The most famous equation in physics, E = mc[superscript 2], is rarely introduced in middle school physics curricula. Recent research has shown that teaching Einsteinian concepts at the middle school level is feasible and beneficial. This paper analyses an Einsteinian energy teaching module for Year 8 students (13-14 years old), which encompasses…

From literature, we know that making the connections between mathematics and physics is not trivial for most students, even at the advanced level. In the specific context of partial derivatives in thermodynamics, research suggests that making explicit connections between the mathematics and the physics is necessary to foster student understanding.…

This research study investigated conceptions about buoyancy held by 55 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in a science methods course who participated in an instructional intervention designed to increase their knowledge about buoyancy. Pre- and post-concept maps were analyzed using a paired sample t test and thematic analysis was used to…

The objective of this study was to understand behavioral characteristics of creative physicists during their growth period, and we want to use any insight gained to help teachers and parents encourage students' creativity in their everyday life. To do this, the critical incident technique was utilized to extract behavioral traits from six…

Some of the online explainer videos for physics present misconceptions as scientifically correct explanations. Even so, some of these videos achieve good ratings on online platforms. A possible reason is that explainer videos with misconceptions foster an "illusion of understanding"--the mistaken belief that a topic has been understood.…

The social cure is the concept that strong connections and social bonds are good for wellbeing and physical health. Having strong social support makes hardship easier to cope with. We hypothesize that we could apply the relationship to educational contexts, with a sense of belonging as part of the cohort or community helping students to cope with…

The teachers should support students in acquiring knowledge and developing skills thus preparing them to think and learn independently. Considering this, the significance of implementing the modified Know-Want-Learn (KWL) teaching strategy, which directs students to perform metacognitive activities, becomes more evident. Quasi-experimental…

Physics teachers need diagnostic competence to effectively identify students' misconceptions, but studies have yet to sufficiently investigate how this competence can be advanced through various instructional strategies. In this study, we compared a problem-solving strategy against an example-based strategy in advancing diagnostic competence in…

The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to develop and validate a three-tier diagnostic test on work, power, and energy (WPE) concepts and (2) to identify Turkish pre-service science teachers' conceptual understanding through this test. The Work, Power, and Energy Concept Test (WPECT) was developed through interviews, read-aloud sessions, and…

The notion of science identity has been widely discussed in the field of science education in recent years. Many research studies have focused on students' science identity in a general sense in spite of the fact that students are usually exposed to discipline-specific science courses in high school. We argue that it is more appropriate to explore…

In this paper, we introduce and discuss a construct called "graphical forms," an extension of Sherin's symbolic forms. In its original conceptualization, symbolic forms characterize the ideas students associate with patterns in a mathematical expression. To expand symbolic forms beyond only characterizing mathematical equations, we use…

A detailed investigation of student conceptions of quantum phenomena is needed, both to characterize student understanding of quantum concepts and to inform how we might teach quantum mechanics (QM). In this vein, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 students who majored in physics and received university-level QM…

Participation in post-compulsory physics is a matter of longstanding concern from both economic and equity perspectives. In considering this issue, this study draws upon Bourdieu's theory of social practice, particularly notions of the 'cultural arbitrary', to explore what insights into post-compulsory physics choice might be provided by students…

Currently, the physics disciplines are represented by a significantly larger number of professional males, compared to females. Although the problem of underrepresentation of female physicists has several causes, one likely reason is the lower interest that female school students have in physics activities. Several instructional solutions have…

Students with high reading proficiency typically achieve better results in science assessments, indicating the importance of reading proficiency. Since the process of reading is a complex interaction between properties of a text and a reader, the linguistic demands of a text might affect text comprehension. Certain linguistic features, such as…