Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userLong-term impact of a primary school intervention on aspects of Einsteinian physics
101
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The physics that underpins modern technology is based on Einsteins theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. Most school students complete their compulsory science education without being taught any of these Einsteinian concepts. Only those who take a specialised physics course have the opportunity to learn modern physics. In 2011, the first study of a modern physics teaching intervention with an Australian upper primary (aged 10{11) class was conducted. The initial intervention was the first step of the Einstein-First collaboration towards challenging the current paradigm of Newtonian teaching in schools. It was found that modern physics concepts could be taught to these students. In 2020, 11 participants of the initial study (out of a total of 26) were contacted for a follow-up questionnaire and interview to investigate any long-term impact. The results of the follow-up indicate that the intervention maintained a positive impression on participants. The models and analogies used during the six-week intervention were highly memorable. The participants indicated that they found the intervention to be beneficial to their future learning. Even close to ten years after the intervention, the participants remembered several key concepts (such as curved space-time). The long-term follow-up indicates that Einsteinian physics can be taught at the upper primary level and be recalled several years later.
rate research
Read More
Why is modern physics still today, more than 100 years after its birth, the privilege of an elite of scientists and unknown for the great majority of citizens? The answer is simple, since modern physics is in general not present in the standard physics curricula, except for some general outlines, in the final years of some secondary schools. But, is it possibile to teach modern physics in primary school? Is it effective? And, also, is it engaging for students? These are the simple questions which stimulated our research, based on an intervention performed in the last year of Italian primary school, focused on teaching gravity, according to the Einsteinian approach in the spirit of the Einstein First project, an international collaboration which aims to teach school age children the concepts of modern physics. The outcomes of our research study are in agreement with previous findings obtained in Australian schools, thus they contribute to validate them and show that there is no cultural effect, since the approach works in different education systems. Finally, our results are relevant also in terms of retention and prove that the students involved really understand the key ideas.
The milq approach to quantum physics for high schools focuses on the conceptual questions of quantum physics. Students should be given the opportunity to engage with the world view of modern physics. The aim is to achieve a conceptually clear formulation of quantum physics with a minimum of formulas. In order to provide students with verbal tools they can use in discussions and argumentations we formulated four reasoning tools. They help to facilitate qualitative discussions of quantum physics, allow students to predict quantum mechanical effects, and help to avoid learning difficulties. They form a beginners axiomatic system for quantum physics.
The Engage to Excel (PCAST) report, the National Research Councils Framework for K-12 Science Education, and the Next Generation Science Standards all call for transforming the physics classroom into an environment that teaches students real scientific practices. This work describes the early stages of one such attempt to transform a high school physics classroom. Specifically, a series of model-building and computational modeling exercises were piloted in a ninth grade Physics First classroom. Student use of computation was assessed using a proctored programming assignment, where the students produced and discussed a computational model of a baseball in motion via a high-level programming environment (VPython). Student views on computation and its link to mechanics was assessed with a written essay and a series of think-aloud interviews. This pilot study shows computations ability for connecting scientific practice to the high school science classroom.
To increase public awareness of theoretical materials physics, a small group of high school students is invited to participate actively in a current research projects at Chalmers University of Technology. The Chalmers research group explores methods for filtrating hazardous and otherwise unwanted molecules from drinking water, for example by adsorption in active carbon filters. In this project, the students use graphene as an idealized model for active carbon, and estimate the energy of adsorption of the methylbenzene toluene on graphene with the help of the atomic-scale calculational method density functional theory. In this process the students develop an insight into applied quantum physics, a topic usually not taught at this educational level, and gain some experience with a couple of state-of-the-art calculational tools in materials research.
The sixth edition of the African School of Fundamental and Applied Physics (ASP) was planned for Morocco in July 2020 and was referred to as ASP2020. Preparations were at an advanced stage when ASP2020 was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-week event was restructured into two activities in 2021 -- an online event on July 19-30, 2021 and a hybrid event on December 12-18, 2021 -- and was renamed ASP2021. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an online lecture series was integrated into the ASP activities. The ASP mentorship program, which consists of online engagements between lecturers and assigned mentees, continued in this way. ASP alumni studied one year of COVID-19 data of ten African countries to offer insights into pandemic containment measures. In this note, we report on ASP activities since the last in-person edition of ASP in 2018 in Namibia.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
