SEARCH · Searcharxiv

Results for “physics.ed-ph”

Search indexed arXiv papers on artificial intelligence, large language models, computer vision and robotics. Read source abstracts and follow links to arXiv.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

The Honorific Effect: Exploring the Impact of Japanese Linguistic Formalities on AI-Generated Physics Explanations

This study investigates the influence of Japanese honorifics on the responses of large language models (LLMs) when explaining the law of conservation of momentum. We analyzed the outputs of six state-of-the-art AI models, including variations of ChatGPT, Coral, and Gemini, using 14 different honorific forms. Our findings reveal that honorifics significantly affect the quality, consistency, and formality of AI-generated responses, demonstrating LLMs' ability to interpret and adapt to social context cues embedded in language. Notable variations were observed across different models, with some emphasizing historical context and derivations, while others focused on intuitive explanations. The study highlights the potential for using honorifics to adjust the depth and complexity of AI-generated explanations in educational contexts. Furthermore, the responsiveness of AI models to cultural linguistic elements underscores the importance of considering cultural factors in AI development for educational applications. These results open new avenues for research in AI-assisted education and cultural adaptation in AI systems, with significant implications for personalizing learning experiences and developing culturally sensitive AI tools for global education.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Polarization and energy ellipsoids for an introductory visualization of tensors

In ``The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is discussed an introduction to tensors by means of the polarization tensor, including a way of ``visualizing'' this tensor via the energy ellipsoid, which is drawn by the electric fields which produce the same polarization energy density in an anisotropic crystal. Here, we discuss an alternative way of visualizing the polarization tensor, by means of the polarization ellipsoid, which is based on the ideas of Lamé's stress ellipsoid and is drawn by the polarization vectors produced by electric fields having the same magnitude. We compare both ellipsoids as a first introductory way of visualizing the polarization tensor.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Magnetic field of a linear octupole

We measure the magnetic field produced by a linear octupole formed by four magnets placed in such a way that both their magnetic moments and their quadrupole moments cancel each other. The magnetic field is measured with the magnetic sensor of a smartphone together with a suitable app, using the Android operating system. The main objective is to determine the dependence of the x-component of the magnetic field with distance and compare with the theoretical result that tells us that this dependence is a quintic decrease.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2026

A New Visual Approach to Pendulum Period Determination

The period of oscillation of a simple pendulum ($T = 2π\sqrt{l/g}$) is a familiar formula to most first-year physics students. However, deriving this expression from first principles requires linearizing the equation of motion under the small-angle approximation and solving the resulting differential equation. From our point of view, this method may seem obscure to students in the early stages of learning calculus and lacking in physical insight. Therefore, we propose an alternative approach to the derivation of this formula that relies on geometry, algebra, and physical intuition. Our method follows the foundational idea of integral calculus, replacing the circular path of the pendulum with a successive collection of infinitesimal inclined planes and summing the travel times along each plane as the number of planes becomes very large. Remarkably, evaluating the limit of this sum relies solely on geometric reasoning, making the approach accessible to any student, even those not yet familiar with differential equations or integration techniques.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Hands-on STEM Learning Experiences using Digital Technologies

The facilitation of STEM education can be enhanced by the provision of opportunities for learners to gain a better understanding of science through the utilization of tangible and visual examples. The objective of this work is to present an account of our experiences and activities carried out in Italian schools with this novel approach. The selection of projects and experiences discussed --in which students develop a range of core competencies such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, experimentation, prototyping, communication and problem-solving; include tangible complex 3D printed structures, large micro-controller board replicas and the visualization of wind dynamics and tiny invisible elementary particles among others. These hands-on experiences demonstrate the benefits on the use of digital fabrication technologies implemented within a FabLab for STEM learning.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

VirtualRelativity: An Interactive Simulation of the Special Theory of Relativity in Virtual Reality

