| Practical_Physics Enables teachers of physics to share their skills and experience of making experiments work in the classroom. |
| A_Prelude_to_the_Study_of_Physics A paper first published in Quantum Vol 7 No 2, pg. 45, Nov/Dec 1996. |
| Professor_Stephen_Hawking_Online Biographical, educational, and scholarly. Also includes a bit of fun (did you know he was on The Simpsons TV show?) |
| The_Quantum_Exchange A collection of information and resources for teachers of quantum physics. |
| QuarkNet Supports centers at 60 universities and laboratories that are participants in the collider experiments at CERN in Switzerland and at Fermilab in Illinois. Physicists will mentor and collaborate with |
| Radiation_Physics_and_Radiocarbon_Research_Labs_at_University_College_Dublin Specialises in the measurement of minute traces of artificial and natural radionuclides in the environment. |
| A_Radically_Modern_Approach_to_Introductory_Physics A web text by David J. Raymond. |
| School_Mathematics_and_Science_Programs_Benefit_From_Instructional_Technology NSF report summarizes key findings about mathematics and science in controlled evaluations of instructional technology in elementary and secondary schools. |
| The_Science_of_the_Bicycle Divided in two parts. The first is a theory study and the second is a report of the experiment. This study was done as a part of The Bicycle Project from September till December 1999. The research wa |
| Science-Pseudoscience Science, non-science and pseudoscience: a set of lessons to teach students to define and differentiate the three. |
| Sea_World_Physics Lesson plans, activities and objectives helpful to establish an understanding of the following physics concepts: velocity, acceleration, buoyancy and free fall. |
| Select_Physics_Topics This physics online ebook covers basic physics from Newton's laws to electricity and magnetism. Lots of applets and animation included. |
| Simple_Electric_Motors Summary of science projects by Stan Pozmantir, a junior secondary student. Easy-to-build and inexpensive electric motors utilizing many physics principles. |
| Society_of_Physics_Students_(SPS) Complete set of information for members of any level of SPS. Scholarships and awards, news, activities, staff, structure, online forms, student resources, and links to significant physics sites. |
| The_Sound_of_Solitary_Waves Physicists have demonstrated the first acoustic solitary waves in air--waves that can travel long distances without changing shape. |
| Space_and_Time Course based on Stephen Hawking's best selling book, "A Brief History of Time". The course deals with topics in modern physics such as Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, Quantum Theory, Black |
| Space_Station_Phyve A WebQuest for high school physics and MST students to research and design a rotating space colony. This highly scientific mission contains links and teacher rubric. |
| Spacetime_Wrinkles Major advances in computation are only now enabling scientists to simulate how black holes form, evolve, and interact. Learn about relativity and its predictions through text and video files at this |
| Static_Electricity Scientific explanation of the phenomenon of static electricity. |
| Teralab Descriptions and photographs of electrostatics, electron bombardment and wave experiments done with home equipment. |
| Thermal_and_Statistical_Physics_Curriculum_Development_Project Includes an introduction to the project and its conferences, related papers and links, and some Java applets. |
| Todd\'s_Quantum_Intro A brief overview of quantum mechanics. |
| TYC_Physics_Workshops Information about workshops provided for two-year or community college physics teachers and the products of this project. |
| UMPERG__Minds-On_Physics_(MOP) A one-year curriculum for high-school physics. It is the result of a materials-development project supported by the National Science Foundation, and its design was guided by educational research findi |
| Web_Physics_Project A flexible low budget outlet for small volume, high quality, HTML-based curricular material. It provides a forum for physics educators to exchange curriculum ideas and resources that make use of web |
| West_Point_Bridge_Design_Contest Bridge design contest (using specialized software) run a service to education and as a tribute to the U.S. Military Academy's two hundred years of service to the United States of America. U.S. studen |
| The_World_of_Beams_(Both_Energy_and_Particle) Explores the nature of particle beams, laser beams, and related physics topics. |
| World_Year_of_Physics_2005 Plans to bring the excitement of physics to the public and inspire a new generation of scientists. Includes information about projects, events and Einstein, sources for teachers, downloads, internatio |
| Hydrogeology_Research_Group,_University_of_Tennessee,_Knoxville Conducts research on contaminant transport in groundwater and age-dating of groundwater. |
| Coalition_Opposed_to_PCB_Ash_in_Monroe_County,_Indiana Provides information concerning the problem related to PCB hazardous waste incinerator and landfill. Links to resources and research. |
