Before the advent of microcomputer-based labware (MBL), "time-of-flight" measurements for the speed of a transverse pulse on a string required elegant apparatus. This paper describes how to use an off-the-shelf MBL force sensor and a computer to perform the measurement. The data shown in this paper were collected using Vernier Software's wireless…

This study explored Bangladeshi science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) with a particular focus on the nature of (a) scientific knowledge, (b) scientific inquiry and (c) scientific enterprise. The tentative, inferential, subjective and creative NOS, in addition to the myths of the scientific method and experimentation, the nature…

Over the last two decades, science educators and science education researchers have grown increasingly interested in utilising insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) to inform their work and research. To date, researchers in science education have focused on two applications: results of sociological studies of science have been…

An advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment is outlined which uses a dye laser to map out the chromatic dispersion curve of a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) optical fibre. Seven different wavelengths across the visible spectrum are employed using five different dyes. The light pulse is split into two pulses, one to a nearby photodetector and…

This paper presents a simple method for calculating Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for the tensor product of two unitary irreducible representations (UIRs) of the rotation group. The method also works for multiplicity-free irreducible representations appearing in the tensor product of any number of UIRs of the rotation group. The generalization to…

In a recent paper (Denny 2002 Eur. J. Phys. 23 449-58), entitled "The pendulum clock: a venerable dynamical system", Denny showed that in a first approximation the steady-state motion of a weight-driven pendulum clock is shown to be a stable limit cycle. He placed the problem in a historical context and obtained an approximate solution using the…

Several misconceptions abound among college students taking their first general physics course, and to some extent pre-engineering physics students, regarding the physics and applications of electric circuits. Analogies used in textbooks, such as those that liken an electric circuit to a piped closed loop of water driven by a water pump, do not…

Connecting physics concepts with real-world events allows students to establish a strong conceptual foundation. When such events are particularly interesting to students, it can greatly impact their engagement and enthusiasm in an activity. Activities that involve studying real-world events of high interest can provide students a long-lasting…

In November 2009, the largest experiment in history was restarted. Its prime target is the Higgs particle--the last remaining undiscovered piece of our current theory of matter. We present a very simple way to introduce this topic to senior secondary school students, using a comparison with the refractive index of light.

We examine the Stark effect (the second-order shifts in the energy spectrum due to an external constant force) for two one-dimensional model quantum mechanical systems described by linear potentials, the so-called quantum bouncer (defined by V(z) = Fz for z greater than 0 and V(z) = [infinity] for z less than 0) and the symmetric linear potential…

The solution to the Euler-Lagrange equation is an extremal functional. To understand that the functional is stationary at local extrema (maxima or minima), we propose a physics experiment that involves using a soap film to form a catenoid. A catenoid is a surface that is formed between two coaxial circular rings and is classified mathematically as…

Two important questions concerning cosmic rays are: Why are electrons in the cosmic rays less efficiently accelerated than nuclei? How are particles accelerated to great energies in ultra-high energy cosmic rays? In order to answer these questions we construct a simple model of the acceleration of a charged particle in the cosmic ray. It is not…

Recognition of the value of a scientifically literate citizenry has driven American science education reform since the 1950s. We have seen some improvement in the comprehension of science facts in the past 10-20 years, but far less improvement in Americans' understanding of the nature of science. College science courses are ideal venues for…

Online learning environments offer new opportunities for learning and over the last decade or so a variety of online learning environments have been developed by researchers to facilitate collaborative learning among students. In this paper we will present a case study of a successful collaborative learning design. This involves a near synchronous…

This paper reports a cross-grade comparative study of Chinese precollege students' epistemological beliefs about physics by using the Colorado Learning Attitudes Survey about Sciences (CLASS). Our students of interest are middle and high schoolers taking traditional lecture-based physics as a mandatory science course each year from the 8th grade…