Oersted Medal Lecture 2007: Interactive simulations for teaching physics: What works, what doesn't, and why

We give an overview of the Physics Educational Technology (PhET) project to research and develop web-based interactive simulations for teaching and learning physics. The design philosophy, simulation development and testing process, and range of available simulations are described. The highlights of PhET research on simulation design and effectiveness in a variety of educational settings are provided. This work has shown that a well-designed interactive simulation can be an engaging and effective tool for learning physics

Chemistry vs. Physics: A Comparison of How Biology Majors View Each Discipline

A student's beliefs about science and learning science may be more or less sophisticated depending on the specific science discipline. In this study, we used the physics and chemistry versions of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) to measure student beliefs in the large, introductory physics and chemistry courses, respectively. We compare how biology majors -- generally required to take both of the courses -- view these two disciplines. We find that these students' beliefs are more sophisticated about physics (more like the experts in that discipline) than they are about chemistry. At the start of the term, the average % Overall Favorable score on the CLASS is 59% in physics and 53% in chemistry. The students' responses are statistically more expert-like in physics than in chemistry on 10 statements (P lesser-than-or-equal-to 0.01), indicating that these students think chemistry is more about memorizing disconnected pieces of information and sample problems, and has less to do with the real world. In addition, these students' view of chemistry degraded over the course of the term. Their favorable scores shifted -5.7% and -13.5% in 'Overall' and the 'Real World Connection' category, respectively; in the physics course, which used a variety of research-based teaching practices, these scores shifted 0.0% and +0.3%, respectively. The chemistry shifts are comparable to those previously observed in traditional introductory physics courses

The Design and Validation of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey

The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) is a new instrument designed to measure various facets of student attitudes and beliefs about learning physics. This instrument extends previous work by probing additional facets of student attitudes and beliefs. It has been written to be suitably worded for students in a variety of different courses. This paper introduces the CLASS and its design and validation studies, which include analyzing results from over 2400 students, interviews and factor analyses. Methodology used to determine categories and how to analyze the robustness of categories for probing various facets of student learning are also described. This paper serves as the foundation for the results and conclusions from the analysis of our survey dat

Correlating Student Beliefs With Student Learning Using The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey

A number of instruments have been designed to probe the variety of attitudes, beliefs, expectations, and epistemological frames taught in our introductory physics courses. Using a newly developed instrument -- the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS)[1] -- we examine the relationship between students' beliefs about physics and other educational outcomes, such as conceptual learning and student retention. We report results from surveys of over 750 students in a variety of courses, including several courses modified to promote favorable beliefs about physics. We find positive correlations between particular student beliefs and conceptual learning gains, and between student retention and favorable beliefs in select categories. We also note the influence of teaching practices on student beliefs

Towards characterizing the relationship between students' interest in and their beliefs about physics

We examine the relationships between students' self-reported interest and their responses to a physics beliefs survey. Results from the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS v3), collected in a large calculusbased introductory mechanics course (N=391), were used to characterize students' beliefs about physics and learning physics at the beginning and end of the semester. Additionally students were asked at the end of the semester to rate their interest in physics, how it has changed, and why. We find a correlation between surveyed beliefs and self-rated interest (R=0.65). At the end of the term, students with more expert-like beliefs as measured by the 'Overall' CLASS score also rate themselves as more interested in physics. An analysis of students' reasons for why their interest changed showed that a sizable fraction of students cited reasons tied to beliefs about physics or learning physics as probed by the CLASS survey. The leading reason for increased interest was the connection between physics and the real world

Half-Twisted Correlators from the Coulomb Branch

We compute correlators of chiral operators in half-twisted (0,2) supersymmetric gauged linear sigma models. Our results give simple algebraic formulas for a (0,2) generalization of genus zero Gromov-Witten invariants of compact toric varieties. We derive compact expressions for deformed quantum cohomology relations and apply our general method to several examples.Comment: 21 pages, LaTex; typos corrected; some discussion adde

STUDIES ON ABLATION OF OBJECTS TRAVERSING AN ATMOSPHERE

Ablation-type thermal protection of objects traversing an atmosphere - earth and mar

A Review and Outlook for the Removal of Radon-Generated Po-210 Surface Contamination

The next generation low-background detectors operating deep underground aim for unprecedented low levels of radioactive backgrounds. The deposition and presence of radon progeny on detector surfaces is an added source of energetic background events. In addition to limiting the detector material's radon exposure in order to reduce potential surface backgrounds, it is just as important to clean surfaces to remove inevitable contamination. Such studies of radon progeny removal have generally found that a form of etching is effective at removing some of the progeny (Bi and Pb), however more aggressive techniques, including electropolishing, have been shown to effectively remove the Po atoms. In the absence of an aggressive etch, a significant fraction of the Po atoms are believed to either remain behind within the surface or redeposit from the etching solution back onto the surface. We explore the chemical nature of the aqueous Po ions and the effect of the oxidation state of Po to maximize the Po ions remaining in the etching solution of contaminated Cu surfaces. We present a review of the previous studies of surface radon progeny removal and our findings on the role of oxidizing agents and a cell potential in the preparation of a clean etching technique.Comment: Proceedings of the Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT) 2017, Seoul, South Korea, May 24-26, 201

A New Instrument For Measuring Student Beliefs About Physics and Learning Physics: The Colorado Learning Attitudes About Science Survey

The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) is a new instrument designed to measure student beliefs about physics and about learning physics. This instrument extends previous work by probing additional aspects of student beliefs and by using wording suitable for students in a wide variety of physics courses. The CLASS has been validated using interviews, reliability studies, and extensive statistical analyses of responses from over 5000 students. In addition, a new methodology for determining useful and statistically robust categories of student beliefs has been developed. This paper serves as the foundation for an extensive study of how student beliefs impact and are impacted by their educational experiences. For example, this survey measures: that most teaching practices cause substantial drops in student scores; that a student's likelihood of becoming a physics major correlates with their 'Personal Interest' score; and that, for a majority of student populations, women's scores in some categories, including 'Personal Interest' and 'Real World Connections', are significantly different than men's scores