Pere Vieta (1779–1856), promoter of free public teaching of physics in Catalonia

Free public teaching of physics in Catalonia started in the early 19th century, even if the interest in experimental physics goes back to the 18th century, where this discipline was discussed at various learned societies. The first chair of Physics in Barcelona was not a university chair but that of the Junta de Comerç de Barcelona (Trade Board of Barcelona), which had several scientific-technical Schools. In fact, at that time, Barcelona had no university, because it had been supressed by King Felipe V after the War of the Spanish Succession (ended in 1714). The promoter of free public teaching of experimental physics was Pere (Pedro) Vieta i Gibert (17791856), who was the first professor of that subject both at the School of the Trade Board and at the University of Barcelona, once it was restored in 1842. Vieta, who was a surgeon in the Army, combined his two professions and his interest in meteorology, he having recorded meteorological observations in Barcelona for many years. Many of his students were influential people in the scientific, intellectual, political and economic history of the 19th century in Catalonia and Spain. [Contrib Sci 11:237-247 (2015)]Postprint (published version

The Teaching of Physics to Engineering Students

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Teaching of physics in the high school

Approved May 27, 1911, W.H. PyleTypescriptM.A. University of Missouri 1911There is much unrest as to physics instruction in the high schools, as evidenced by the many and varied discussions of methods of teaching that subject. No phase of the question has been overlooked, laboratory methods, time spent in physics, year offered, amount given, use of text, method of approach, etc. There is pretty general agreement as to one point, that high school physics has depreciated in interest. Dr. Woodhull states that the decline of physics study in the high schools of this country is the most pronounced of anything in the curriculum. He attributes the fact to the advent of mathematical instead of descriptive physics. However that may be, physics study has become less popular - despite the fact that much time, ability, and costly apparatus have been used to foster the subject in the high schools.Includes bibliographical reference

STS Interactions and the teaching of Physics and Chemistry

ABSTRACT: The absence of science-technology-society (STS) interactions and its conse- quences in the basic teaching of science in Spain are analyzed in the first part of this work. This article proposes the introduction of STS interactions in physics and chemistry classes in conjunction with the teaching/learning model of science as research.When such interactions are not intro- duced, it can be observed that the students have a vision of science that is removed from the world in which they live and are unfamiliar with the mutual relationships between science, technology and the natural, social environments in which they are immersed. Not only do a large number of textbooks fail to cover STS interactions, but the majority of teachers do not consider interactive STS aspects necessary, nor do they contemplate these aspects in instruction. All of this contributes to the lack of students' interest in physics and chemistry and their rejection of them as subjects. In the second part of the work, students of 16-18 years of age in the last 3 years of secondary education were surveyed, and the results obtained were analyzed. These results confirmed that deal- ing with STS interactions in the classroom established science as something alive, more complete and integrated in the students' environment. Students subsequently developed an improved com- prehension and a more real image of these sciences, which allowed them to understand better the role of scientists and how they work. All of this generated positive attitudes toward the study of physics and chemistry and increased the students' interest in their study. Thus the results of this research make it clear that it is possible to transform the learning of physics and chemistry with the inclusion of STS activities, so that the students can build scientific knowledge. Likewise, students integrate essential aspects that affect the scientific activity and contribute to deepening and consolidating their own knowledge

Smartphones in the teaching of Physics Laws: Projectile motion

New technologies are called upon to play an important role as beneficial tools for meaningful learning in the classroom. In particular, smartphones can be regarded as pocket computers that, in addition to a remarkable memory and computing capacity, incorporate sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, light sensors, etc., which turn them into easily available measurement instruments for practical classes in an educational environment. In this study, the suitability of these devices for demonstrating Classical Mechanics, minimizing the use of resources and class time, has been assessed in two real classrooms (with 16 to 19 year-old students) by conducting experiments related to projectile motion (vertical free fall and parabolic motion). A simple methodology that only involves a mobile phone, a free burst camera application and open-source tools (GIMP and OpenOffice Calc) for data processing is presented. The results obtained in non-perfected conditions led to an estimate of the acceleration of gravity with an error lower than 2%. Further analyses and alternative procedures are also suggested in the discussion section. No major difficulties were encountered with the high school students or with the first year university ones, and a high degree of satisfaction was found

METHODOLOGY OF TEACHING PHYSICS IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS

In the article, the factors that help to activate students' independent work in the teaching of physics in vocational schools have been summarized, including observation, experiment, modeling, hypothesis promotion, synthesis, formalization, modelin

Program nauczania fizyki oparty na samodzielnych poszukiwaniach jako przykład tego rodzaju nauczania w izraelskiej szkole średniej

Teaching of the Sciences recently emphasizes more than in the past the importance of the student’s experience in inquiry, in different places in the world in general and in Israel in particular. This article describes the process of scientific inquiry and the change of the perception of the role, both of the student and of the traditional teacher, in the performance of the inquiry process. The article presents different initiatives that integrate the learning of inquiry in the teaching of physics in the high school in Israel. These initiatives show that the inquiry laboratories have the potential to promote meaningful learning among the students, to increase the depth of their understanding of the scientific concepts and the understanding of the nature of science. The article focuses on ‘Inquiry Physics’ program for students and presents the goals, the target audience, the time framework, and the structure of this program. The program aims to assemble the different initiatives under one framework and to provide them with an appropriate place in the teaching of physics. The learning method of inquiry is now fledgling in the State of Israel and mainly in the knowledge realm of physics. Therefore, exposure to this program may contribute to the body of knowledge on the characteristics of learning and teaching through inquiry in general and on the teaching of physics in particular

Electrostática y EAO : una experiencia de simulación

In this work the inclusion of educational software in the teaching of physics is analyzed. The program used corresponds to the computer simulation of electrostatic fields, and it was applied to students of first year of universitary level in a Faculty of Chemistry

Роль історизму і шляхи його використання унавчанні фізики

(uk) У статті розглянуто особливості історизму, шляхи та форми його використання , а також значення історизму при викладанні фізики.(en) The features of historical method, ways and forms of his use, and also values of historical method, are considered in this article at teaching of physics