The Special Theory of Relativity, introduced by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century, marked a radical shift in our understanding of space and time. Nevertheless, the theory's non-intuitive implications continue to pose conceptual challenges for novice physicists. In this thesis, we propose a virtual reality solution based on the development of a Unity package capable of simulating the effects of relativity in a digital environment. The current implementation includes the representation of space contraction, time dilation and relativistic Doppler effect. The primary focus lies in the accurate representation of relativistic laws, as well as in computational efficiency and in the modeling of a user interface specifically crafted to enhance understanding and interactivity. The package significantly reduces developer workload through a streamlined API, enabling maximum freedom in the development of virtual scenarios. Design goals are validated by a testing phase conducted through dedicated probe scenes. To showcase the potential of this work, we also present the deployment of a VR application built on top of the package, that transports users in experiencing relativistic effects in real-life scenarios. The application is scheduled to be used by Master's students in Physical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. In the meanwhile, other educational areas of expansion are being considered, suggesting a promising future in the direction of this work.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

A low cost technique to find gravitational acceleration

The most common way to find gravitational acceleration, g, in a laboratory is to use a simple pendulum and a clock. Alternately, g can be calculated by measuring time and distance for a free fall. Since the time of free fall in a laboratory is short, there are challenges in measuring the short period. In this article, a low cost technique to measure the time for a free fall using a discharging RC circuit is discussed.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Using GeoGebra to discover the motion of device in a well-known physical experimental instrument -- Looking into vibration-damping devices in the scanning tunneling microscope

In this paper, we take a vibration-damping devices in the well-known physical experimental instrument--scanning tunneling microscope as the study base, and with the help of GeoGebra software, we explain in detail the principle of damping the vibration of the damper in the magnetic field to realize the vibration-damping function of the whole device and establish a clear physical picture and a correct and comprehensive knowledge. This question also shows the process of clarifying the meaning of the problem with the help of software tools.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Covariant Electromagnetism in Past-Light-Cone Formalism

We present a manifestly covariant formulation of relativistic electromagnetism, focusing on the computation of electromagnetic fields from moving charges in a manifestly Lorentz-covariant manner. The electromagnetic field at a given spacetime point is determined by the motion of point charges at the intersection of their worldlines with the past light cone of the spacetime point, ensuring causal consistency. This formalism provides a manifestly covariant generalization of the Liénard-Wiechert potentials and allows direct implementation on computers. We compare our formulation with standard textbook approaches and analyze its behavior in various physical limits.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2024

Course Deficit Model and the CLASP curriculum: Examining equity and graduation rates at two institutions

We have previously described the reformed introductory physics course, Collaborative Learning through Active Sense-Making in Physics (CLASP), for bioscience students at a large public research one university (Original University) and presented evidence that the course was more successful and more equitable than the course it replaced by several measures. Now we compare the original success of CLASP with an implementation at a second institution. We find that the original results hold at another institution despite some changes to the original curriculum and a somewhat different student population. We find that students who take CLASP are 1) less likely to drop, 2) less likely to fail, and 3) do as well in later coursework when compared to students who took the courses that CLASP replaced, even if that coursework is not similarly reformed. We find the above items to be independently true for historically marginalized students and remarkably, also find that 4) marginalized students who take CLASP are more likely to graduate from a STEM field. We use a course deficit model perspective to examine these results, and discuss some of the factors that may have contributed to this success. We argue that higher education has the tools they need to significantly increase equity, and improve student success and retention.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dominant misconceptions and alluvial flows between Engineering and Physical Science students

In this article we assess the comprehension of physics concepts by Physical Science and Engineering students enrolled in their first semester at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa ($2022$). We employ different graphical measures to explore similarities and differences using the results of both pre- and post-test data from the Force Concept Inventory assessment tool, from which we calculate dominant misconceptions (DMs) and gains. We also use alluvial diagrams to track the choices made by these two groups of students from pre- to post-test stages. In our analysis, we find that DM results indicate that participating Engineering students outperformed Physical Science students on average, however, the same types of normalised DMs persist at the post-test level. We call these DMs "persistent misconceptions." This is very useful when tracking persistent misconceptions, where when using repeated measures and alluvial diagrams with smaller groups of students, we find that Physical Science students tend to make more chaotic choices.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2026

Classical Mechanics from Energy Conservation or: Why not Momentum?

