This study explored the quality of arguments used by first-year engineering university students enrolled in a traditional physics course dealing with electromagnetic induction and related problem solving where they had to assess whether the electromagnetic induction phenomenon would occur. Their conclusions were analyzed for the relevance of the…

Besides viewing knowledge about the nature of science (NOS) as important for its own value with respect to scientific literacy, an adequate understanding of NOS is expected to improve science content learning by fostering the ability to interrelate scientific concepts and, thus, coherently acquire scientific content knowledge. However, there is a…

Our previous work correlated bond angles of group V and group VI hydrides (AH[subscript 3]E and AH[subscript 2]E[subscript 2], respectively, where E represents a lone electron pair) to the electronegativities of the atoms using the fraction of s character to relate the two. Here we have extended the correlation to the AH[subscript 2]X[subscript 2]…

In this paper, we acquire and analyse high-speed videos of a spring-mass system oscillating in glycerin at different temperatures. Three cases of damped harmonic oscillation are investigated and analysed by using high-speed video at a rate of 120 frames s[superscript -1] and Tracker Video Analysis (Tracker) software. We present empirical data for…

This study focuses on students' conceptions of electric and magnetic fields at university level and of the interrelations between them. A total of 33 students participated in a paper and pencil test after the completion of first-year electricity and second-year electromagnetism courses. The conceptions were investigated in the contexts of a…

Feynman mentioned to us that he understood a topic in physics if he could explain it to a college freshman, a high school student, or a dinner guest. Here we will discuss two topics that took us a while to get to that level. One is the relationship between gravity and time. The other is the minus sign that appears in the Lagrangian. (Why would one…

Energy is a fundamental concept in physics, playing an important role in every aspect of the world around us. The conversion of energy among its many forms has enabled both the sustenance of living organisms on Earth and our development of a society based on the manufacture of products for our own convenience. All of these aspects of energy are…

The learning outcome of a physics laboratory course for medical students was examined in an interdisciplinary field study and discussed for the electrical physiology ("Propagation of Excitation and Nerve Cells"). At the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU) at a time about 300 medicine students were assessed in two successive…