Physics education refers both to the methods currently used to teach physics and to an area of pedagogical research that seeks to improve those methods. Historically, physics has been taught at the high school and college level primarily by the lecture method together with laboratory exercises aimed at verifying concepts taught in the lectures. The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density. ...

Unfortunately, owing to the abstract and counterintuitive nature of many of the elementary concepts in physics, the lecture method often fails to help students overcome the many misconceptions about the physical world that they have developed before undertaking formal instruction in the subject. In most introductory physics courses mechanics usually is the first area of physics that is discussed. Newton's laws of motion, which describe how massive objects respond to forces, are central to the study of mechanics. Newton arrived at his three laws of motion from an extensive study of emprical data including many astronomical observations. Newtons First and Second laws, in Latin, from the original 1687 edition of the Principia Mathematica. ...

However, students frequently have preconceptions about the world around them that makes it difficult for them to accept Newton's Laws of Motion. As an example Newton's First Law, also known as the law of inertia, states that a body at rest will remain at rest and that a body moving at constant velocity will continue to move with the same velocity unless a net force acts on the body. Many students hold the misconception that a net force is required to keep a body moving at constant velocity. They know that to slide a book across a table a "push" has to be exerted on the book. However, they fail to take into account that there is more than one force acting on the book when it is being pushed across the table at constant velocity. In addition to the "push" being exerted, there also is a frictional force in the opposite direction acting on the book from the tabletop. When the book moves at constant velocity those two forces balance out (add vectorially) to produce a net force of zero. Newtons First and Second laws, in Latin, from the original 1687 edition of the Principia Mathematica. ... Newtons laws of motion are three scientific laws which Isaac Newton discovered concerning the behaviour of moving bodies. ... In physics, force is that which changes or tend to change the state of rest or motion of a body. ... The velocity of an object is simply its speed in a particular direction. ... Frictional force in mechanics is the force which opposes the relative motion of the body. ...

In an active learning environment students might experiment with objects in an evironment that has almost no friction, for example a block moving on an almost frictionless air table. There they would find that if they start the block moving at constant speed, it continues to move at constant speed without the need for a constant "push". It is hoped that exercises of this nature will help students to overcome their preconceived ideas about motion. Active learning, as the name suggests, is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process, rather than passively absorbing lectures. ... It has been suggested that Coefficient of friction be merged into this article or section. ...

Goals of physics education research

The primary goal of physics education research is to develop pedagogical techniques and strategies that will help students learn physics more effectively. Research often focuses on learning more about the common misconceptions that students bring to the physics classroom, so that techniques can be devised to help students overcome these misconceptions. A variety of interactive learning methods (sometimes also called active learning methods) and laboratory experiences have been developed with this aim. Active learning, as the name suggests, is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process, rather than passively absorbing lectures. ...

Additional examples of misconceptions in physics

• Heavy objects fall faster than light objects: Near the surface of the earth the acceleration of an object due to the gravitational force is locally constant (approximately ). As a result, in the absence of air resistance, both heavy objects and light objects should fall at the same rate when dropped. However, many students when asked say that heavier objects fall faster than light ones even if air resistance is negligible. This is natural because if one drops a feather and a rock at the same time, the rock definitely will hit the ground first. However, in that case the upward frictional force on the feather from air resistance is nearly equal to the downward gravitational force, while for the falling rock the air resistance is very small compared to the gravitational force. The "penny and feather" is a classic demonstration that has been used to show students that light and heavy objects do fall at the same rate when there is no air resistance. This demonstration requires a vacuum pump to remove air from a glass or clear plastic tube that contains a penny and feather that can be dropped by quickly turning over the tube. A simpler demonstration can be done with an aluminum ball and a lead ball that are the same size. If they are dropped simultaneously, they will hit the ground at the same time.

• When two objects with different masses collide, the force on the less massive object is larger than the force on the more massive object: Though Newton's third law says that the force exerted by the more massive object on the less massive one is equal in magnitude to the force exerted by the less massive object on the more massive one, many students believe the opposite. This common misconception is understandable because students know that when a very massive object (for example a railroad train) collides with a much less massive object (say an automobile), the less massive object usually is much more heavily damaged. However, the differences in damage are a consequence not of the forces being different in magnitude, but rather of the much different accelerations that parts of each object undergo in the collision. Newton's second law requires that F=ma so parts of the more massive object experiences much smaller accelerations than parts of the less massive object. While it is possible to directly measure the forces on each object in a two-body collision with strain gauges, many high school and introductory college labs don't have the equipment available to make such measurements. A somewhat simpler approach is to measure the change in momentum for each of two rigid objects in a collision. The change in momentum is a measure of the impulse, FΔt, that each object experienced. Since the duration of the collision, Δt is the same for both, the change in momentum measures the magnitude of the forces involved.

Acceleration is the time rate of change of velocity, and at any point on a v-t graph, it is given by the slope of the tangent to that point In physics or physical science, acceleration (symbol: a) is defined as the rate of change (or derivative with respect to... Newtons laws of motion are the three scientific laws which Isaac Newton discovered concerning the behaviour of moving bodies. ... Newtons laws of motion are the three scientific laws which Isaac Newton discovered concerning the behaviour of moving bodies. ... In classical mechanics, momentum (pl. ... In classical mechanics, the impulse of a force is the product of the force and the time during which it acts. ...

See also

 Education by subject   (Portal)  

Agricultural · Art · Bilingual · Chemistry · Language · Legal · Mathematics · Medical · Military · Music · Peace · Performing arts · Physics · Reading · Religious · Science · Sex · Technology · Vocational · More... Image File history File links Nuvola_apps_bookcase. ... A classroom Education is the process by which an individual is encouraged and enabled to develop fully his or her innate potential; it may also serve the purpose of equipping the individual with what is necessary to be a productive member of society. ... Image File history File links Nuvola_apps_bookcase. ... Art education is the area of learning that, in the United States of America, is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings. ... –The phrase bilingual education has multiple definitions: Education in a childs native language for no more than three years to ensure that while students are learning English, they do not fall behind in content areas like math, science, and social studies. ... Chemistry education is an active area of research within both the disciplines of chemistry and education. ... Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals (attorneys and judges) or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law (such as politics or academic) or unrelated (such as business entrepreneurship). ... Mathematics education is the study of practices and methods of both the teaching and learning of mathematics. ... Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor or further training thereafter. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Peace education is the process of acquiring the knowledge and developing the attitudes, skills, and behaviour to live in harmony with oneself and with others. ... Education in the performing arts is a key part of many primary and secondary education curricula and is also available as a specialisation at the tertiary level. ... There were basically two different common methods of teaching reading. ... Religious education teaches the doctrines of a religion. ... Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. ... Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A blacksmith is a traditional trade. ...

Physics Portal

Image File history File links Portal. ...

References

• Lillian C. McDermott (1993). "Guest Comment: How we teach and how students learn---A mismatch?". American Journal of Physics 61 (4): 295–298.
• McDermott, L.C.; Shaffer, Peter S. (2001). Tutorials in Introductory Physics. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-097069-7.
• Lillian C. McDermott and Edward F. Redish (1999). "Resource Letter: PER-1: Physics Education Research". American Journal of Physics 67 (9): 755–767.

External links

• Harvard - Mazur Group
• Physics Education Resources
• The Physics Teacher
• University of Maryland Physics Education Research Group
• University of Massachusetts-Amherst Physics Education Research Group
• University of Minnesota Physics Education Research and Development
• University of Washington Physics Education Group
• Physics Education journal
• Rutgers Physics & Astronomy Education Research Group