scholarly journals An Evaluation of Undergraduate South African Physics Students’ Epistemological Beliefs When Solving Physics Problems

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leelakrishna Reddy
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Physics Students ◽  
Physics Problems

scholarly journals Splits in students’ beliefs about learning classical and quantum physics

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin W. Dreyfus ◽  
Jessica R. Hoehn ◽  
Andrew Elby ◽  
Noah D. Finkelstein ◽  
Ayush Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Domain Specificity ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Classical Physics ◽  
Physics Students ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
Attitudes About Science ◽  
Survey Responses

Abstract Background While there has been increasing recognition of the importance of attending to students’ views about what counts as knowing and learning a STEM field, surveys that measure these “epistemological” beliefs are often used in ways that implicitly assume the fields, e.g., “physics,” to be a single domain about which students might have sophisticated or naïve beliefs. We demonstrate this is not necessarily the case and argue for attending to possible differences in students’ epistemological beliefs across different sub-domains of physics. In modern physics and quantum mechanics courses for engineering and physics students, we administered a set of modified Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) items. Each selected item was turned into two items, with the word “physics” changed to “classical physics” in one and “quantum physics” in the other. Results We found significant splits between students’ survey responses about classical vs. quantum physics on some items, both pre- and post-instruction. In classical physics, as compared to quantum physics, students were more likely to report the salience of real-world connections and the possibility of combining mathematical and conceptual reasoning during problem solving. Conclusions These findings suggest that attending to sub-domain specificity of students’ beliefs about physics can be fruitful and ought to influence our instructional choices.

scholarly journals Teachers And Students Perceptions Of Students Problem-Solving Difficulties In Physics: Implications For Remediation

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayodele O. Ogunleye
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Physics Students ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Physics Problems

In recent times, science education researchers have identified a lot of instruments for evaluating conceptual understanding as well as students’ attitudes and beliefs about physics; unfortunately however, there are no broad based evaluation instruments in the field of problem-solving in physics. This missing tool is an indication of the complexity of the field. However, one obvious way by means of which we can evaluate students’ problem-solving skills is to find out how teachers and students perceive problem-solving difficulties in physics. Using a population of 210 Senior Secondary School (SSS) physics students and their teachers, this study investigated aspects of students’ problem-solving difficulties in physics and possible remedies. The result of the analysis show that lack of students understanding of the problem and their poor mathematical skills constitute the major obstacles in the circle of difficulties that students experience in solving physics problems. Furthermore, the study identified two major remedies that could possibly assist students in solving physics problems: 1) the provision of enough home assignments and 2) the employment of qualified physics teachers. The results are further discussed in terms of their implications for effective learning of physics.

scholarly journals The Dog-And-Rabbit Chase Problem as an Exercise in Introductory Kinematics

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-115
Author(s):  
Zurab K. Silagadze ◽  
Olga I. Chaschina
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Simple Solution ◽  
First Year ◽  
State University ◽  
Mathematical Methods ◽  
Physics Students ◽  
Mathematical Methods In Physics ◽  
Physics Problems

The purpose of this article is to present a simple solution of the classic dog-and-rabbit chase problem which emphasizes the use of concepts of elementary kinematics and, therefore, can be used in introductory mechanics course. The article is based on the teaching experience of introductory mechanics course at Novosibirsk State University for first year physics students which are just beginning to use advanced mathematical methods in physics problems.

The Three-dimensional structure of frozen-hydrated nudaurelia capensis β virus

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 650-651
Author(s):  
N. H. Olson ◽  
T. S. Baker ◽  
Wu Bo Mu ◽  
J. E. Johnson ◽  
D. A. Hendry
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Carbon Film ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Electron Dose ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Three Dimensional Structure ◽  
Negative Stain ◽  
Dimensional Reconstruction

Nudaurelia capensis β virus (NβV) is an RNA virus of the South African Pine Emperor moth, Nudaurelia cytherea capensis (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). The NβV capsid is a T = 4 icosahedron that contains 60T = 240 subunits of the coat protein (Mr = 61,000). A three-dimensional reconstruction of the NβV capsid was previously computed from visions embedded in negative stain suspended over holes in a carbon film. We have re-examined the three-dimensional structure of NβV, using cryo-microscopy to examine the native, unstained structure of the virion and to provide a initial phasing model for high-resolution x-ray crystallographic studiesNβV was purified and prepared for cryo-microscopy as described. Micrographs were recorded ∼1 - 2 μm underfocus at a magnification of 49,000X with a total electron dose of about 1800 e-/nm2.

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