| Dioxin_Facts Chlorine Chemistry Council provides information regarding dioxins, their release into the environment, and their effects on human health. |
| The_Dioxin_Home_Page Personal home page by Lewis A. Shadoff, Ph.D., discusses dioxins, furans, and similar toxic substances, including what they are and where they are found. |
| Dioxin_Threat A report on the technical and social implications of dioxin. |
| e_hormone__At_the_Cutting_Edge_of_Endocrine_Disruptor_Research_ Provide information about: upcoming conferences, the latest in research techniques and results, commentaries from distinguished scholars in the field, links to related news and stories. |
| Endocrine_Disrupters__Are_Synthetic_Hormones_Causing_Environmental_Chaos? Information from the Why Files about the endocrine system, effects of pesticides/PCBs/dioxins on wildlife and people, and prospects for action to resolve this concern. |
| Endocrine_Disrupting_Substances_in_the_Environment Canadian Environmental Corps offers PDF file on this subject. |
| Endocrine_Disruption_by_Estrogenic_Environmental_Pollutants Overview of a chapter by B. Rey de Castro from the book Environmental Medicine. |
| Endocrine_Disruptors_Low-Dose_Peer_Review Report evaluating the low dose effects and dose response relationships for endocrine disrupting chemicals in mammalian species that relate to human health. |
| Endocrine_Disruptors_Research_Initiative Describes the coordination of U.S. federal government efforts to examine the hypothesis that there are chemicals present in the environment of humans and wildlife that, by virtue of their ability to i |
| Endocrine/Estrogen_Letter Newsletter and comprehensive set of endocrine disrupter links. |
Science teachers often
complain that their students either easily forget or can’t apply the general
concepts they have "learned" in class. Unlike the teachers, students
have not established a network of learning paths that would help them remember
and apply those general concepts.
Students must force
themselves to learn. The amount of force depends on how steep the learning path
is. The amount of energy required is a function of the force and the distance.
Students may waste a lot
more energy following a learning path than is needed. They may travel in
circles or they may encounter friction. We’ll define a high friction path as
one filled with distractions and small meaningless exercises. Movement on a
high friction learning path generates heat, which we can define as frustration,
dissatisfaction or anger. As in the real world, there is always some friction
along learning paths. This friction decreases significantly each time a student
repeats a learning path.
A closer examination of
learning space provides insight into the value of inductive learning versus
deductive learning. Inductive learning is where the learner does not know what
or where the desired knowledge is. The teacher provides them with numerous
facts along the base of the hill and hopes they can induce their way to the top
of the hill. The learner does not know what concept is at the top of the hill.
Deductive learning involves showing the learner one or more paths to the peak.
The learner is then asked to follow the same paths down the hill with homework
problems. Ultimately the learner may be asked to solve a problem that requires
them to blaze their own path up or down the hill. As the student learns, the
paths become smoother with less friction and the student requires less energy
to follow them.
Other physics parameters
can be used to define a student's abilities to travel in learning space. For
example, students bring a certain amount of potential energy to a class.
A high power student can concentrate and focus on a subject well.
Mass is inversely related to a persons
motivation to learn. It is a person’s personal philosophy about learning. A
closed mind, a person who does not believe there is anything more to learn or
that learning has no value, is a very massive object. Students with deep-rooted
misconceptions are high-mass objects. A huge amount of force is required
to force the student along a learning path. The desire to learn, the inverse of
mass, may come from various sources. It may be instinctive or it may be an
altruistic desire or it may be seen as just a means to get a better grade or
job.
Extending this analogy can
help science teachers label, define and analyze what good experienced teachers
already know about teaching and learning: Teachers should attempt to guide
students along numerous learning paths. Teachers should utilize the energy a
student brings to class. Encourage students to bring more energy to class.
Don’t allow students to waste their energy. Observe and maintain learning
momentum. Students naturally follow the paths of lowest energy. The teacher
must ensure those paths do involve learning the material. Each student has a
certain amount of learning power, a measure of the students ability to focus
and concentrate. Each student has a unique desire to learn. Teachers should
encourage this desire.
