Challenges In Developing Physical Intuition In College General Physics Courses, Vasiliy S. Znamenskiy, Rafael Niyazov

Open Educational Resources

Many students can memorize formulas but struggle to feel what a newton, joule, or volt means; they treat formulas as plug-and-chug templates rather than descriptions of relationships among physical quantities. This presentation introduces three types of learning activities: (1) text-free (“no-text”) problems, in which carefully designed visuals replace prose to convey relationships and constraints; (2) anti-problems, which begin with a mathematical expression and ask students to imagine a physical situation it could describe; and (3) lab games that turn routine measurement into purposeful play, emphasizing estimation, scaling, and unit sense. We provide ready-made, Brightspace-compatible assessments alongside low-tech implementation options. The …

Charging And Discharging Capacitors: Brightspace Package Of An Arithmetic Quiz, Vasiliy Znamenskiy

Open Educational Resources

Description:

This material is a quiz in the Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS). The quiz includes 10 physics problems on the topic of charging and discharging capacitors through a resistor.

The quiz assesses student understanding of key concepts, including voltage and charge of a capacitor, exponential functions, time constants, and dynamic changes in voltage and current.

Quiz problems are called in Brightspace LMS as arithmetic questions. The Problems give students random initial values to provide many quiz variants.

The quiz is appropriate for high school AP Physics or introductory college-level physics courses.

Key Features:

10-question quiz in Brightspace importable format …

Personalized Physics Learning Through Ai: Insights From Problem Generation, Chatbot Dialogues, And Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Atharva Dange

Physics Dissertations - Archive

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform science education, yet questions remain on how best to integrate these technologies into teaching and learning. This dissertation investigates the use of AI-driven tools in university physics courses through three complementary studies. In the first study, a generative language model (ChatGPT) was used to create novel physics homework problems aligned with course objectives. Analysis showed that, after expert vetting, AI-generated questions can foster higher-order problem-solving and reduce student reliance on solution memorization, though careful instructor oversight is required to ensure accuracy. The second study embedded an AI chatbot as a learning aid in …

Enhance Students’ Learning Outcomes By Redesigning Individual Learning Activities Into Group Activities For Introductory Level Physics Courses, Kalani Hettiarachchilage, Neel Haldolaarachchige

Publications and Research

The evolution of science education is a dynamic process driven by advances in pedagogy, technology, and especially, our understanding of how students learn. Educators are exploring innovative teaching and learning methodologies such as active learning, incorporated technology, interdisciplinary approaches, flipped classrooms, personalized teaching, and many more. The goal of all these evolving methodologies is to empower students with not only a strong foundation in scientific knowledge but also with the skills and mindset required to thrive in the future world. By adopting these innovative approaches, educators can help students become effective problem solvers, critical thinkers, and life-learning citizens. Our focus …

Developing A Natural Language Processing Approach For Analyzing Student Ideas In Calculus-Based Introductory Physics, Jon M. Geiger, Lisa M. Goodhew, Tor Ole B. Odden

Honors Projects

Research characterizing common student ideas about particular physics topics has made a significant impact on university-level physics teaching by providing knowledge that supports instructors to target their instruction and by informing curriculum development. This work utilizes a Natural Language Processing algorithm (Latent Dirichlet Allocation, or LDA) to categorize student ideas, with the goal of significantly expediting the process of categorizing student ideas. We preliminarily test the LDA approach by applying the algorithm to a collection of introductory physics student responses to a conceptual question about circuits, specifically attending to whether it is useful for characterizing conceptual resources, or student ideas …

Analyzing The Mindsets And Behaviors Of Introductory Physics Students Through The Lens Of Intellectual Humility, Meagan Sundstrom

University Scholar Projects

Students often enter the physics classroom with intuitive conceptions drawn from real life experiences or former coursework, and may be hesitant or reluctant to re-evaluate these mindsets in favor of formally instructed knowledge. The goal of introductory physics courses is not only to teach and expose students to new content, but also to cultivate students’ ability to reason through and derive content knowledge through personal inquiry. This scientific process necessitates one’s abilities to be open-minded in terms of hearing evidence that contradicts his or her personal opinion, to be willing to discard any original misconceptions in the face of such …

Analyzing The Mindsets And Behaviors Of Introductory Physics Students Through The Lens Of Intellectual Humility, Meagan Sundstrom

Honors Scholar Theses

Students often enter the physics classroom with intuitive conceptions drawn from real life experiences or former coursework, and may be hesitant or reluctant to re-evaluate these mindsets in favor of formally instructed knowledge. The goal of introductory physics courses is not only to teach and expose students to new content, but also to cultivate students’ ability to reason through and derive content knowledge through personal inquiry. This scientific process necessitates one’s abilities to be open-minded in terms of hearing evidence that contradicts his or her personal opinion, to be willing to discard any original misconceptions in the face of such …

African-American College Student Attitudes Toward Physics And Their Effect On Achievement, Carl Timothy Drake

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the attitudes that African-American college students have towards introductory college physics. The population targeted for this study consisted of African-American males and females enrolled in introductory college physics classes at an urban public historical black college or university (HBCU) located in the southeastern United States. Nine of the Fennema- Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales, modified for physics, were used to analyze the attitudes of the 135 participants enrolled in an introductory college physics class. The nine scales used to measure the students' attitudes were Attitude Toward Success in Physics Scale (AS), …

A Simple Design For An Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer, Thomas R. Moore

Faculty Publications

An electronic speckle pattern interferometer suitable for use in an undergraduate laboratory is described. This interferometer can be built for a small fraction of the cost of a commercial version and is simple and inexpensive to build and understand. The interferometer is useful for visualizing the normal modes of vibrating objects as well as changes in index of refraction.