Physics

Impact evaluation in public engagement necessarily requires measuring change. However, this is extremely challenging for drop-in activities due to their very nature. We present a novel method of impact evaluation which integrates graffiti walls into the experience both before and after the main drop-in activity. The activity in question was a soundscape exhibit, where young families experienced the usually inaudible sounds of near-Earth space in an immersive and accessible way. We apply two analysis techniques to the captured before and after data - quantitative linguistics and thematic analysis. These analyses reveal significant changes in participants' responses after the activity compared to before, namely an increased diversity in language used to describe space and altered conceptions of what space is like. The results demonstrate that the soundscape was surprisingly effective at innately communicating key aspects of the underlying science simply through the act of listening. The impacts also highlight the power of sonification in stimulating public engagement, which, through reflection, can lead to altered associations, perceptions, and understanding. Therefore, we show that this novel approach to drop-in activity evaluation, using graffiti walls both before and after the activity and applying rigorous analysis to this data, has the power to capture change and, thus, have a short-term impact. We suggest that commonly used evaluation tools suitable for drop-in activities, such as graffiti walls, should be integrated both before and after the main activity in general, rather than only using them afterwards as is typically the case.

Diffraction is a manifestation of light at edge due to its wavelike nature. The well-known diffraction phenomena are Fresnel and Fraunhofer, they find variety of applications individually. But the synergy of two phenomena is not studied and understood, which is important to understand the compound optical instruments. This research studies and demonstrates the synergic patterns of Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffractions. The combined diffraction resulted in the patterns similar to Hermite-Gaussian Beam intensity distribution in both simulated and experimental results. Further, the combined phenomena is implemented in speckle lithography to fabricate wide area micro grating patterns which are better than simple speckle diffraction grating patterns. This work may contribute to the deeper understanding of complex diffraction in optical instruments and also shows the way for robust fabrication of micro gratings.

The Schwarzschild metric is derived in a manner that does not require familiarity with the formalism of differential geometry beyond the ability to interpret a general spacetime metric. As such, the derivation is suitable for an undergraduate course on general relativity. The derivation uses infalling coordinates that are particularly well adapted to the situation, as well as Einstein's equation in the simple form introduced by Baez and Bunn. That version of the vacuum Einstein equations corresponds to requiring a particular local Newtonian limit: that, to first order, the deformation of a "test ball" of freely falling, initially-at-rest test particles is governed by the tidal forces of Newtonian gravity.

This paper aims at the teaching contents of "Fluctuation and Regulation in Speed of Machines" for students, explores the effect of the flywheel on the speed regulation of the mechanism system and its influencing factors, designs an experimental device with applied value, and develops a comparatively complete experimental scheme by contrasting experimental principles. Using this experimental device, we can in-depth study of the effect of the flywheel on the speed of different drive shafts, and deepen students' understanding and mastery of knowledge about regulation in speed.

Young children, students, and adults may have alternative ideas about the motion of the Sun and stars as we observe them in the sky. However, a good understanding of this apparent motion is essential as a starting point to study more advanced astronomical concepts, especially when these include astronomical observations. In this paper, we describe the development and validation of the apparent motion of Sun and stars (AMoSS) test, which can measure to what extent students have insight into the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. We propose a framework that allows one to compare students' understanding of the specific aspects of these apparent motions in relation to the time of the day, time of the year, and the observer's latitude. For each of these aspects, we designed test items for both the Sun and the symmetric apparent motion aspect of the stars. The reliability and validity of the test are established by analyzing answers of both secondary school and university students and by presenting the questions to a panel of experts. We report on the design and validation process and present the final version of the test.

Recently, there have been several national calls to emphasize physics practices and skills within laboratory courses. In this paper, we describe the redesign and implementation of a two-course sequence of algebra-based physics laboratories at Michigan State University called Design Analysis Tools and Apprenticeship (DATA) Lab. The large-scale course transformation removes physics specific content from the overall learning goals of the course, and instead, uses physics concepts to focus on specific laboratory practices and research skills that students can take into their future careers. Students in DATA Lab engage in the exploration of physical systems to increase their understanding of the experimental process, data analysis, collaboration, and scientific communication. In order to ensure our students are making progress toward the skills outlined in the course learning goals, we designed all of the assessments in the courses to evaluate their progress specific to these laboratory practices. Here, we will describe the structures, scaffolds, goals, and assessments of the course.

We investigated physics students' learning experience and behaviour in a second-year laboratory by analyzing transcribed audio recordings of laboratory sessions. One student group was given both a problem and procedure and asked to analyze and explain their results. Another was provided with only the problem and asked to design and execute the experiment, interpret the data, and draw conclusions. These two approaches involved different levels of student inquiry and they have been described as guided and open inquiry respectively. The latter gave students more opportunities to practice "designing experiments," one of the six major learning outcomes in the recommendations for the undergraduate physics laboratory curriculum by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Qualitative analysis was performed of the audio transcripts to identify emergent themes and it was augmented by quantitative analysis for a richer understanding of students' experiences. An important finding is that significant improvements can be made to undergraduate laboratories impacting both student learning experience and behaviour by increasing the level of inquiry in laboratory experiments. This is most easily achieved by requiring students to design their own experimental procedures.

Scientific laboratories are among the most challenging course components to integrate into online instruction. Available technology restricts the design and nature of experiments and it can be hard to replicate the collaborative lab environment where frequent and immediate instructor feedback is the norm. Here we report on technological and pedagogical aspects of newly developed labs for online courses using the Interactive Online Lab (iOLab) device. We argue that this technology, coupled with an online course design emphasizing teamwork, targeted feedbacks, and self-regulation skills, provides a robust framework for students to do reliable, engaging, inquiry-based and hands-on labs outside the classroom. After describing the implementation and technology, we explain our lab objectives and how the labs were integrated into two introductory physics courses. We conclude with an example lab on kinematics.

In this paper, we present a new method to determine the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k and its uncertainty. We have used Nitrogen gas in different pressure values in the range 56 kPa - 100 kPa, for three different this http URL this experiment, we have used a simple idea called static expansion method, simple equipment, and simple equation for calculations in order to determine the Boltzmann constant.

Studying for physics exams can be difficult and stressful, especially during a student's introductory year in physics. For students who do not plan to major in physics, the desire to do well is based less on understanding concepts and more on achieving a better grade. For this reason, students want to study as efficiently as possible by using the most optimal study methods. We have taken surveys over the past three years to determine how students study for exams and compared that to their exam grades. We found that students who studied using methods that they rated as more helpful did better on the exams. By utilizing the study results, we are able to present our current and future students with study methods that have been rated as being more helpful, and give them advice on ways to optimize their study time for exams.