Quantifying Terms and
Optimizing Student Learning
Specific mathematical
relationships also arise from the physics analogy. These common sense
relationships can be used to create a mathematical model of a classroom. If we
can quantify certain parameters as a student’s concentration power, a student's
"mass" and the time a student spends on a learning path we may be
able to calculate the energy required to follow the learning path from E = ò P · dt. If we can quantify a student’s desire to learn then we
could map out the topography of learning space, i.e., the material in a course,
from E = mgh. The following table summarizes terms and relationships that may
be useful.
Physics Term Equivalent Educational Term Symbol, Relationship
Path Learning Path r
Space Knowledge = f(x,y),
Learning Space x,y, or more
dimensions
Height Knowledge Complexity h
Force Learning
effort F
= dE / ds
Work Work W
= ò F · ds
Power Ability to
concentrate, focus P =
dE / dt
Energy Energy E
= ò P · dt
Potential Well E(r) F = dE(r) / ds
Velocity Learning rate v
Mass Inverse of desire to learn. m
Momentum Learning momentum p = m v
Friction Distractions, roughness
in learning path k
Heat Frustrations,
Dissatisfaction, Anger Q
Gravity Desire to not work g
Potential Energy Available amount of energy P.E. = mgh
Kinetic Energy Current
energy being used K.E.
= p /2m
By examining data from a
large group of students, we can generate a topographical map of learning space
for a given topic or course. We can evaluate paths quantitatively and thus
select the best paths for each individual.
Quantifying Terms
Quantifying a student’s
potential energy, concentration power and mass may be accomplished with a
pre-class self-evaluation form as shown below. Another approach would be to let
a student proceed with an endless exercise until they exhaust themselves. The
time they spend on the exercise and the progress they make is related to their
energy and concentration power.
Example
Questionnaire
Estimate the amount of
energy you bring to this class as compared to other classes you’ve taken on a
scale of 1-5. 5 is the highest energy.
Estimate the amount of
energy you bring to this class as compared to other students in this class.
Estimate the total amount
of time in hours per week you expect to spend on this including class time.
Estimate how highly motivated
you are to learn this material.
You have no calculator.
Calculate the square root of 2 to as many places as possible until you want to
leave. Write down your answer and the amount of time you spent on that answer.
Make sure your answer is correct.
We now have a means to
evaluate the learning paths we create for students. Are the learning paths too
steep? Are the steps in the learning path too broad? Has the student followed
enough progressively steeper paths to a general concept to effectively follow
new deduction paths on their own? A series of exercises can be generated to
test how much the student has learned:
1. Exact repetition of
learning path followed in class.
2. Replacement of numerical
values in this learning path.
3. Redefine one or more variables
in the learning path.
4. Unique application of
general concept.
Collecting this data,
mapping out learning space and tracking student energy levels and momentum is
greatly simplified with a networked computer system. Students can perform
computerized exercises that are designed to collect and track this information.
The network can time students. Fortunately such a network already exists and is
being used to teach over 1000 students per year general chemistry.
Addendum: Learning Space
and Networks
If we think of a person’s
knowledge and skills as somehow imprinted on a vast network of neurons in the
brain, then we can realize that this network has certain features. The most
general knowledge and skills or general concepts must have more connections.
For example, Newton’s second law, F=ma, might have a pyramidal or mountain like
shape of network connections.
The mountain continues down
with network connections to the person’s more basic background experiences.
The complexity of a concept
depends on the number of network connections it has or the height of the
mountain. These connections give rise to a unique topography for a given
concept.
When we talk of teaching
and learning, we are talking about the transfer of the teacher’s (or textbook author’s)
network of knowledge to the student’s network of knowledge. We can think of the
teacher’s knowledge as the learning space the student must traverse in a
course. We can think of learning as a change of network states, from the
student’s current state to the desired learning space state.
Implanting a network of
knowledge, a change of states, in the student requires energy. It also depends
on the student’s background of knowledge.
State changes also depend
on the student’s ability to efficiently think of new states and test them to
see if they match with the desired state in learning space. This ability
depends on student energy, momentum, concentration and mass. These are
quantifiable parameters.
Momentum: How fast a
student creates new states and compares them to the desired learning space
state.
Energy: This is a function
of the student’s momentum and the time the student can work.
Concentration: How many
network connections the student can work with at a given moment.
.
