Physics

It could be challenging for students and instructors to piece together a different regression concepts to coherently perform a complete data analysis. I propose using a framework which reinforces the detailed steps towards regression in Supervised Machine Learning, to be reiterated throughout the coursework. This is based on past literatures supporting reiterated and systematic teaching. Such could also mitigate the applicable and visible educational gap between Novices and Experts in teaching such concepts to Primary and Secondary School students.

The technological and digital reality has broadly expanded, reaching, in a massive way, spaces, for a century, it is not part of this environment, being a school an example. Therefore, this research has as general objective to develop a didactic sequence, using as a strategy a comic book, as well as Figures, Gifs and videos, programs for activities applied to comics using Newton's Laws. A research that aims to analyze which methodological form can influence student learning. For this, it supports us in research such as Carvalho and Lemos (2010), Camargo (2015), Farias (2010), Nardin (2016) and Vygostky (1930). The method used for the development of the research was a case study, with the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. The product seems to have received a good acceptance among teenagers and for this reason it can help in learning, favoring advances in the learning of concepts and in the application of knowledge in everyday events.

We present this work like software tool developed in Python, based on a methodology to obtain the electric field produced by n charges. The tool was developed and implemented in courses of electromagnetism and laboratory in three institutions of higher education. The aim for this work is to incorporate information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the university, in accordance with the programs promoted by the Colombian Ministry of Education. We wanted to connect the students with sensitives experiences of the physical phenomena that allow them to improve their experience of learning of subjects traditionally studied through the board course.

Expanding on our former hypothesis that, in the current information age, teaching physics should become more intuition-based and aiming at pattern recognition skills, we present multiple examples of qualitative methods in condensed matter physics. They include the subjects of phonons, thermal and electronic properties of matter, electron-phonon interactions and some properties of semiconductors.

Quantum Information Processing is usually taught as an elective in the master's degree in physics. We argue that a basic understanding of Quantum Information Processing can already be achieved by high school juniors and seniors. Moreover, we explain why it is useful to teach Quantum Information at this level and describe a teaching unit which has already been tested in the classroom. We will hereby focus on didactical reductions and describe some physical basics.

Introductory physics lab instruction is undergoing a transformation, with increasing emphasis on developing experimentation and critical thinking skills. These changes present a need for standardized assessment instruments to determine the degree to which students develop these skills through instructional labs. In this article, we present the development and validation of the Physics Lab Inventory of Critical thinking (PLIC). We define critical thinking as the ability to use data and evidence to decide what to trust and what to do. The PLIC is a 10-question, closed-response assessment that probes student critical thinking skills in the context of physics experimentation. Using interviews and data from 5584 students at 29 institutions, we demonstrate, through qualitative and quantitative means, the validity and reliability of the instrument at measuring student critical thinking skills. This establishes a valuable new assessment instrument for instructional labs.

Simplified categorizations have often led to college students being labeled as full-time or part-time students. However, at many universities student enrollment patterns can be much more complicated, as it is not uncommon for students to alternate between full-time and part-time enrollment each semester based on finances, scheduling, or family needs. While prior research has established full-time students maintain better outcomes then their part-time counterparts, limited study has examined the impact of enrollment patterns or strategies on academic outcomes. In this paper, we applying a Hidden Markov Model to identify and cluster students' enrollment strategies into three different categorizes: full-time, part-time, and mixed-enrollment strategies. Based the enrollment strategies we investigate and compare the academic performance outcomes of each group, taking into account differences between first-time-in-college students and transfer students. Analysis of data collected from the University of Central Florida from 2008 to 2017 indicates that first-time-in-college students that apply a mixed enrollment strategy are closer in performance to full-time students, as compared to part-time students. More importantly, during their part-time semesters, mixed-enrollment students significantly outperform part-time students. Similarly, analysis of transfer students shows that a mixed-enrollment strategy is correlated a similar graduation rates as the full-time enrollment strategy, and more than double the graduation rate associated with part-time enrollment. Such a finding suggests that increased engagement through the occasional full-time enrollment leads to better overall outcomes.

Research-based assessment instruments (RBAIs) are ubiquitous throughout both physics instruction and physics education research. The vast majority of analyses involving student responses to RBAI questions have focused on whether or not a student selects correct answers and using correctness to measure growth. This approach often undervalues the rich information that may be obtained by examining students' particular choices of incorrect answers. In the present study, we aim to reveal some of this valuable information by quantitatively determining the relative correctness of various incorrect responses. To accomplish this, we propose an assumption that allow us to define relative correctness: students who have a high understanding of Newtonian physics are likely to answer more questions correctly and also more likely to choose better incorrect responses, than students who have a low understanding. Analyses using item response theory align with this assumption, and Bock's nominal response model allows us to uniquely rank each incorrect response. We present results from over 7,000 students' responses to the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation.

The field of quantum information is becoming more known to the general public. However, effectively demonstrating the concepts underneath quantum science and technology to the general public can be a challenging job. We investigate, extend, and much expand here "quantum candies" (invented by Jacobs), a pedagogical model for intuitively describing some basic concepts in quantum information, including quantum bits, complementarity, the no-cloning principle, and entanglement. Following Jacob's quantum candies description of the well known quantum key distribution protocol BB84, we explicitly demonstrate various additional quantum cryptography protocols using quantum candies in an approachable manner. The model we investigate can be a valuable tool for science and engineering educators who would like to help the general public to gain more insights about quantum science and technology: most parts of this paper, including many protocols for quantum cryptography, are expected to be easily understandable by a layperson without any previous knowledge of mathematics, physics, or cryptography.

Making quantum mechanical equations and concepts come to life through interactive simulation and visualization are commonplace for augmenting learning and teaching. However, graphical visualizations nearly always exhibit a set of hard-coded functionalities while corresponding text-based codes offer a higher degree of flexibility at the expense of steep learning curves or time investments. We introduce Quantum Composer, which allows the user to build, expand, or explore quantum mechanical simulations by interacting with graphically connectable nodes, each corresponding to a physical concept, mathematical operation, visualization, etc. Abstracting away numerical and programming details while at the same time retaining accessibility, emphasis on understanding, and rapid feedback mechanisms, we illustrate through a series of examples its open-ended applicability in both introductory and advanced quantum mechanics courses, student projects, and for visual exploration within research environments.