It is demonstrated that energy conservation allows for a straight derivation of Newtonian mechanics without an apriori definition of the concept of work. Furthermore it is shown that energy must be depicted as a function of position and momentum in order to obtain the correct relativistic equations. Accordingly it is argued that not only quantum theory but also special relativity is intrinsically a Hamiltonian theory which requires a description of the dynamics using coordinate and momentum instead of velocity. Furthermore it is argued that the usual historical order of the ``formulations'' of mechanics, from Newtonian via Lagrangian to Hamiltonian mechanics, is illogical and misleading. We suggest that it should be reversed.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2024

Using Peer-Customers to Scalably Pair Student Teams with Customers for Hands-on Curriculum Final Projects

Peer-customer is a mechanism to pair student teams with customers in hands-on curriculum courses. Each student pitches a problem they want someone else in the class to solve for them. The use of peer-customers provides practical and scalable access for students to work with a customer on a real-world need for their final project. The peer-customer, despite being a student in the class, do not work on the project with the team. This dissociation forces a student team to practice customer needs assessment, testing, and surveying that can often be lacking in self-ideated final projects that do not have resources to curate external customers like in capstone courses. We prototyped the use of peer-customers in an introductory physical prototyping course focused on basic embedded systems design and python programming. In this paper, we present a practical guide on how best to use peer-customers, supported by key observations made during two separate offerings of the course with a total of N=64 students (N=29 Y1 and N=35 Y2).

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

A scaffolded curriculum to foster experimental skills acquisition in an introductory physics lab course

This article outlines a comprehensive redesign of an introductory physics laboratory course aimed at promoting active student engagement, enhancing scientific experimental skills and the development of expert-like attitudes. The redesign process involved redefining specific and measurable learning goals and the development of tailored activities and assessment rubrics to reach and assess those goals. In order to implement course scaffolding, we made significant modifications to the previously existing course format, space, physics topics contexts, and assessment. Instructors` roles evolved from imparting knowledge to promoting student decision-making and fostering a collaborative learning environment. To guide the laboratory transformation we used the results of a research-based survey. This work offers practical insights for educators seeking to redesign laboratory courses, emphasizing authentic scientific practices and student-driven learning experiences in physics education.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics: Introduction

This is the first of a series of papers that we intend to publish about the epistemology of fundamental physics in its current state. One of the main objectives of these papers is to improve our understanding of fundamental physics (and modern physics in particular) from an epistemological and interpretative perspective (i.e. versus formal perspective). Another main objective is to investigate and assess the merit of searching for a unified physical theory (the so-called ``theory of everything'') considering the fact that contemporary physics is a collection of theories created and developed by different individuals and groups of scientists in different eras of history reflecting different levels of scientific, philosophical and epistemological development and dealing with largely separate physical phenomena and hence such unification may mean ``stitching together'' an inhomogeneous collection of theoretical structures which may be clumsy (if not impossible) at least from an epistemological viewpoint.

physics.pop-ph↗

arXiv2025

A stochastic approach in physics exercises of mathematics education

We present a method for incorporating a stochastic point of view into physics exercises of mathematics education. The core of our method is the randomization of some inputs, the system model used does not differ from what we would use in the deterministic approach. We consider exercises from the theory of projectile motion and statics. The outputs of stochastic models are random variables, and we usually determine their probability distributions, expected values, variances, and relative standard deviations, and the probabilities of some events related to them are also calculated. Students and teachers familiar with elementary probability theory and mechanics may find these exercises useful for understanding some basic concepts of stochastic mechanics.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Comparing item response theory models for ranking incorrect response options

Previous work has shown that item response theory may be used to rank incorrect response options to multiple-choice items on commonly used assessments. This work has shown that, when the correct response to each item is specified, a nominal response model (NRM) may be used to rank the incorrect options. We seek to determine the robustness of these results by applying the NRM to all response choices, without specifying the correct response. We apply these analyses to multiple data sets (each with more than 9,000 response sets), including pre-instruction and post-instruction responses. We find that the rankings generated without specifying the correct response are consistent with the previously published rankings for one data set; however, we find noticeable differences between rankings generated from different data sets. We provide evidence that discrepancies may result from differences in response rates for less commonly chosen responses.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2024

Public Quantum Network: The First Node

We present a quantum network that distributes entangled photons between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a public library in Urbana. The network allows members of the public to perform measurements on the photons. We describe its design and implementation and outreach based on the network. Over 400 instances of public interaction have been logged with the system since it was launched in November 2023.

quant-ph↗