively stable throughout their undergraduate careers. Thus, typical physics courses appear to be selecting students who already have strong beliefs, rather than supporting students in developing strong beliefs. There is a small correlation between students' incoming beliefs about physics and their gains on conceptual mechanics surveys. This suggests that students with more expert-like incoming beliefs may learn more in their physics courses, but this finding should be further explored and replicated. Some unanswered questions remain. To answer these questions, we advocate several specific types of future studies.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Changes to the TN Middle Grades Science Curriculum According to NGSS

The Framework for K-12 Science Education (July 2011) developed by the National Resource Council (NRC) draws on current scientific research and the ways students learn science effectively. This laid the foundation for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) released in Spring 2013. Tennessee was one of the 26 lead state partners to provide leadership to the standards writing team and to provide guidance as states deliberate on the adoption and implementation of the NGSS. We propose that the transition from current State science standards to NGSS demonstrates a extensive consensus on what all students should know and be able to do at specific K-12 grade levels and what topics can be postponed or excluded on the premise of developmental readiness. In order to facilitate this work, one of the STEM Fellows, Larry Bowman (author), created a series of 18 posters showing correlations between the current Tennessee Science Education standards (Huffman, 2009) and NGSS (Achieve, 2013). This article specifically addresses the NGSS Middle Grades Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) as compared to the existing 6-8 Science Standards from the Tennessee Science Curriculum Framework. Some Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) for Middle Grades Science have been relocated to other grade levels, and others have been introduced. The term Middle Grades is used for students 10 to 15 years of age covering the critical years when children are transitioning from concrete operational to formal operational stages. (Piaget and Inhelder 2013).

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Illustrations of Equivalent Methods to Reproduce Vehicle and Occupant Dynamics as a Pedagogical Tool

When explaining to a lay audience the magnitude of forces or accelerations imparted to vehicles or experienced by vehicle occupants during a motor vehicle collision, it is often helpful to recast the critical results in terms of other physical systems or impact configurations which will reproduce the equivalent dynamics of the subject accident to serve as a conceptual aid for the audience. In this article, we present the basis for such equivalents and explicitly demonstrate, using two physics simulation software packages, that such equivalents are based on nothing more than the application of the laws of physics.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2014

How to Establish a Bioinformatics Postgraduate Degree Programme: A Case Study from South Africa

The Research Unit in Bioinformatics at Rhodes University (RUBi), South Africa offers a Masters of Science in Bioinformatics. Growing demand for Bioinformatics qualifications results in applications from across Africa. Courses aim to bridge gaps in the diverse backgrounds of students who range from biologists with no prior computing exposure to computer scientists with no biology background. The programme is evenly split between coursework and research, with diverse modules from a range of departments covering mathematics, statistics, computer science and biology, with emphasis on application to bioinformatics research. The early focus on research helps bring students up to speed with working as a researcher. We measure success of the programme by the high rate of subsequent entry to PhD study: 10 out of 14 students who completed in the years 2011-2013.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Montecarlo Techniques as a tool for teaching statistics

Probability Theory and Statistics are two of the most useful mathematical fields, and also two of the most difficult to learn. In other science fields, as Physics, experimentation is an useful tool to develop students intuition, but the application of this tool to Statistics is much more difficult. In this paper we show how Monte Carlo techniques can be used to perform numerical experiments, by the use of pseudorandom numbers, and how these experiments can help to the understanding of Statistics and Physics. Monte Carlo techniques are broadly used in scientific research, but they are learnt usually in very specific curses of higher education. By the use of computer simulation these techniques can also be taught at elementary school and they can help to understand and visualise concepts as variance, mean or a probability distribution function. Finally, the use of new technologies, as Javascript and HTML is discussed.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

The University of Washington Mobile Planetarium Do-it-Yourself Guide

The UW Mobile Planetarium Project is a student driven effort to bring astronomy to high schools and the Seattle community. We designed and built an optics solution to project WorldWide Telescope in an inflatable planetarium from a laptop and off-the-shelf HD projector. In our first six months of operation, undergraduates at the UW gave planetarium shows to over 1500 people and 150 high school students created and presented their own astronomy projects in our dome, at their school. This document aims to share the technical aspects behind the project in order for others to replicate or adapt our model to their needs. This UW Mobile Planetarium was made possible thanks to a Hubble Space Telescope Education/Public Outreach Grant.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

A Workshop that Works

The main goal of a scientific workshop is to bring together experts in a specific field or related fields to collaborate, to discuss, and to creatively make progress in a particular area. The organizational aspects of such a meeting play a critical role in achieving these goals. We here present suggestions from scientists to scientists that hopefully help in organizing a successful scientific workshop that maximizes collaboration and creativity.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Fourteen Years of Education and Public Outreach for the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer Mission

The Sonoma State University (SSU) Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) group leads the Swift Education and Public Outreach program. For Swift, we have previously implemented broad efforts that have contributed to NASA's Science Mission Directorate E/PO portfolio across many outcome areas. Our current focus is on highly-leveraged and demonstrably successful activities, including the wide-reaching Astrophysics Educator Ambassador program, and our popular websites: Epo's Chronicles and the Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) Skymap. We also make major contributions working collaboratively through the Astrophysics Science Education and Public Outreach Forum (SEPOF) on activities such as the on-line educator professional development course NASA's Multiwavelength Universe. Past activities have included the development of many successful education units including the GEMS Invisible Universe guide, the Gamma-ray Burst Educator's guide, and the Newton's Laws Poster set; informal activities including support for the International Year of Astronomy, the development of a toolkit about supernovae for the amateur astronomers in the Night Sky Network, and the Swift paper instrument and glider models.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

Dreamtime Astronomy: development of a new Indigenous program at Sydney Observatory

The Australian National Curriculum promotes Indigenous culture in school education programs. To foster a broader appreciation of cultural astronomy, to utilise the unique astronomical heritage of the site, and to develop an educational program within the framework of the National Curriculum, Sydney Observatory launched Dreamtime Astronomy, a program incorporating Australian Indigenous culture, astronomy, and Sydney's astronomical history and heritage. This paper reviews the development and implementation of this program and discusses modifications following an evaluation by schools.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

Free fall misconceptions: results of a graph based pre test of sophomore civil engineering students

A partially unusual behaviour was found among 14 sophomore students of civil engineering who took a pre test for a free fall laboratory session, in the context of a general mechanics course. An analysis contemplating mathematics models and physics models consistency was made. In all cases, the students presented evidence favoring a correct free fall acceleration model, whilst their position component versus time, and velocity component versus time graphs revealed complex misconceptions both on the physical phenomenon and it's implicit mathematics consistency. The last suggests an inability to make satisfactory connections through definitions between graphed variables. In other words, evidence strongly suggests that students are perfectly able to memorize the free fall acceleration model, whilst not understanding it's significance at any level. This small study originated the develope and validation of a tutorial on free fall graphs for position, velocity and acceleration models, as part of a following cross universities major project.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2014

A Colorful Demonstration of Thermal Refraction

The wave nature of heat flow mechanisms, such as lattice waves is discussed. Tan and Holland's Tangent Law of heat flow refraction is reviewed. A classroom demonstration of heat flow refraction through conductors in series is presented, and sample results are examined for consistency with the Tangent Law. To predict results, the Tangent Law is derived from the Principle of Least Resistance for this demonstration. User-modifiable simulations in Ruby and Ruby on Rails are presented, along with simulation results for various combinations of conductors. Results are interpreted in terms of the Principle of Least Time, illustrating a powerful unification in physics between disparate areas such as optics and thermodynamics.

physics.ed-ph↗