The transition from school-level mathematics to the more abstract and formal structures in universities poses challenges for many first-year physics students. To address this gap, most physics faculties offer a mathematics pre-course. Here, we report about a pre-posttest study investigating the impact of a pre-course on N = 56 first-year physics…

This article reports on a study investigating how computational essays can be used to help students in higher education STEM take up disciplinary epistemic agency--cognitive control and responsibility over one's own learning within the scientific disciplines. Computational essays are a genre of scientific writing that combine live, executable…

Computational thinking (CT) skills are essential with the rapid advancement of technology. Developing CT attitudes in students is also required for improving CT skills. On the other hand, science process skills are also emphasized in high school physics classes. This study aims to design and implement collaborative modeling-based learning for high…

Design-Based Learning and computational thinking (CT) are two key components that support each other specifically in the learning process involving the development of experimental design. Both components emphasize the importance of integration between computational thinking and design-based learning to support a creative, innovative and data…

We discuss the limits of the equation of the period of a simple pendulum, T[subscript s] = 2[pi][square root]l/g, frequently used in high-school and university classrooms to measure the acceleration of gravity. We evaluate the relative error in determining the acceleration of gravity with this simple equation instead of a more realistic one,…

Teaching quantum physics (QP) to high school (HS) students is gaining momentum, necessitating the exploration of various effective methods. Specifically, the research on quantitative teaching methods is still in its early stages. Understanding the power of Dirac notation (DN) in teaching is crucial for grasping the complexities of QP, as it…

Identifying students' difficulties in understanding Gauss's and Ampere's laws is important for developing educational strategies that promote an expertlike understanding of the field concept and Maxwell's equations of electromagnetic phenomena. This study aims to analyze and compare students' understanding of symmetry when applying Gauss's and…

Much has been written about Adaptive Learning, but does its implementation alone guarantee success? We have found that integrating an Adaptive Learning Strategy with diverse didactic techniques gives better results. The objectives of this exploratory study were to know the impact of the Adaptive Learning Strategy on students' learning and…

In quantum mechanics courses, students are often asked to solve bound and scattering state problems. The use of an ordinary differential equation is a standard technique to solve these questions. Here, we investigated students' problem-solving processes for two typical problems of a single particle in one spatial dimension: a bound state problem…

An onto-semiotic analysis of the mathematical connections established by one in-service mathematics teachers and university students when solving a problem about launching a projectile using the derivative was carried out. Theoretically, this research was based on the articulation between the Extended Theory of Mathematical Connections and the…

The background of this article is an interest in analysing how assessment of professional skills is conducted in higher education contexts, drawing on video data from a course on maritime navigation. The empirical study focuses on a) how students working in a bridge simulator are able to display their knowledge about how to calculate the relation…

Pre-service physics teachers often do not recognise the relevance for their future career in their university content knowledge courses. A lower perceived relevance can, however, have a negative effect on their motivation and on their academic success. Several intervention studies have been undertaken with the goal to increase this perceived…

In this article, the authors describe their use of simultaneous observations of the 2016 transit of Mercury made from two widely separated locations on Earth to determine the distance to the Sun in a way different from that suggested in 1715 by Halley. Using an internet link, teachers and students can make a similar derivation at the 2019 transit…

Mathematics is an important nature exploration tool used by all natural sciences. So it is usual that mathematical calculations are part of school science education. But how are these calculations perceived by the learners themselves? What are their attitudes to this part of the teaching process? The answer to this question is important for any…

An undergraduate electrical conductivity measurement experiment in a physical chemistry lab and basic fitting procedures are presented that allow a characterization of micellar system of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) in binary mixture of water and acetonitrile (ACN) as a cosolvent (10%, v/v) at 30.0 °C.…