While laboratories have long been associated with introductory physics courses, there is doubt as to whether they positively impact student learning. Holmes and Wieman found that students who elected to take optional laboratories fared no better across a range of metrics than their counterparts who did not participate. In addition, these…

The present review intends to show the current state of teaching quantum-related content, to analyze and compare its learning efficiency, and to give a systemized overview of quantum-educational activities in the last years. We focus on teaching and learning elements, their innovative tools, and process-oriented studies that are empirically…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are key partners in the education of undergraduates. Given the potentially large impact GTAs can have on undergraduate student learning, it is important to provide them with appropriate preparation for teaching. But GTAs are students themselves, and not all of them desire to pursue an academic career. Fully…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a three-year limited-run offer of an energy science certificate in the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus, along with lessons learned that can be of use to other institutions considering comparable programs. Energy science is a loosely defined discipline that traditionally straddles physics and mechanical,…

While interdisciplinary approaches in the STEM subjects are widely advocated there are concerns that disciplinary learning can be compromised, especially in mathematics. The Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science (IMS) project is a three-year longitudinal study in four Victorian primary schools that has developed a pedagogical approach to…

The second article (Part 2) builds on the theoretical and contextual foundation developed in paper one by exploring in more depth how to teach tennis based on the use of USTA modified equipment and Tennis Canada's play-practice-play program. Drawing on the enactivist cognitive approach to teaching tennis, this paper shows how tennis players,…

Constructing Direct Current (DC) electric circuits is simple and engaging for primary students, but that is not all there is to learning about electricity. Mandatory learning in the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2018) expects Year 6 students to explain some of the processes underlying electric circuits. The abstract nature of key…

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted every aspect of academic activity, including the informal education and public engagement efforts of physics departments and institutions. As part of a large-scale national survey of the landscape of informal physics education programs, we have conducted a series of short interviews with directors and…

Physics program for girls (PPG) is a two-week program held every summer since 2006, with the goal of engaging young women in inquiry-based physics experiments and to connect them with female science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professional role models. The program recruits young women to participate the summer after they have taken…

Since 2017 the Italian Space Agency (ASI) participates to so-called 'Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro' (i.e. 'school-work synergy') outreach projects promoted by the Italian government, and the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC) actively contributes to them, with the primary aim of bringing students closer to space-related activities before choosing…

This study investigated the perception of students of the use of deductive and inductive learning approaches. The subject of the study involved a program named PIBA (Program Intensifikasi Bahasa Asing) in UIN Alauddin, Makassar where 2 English classes were purposively taken as samples to be treated using deductive and inductive approaches in…

The QuarkNet Collaboration has forged nontraditional relationships among particle physicists, high school teachers, and their students. QuarkNet centers are located at 50+ universities and labs across the United States and Puerto Rico. We provide professional development for teachers and create opportunities for teachers and students to engage in…

Shadows can be found easily everywhere around us, so that we rarely find it interesting to reflect on how they work. In order to raise curiosity among students on the optics of shadows, we can display the shadows in 3D, particularly using a stereoscopic set-up. In this paper we describe the optics of stereoscopic shadows using simple schematic…

Over the past few decades, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that students learn best in engaging, interactive, collaborative, and inquiry-based environments. However, most college science classes are still taught with traditional methods suggesting the existing selection of research-based instructional materials has not widely transformed…

This article describes the Lissajous generalized figure and the original instrument for its investigation. Two specially prepared electrodynamic loudspeakers--a horizontal and a vertical--cause oscillations in two mirrors. It is possible to precisely control the motion of the mirrors, achieve a high frequency of oscillation and investigate…