After the passage of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative Act in December 2018, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently assembled an interagency working group and conducted a workshop titled "Key Concepts for Future Quantum Information Science Learners" that focused on…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] A level of curricular design, called "design tactics," is identified to fill a gap in the research literature between the broad principles that guide curriculum development and the detailed writing of specific activities and lessons. The use of…

Examines structural characteristics of university engineering students' conceptions of energy elicited through paragraph writing and their relations with categories of their conceptions specific to energy in solution processes identified through interviews. Reports that structures of students' conceptions are characterized primarily by…

Investigates how situational knowledge differs across individuals of different competence levels. Analyzes participants' descriptions of physics problem situations. Discusses the relationship between competence and the structure of problem situations, differences between experts and novices, and implications for teaching. (Author/KHR)

Investigates what the role of arguments from physics within mathematical proof is, and how this role should be reflected in the classroom. Presents examples showing the fruitfulness of center of gravity arguments in terms of geometrical configuration and the laws of the lever. Discusses educational advantages of the use of arguments from physics…

A group of 26 high-school physics teachers completed a card-sorting task to prioritize their choices of topics to include in the physics curriculum. Mechanics, electricity, and magnetism emerged as most important. Covering these topics conflicted with teachers' goals to impart deep conceptual understanding of physics in their students. (33…

Reports on an investigation of student understanding of the first law of thermodynamics. Involves students from a first-year university physics course and a second-year thermal physics course. Focuses on the ability of students to relate the first law to the adiabatic physics course. Discusses implications for thermal physics and mechanics…

Investigates whether preschool children aged 4.5-6 can construct the concept of mechanical stability through structured hands-on activities that involve the building of a tower on an inclined plane and the use of cans of various sizes and weights. Presents a theoretical framework for teaching and learning physics in the early years. (Contains 47…

Describes a study in which teaching and learning activities are designed using a cognitive conflict strategy. Focuses on the effectiveness of these activities in classroom research in pre-university courses in Botswana and South Africa. Contains 39 references. (DDR)

Examines several areas to be considered in developing physics syllabi. They include (1) the objectives of physics teaching and learning; (2) physics as an experience, based on realistic expectations of what 14- to 16-year-olds are capable of; and (3) the kinds of experiences in which students can succeed (including computer experiences). (JN)

Addresses the problem of relating distance and scale by way of alternative models of perception taken from the history of science. Makes specific suggestions to broaden the scientifically-based actual activity zone of students. (Contains 19 references.) (DDR)

In the past decade, research on students' ideas has drawn attention to underestimated problems of learning physics. This also particularly applies to Science/Technology/Society teaching. Proposed solutions are mainly inspired by a constructivist cognitive science perspective and are formulated as general teaching strategies that aim at a process…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on students' thinking regarding their views on friction. Students (N=47) were…

The development of an instructional model based on a learning cycle including correlation, analysis, and generalization (CAG) is described. A module developed for heat and temperature was administered to test its effects by comparing its use with the same unit in the New Physical Science Curriculum (NPSC). The methodology, results, and discussion…

This document consists of two parts. Part I outlines the general characteristics of science education research in the Federal Republic of Germany (and other German-speaking countries, such as Austria, the German Democratic Republic, and Switzerland). In addition, comparisons are made between research in these countries and research in other…