Search results for " physics education"
showing 4 items of 24 documents
Teaching particle physics to high school teachers
2017
In Norway, particle physics is part of the high school curriculum in physics which introduces the need for good university teaching in particle physics without the usual technical approach. Given how much conflicting information and inaccurate explanations there are on the subject; how should we teach this to people without much knowledge in mathematics? By carefully explaining the fundamental consepts of the theory it is fully possible to achieve an appreciation of particle physics without much mathematics. Through the use of analogies, such as an analogy between the freedom in choosing timezone and the freedom in choosing phase angle, one can introduce gauge theory and hence show the unde…
Measurement of the Convective Heat-Transfer Coefficient
2014
We propose an experiment for investigating how objects cool down toward the thermal equilibrium with its surrounding through convection. We describe the time dependence of the temperature difference of the cooling object and the environment with an exponential decay function. By measuring the thermal constant tau, we determine the convective heat-transfer coefficient, which is a characteristic constant of the convection system.
Visual attention while solving the test of understanding graphs in kinematics: an eye-tracking analysis
2019
This study used eye-tracking to capture students' visual attention while taking a test of understanding graphs in kinematics (TUG-K). A total of N = 115 upper-secondary-level students from Germany and Switzerland took the 26-item multiple-choice instrument after learning about kinematics graphs in the regular classroom. Besides choosing the correct alternative among research-based distractors, the students were required to judge their response confidence for each question. The items were presented sequentially on a computer screen equipped with a remote eye tracker, resulting in a set of approx. 3000 paired responses (accuracy and confidence) and about 40 h of eye-movement data (approx. 500…
Due 'paradossi meccanici' della Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell'Università di Palermo
2015
Many instruments of the Historical Collection of the Physics Instruments of the University of Palermo date back to the early nineteenth century, when experimental Physics begun to be taught in university studies by using instruments and apparatuses in the classroom to illustrate the laws of Physics. Among the various instruments belonging to the Collection, there are also the so-called 'paradoxes', instruments with surprising properties that do not seem to follow the laws of Physics. In this article we analyze two 'mechanical paradoxes' of the Collection and discuss their possible educational use.