La fisica tra la scuola secondaria e l’università. Riflessioni e orientamenti

L’università ha da sempre una porta aperta verso il mondo della scuola secondaria, il che ne fa un interlocutore privilegiato in continua e mutua interazione, sia per la formazione degli insegnanti (dal punto di vista contenutistico e metodologico), sia per la platea di studenti che quella porta la attraverseranno per continuare il loro cammino di apprendimento. Spesso non sono solo i soggetti (insegnanti e studenti) ad essere parte dell’interazione, ma anche gli oggetti (tematiche e metodologie), in particolare per le materie STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics); in tal caso nel passaggio dalla scuola all’università lo studente ritrova la materia che ha affrontato sino a qualche mese prima, talvolta proseguendola con uno sviluppo tematico successivo e talvolta affrontando la stessa tematica con diversa profondità. Questo è particolarmente vero nel caso della fisica, in cui le macro-tematiche classiche principali (la meccanica, la termodinamica, l’elettromagnetismo, l’ottica, cenni alla fisica moderna) trovano spazio comune nelle due realtà formative

An extensive questionnaire about Metacognition during Emergency Remote Teaching involving more than 3000 engineering students

By 11 March 2020, the phrase “COVID-19” had officially entered everyday life across most of the word. Each level of education suddenly faced new changes and new challenges. Emergency remote teaching became widespread, and new methodologies to deliver classes and courses were adopted by educational institutions. In this paper, we focus on the impact of the remote learning experience of engineering students enrolled at the Politecnico di Milano. The subjects were recruited from all engineering courses from the first to the fifth year and were asked to complete a multidimensional survey. The survey featured 66 items regarding the participants’ perceptions of the challenges of emergency remote teaching compared with pre-COVID-19 in-person teaching. The questionnaire addressed six dimensions: the organization of emergency remote teaching, subjective well-being, metacognition, self-efficacy, identity, and socio-demographic information. In this paper, we describe the entire survey and discuss a preliminary analysis. Using Cronbach’s alpha test, a confirmatory factor analysis, and the t-test, we performed a more in-depth analysis concerning the outcomes of metacognition and self-efficacy. The data analysis suggested a small, unexpected change in the metacognition strategies. The students, in some regards, improved their learning strategies. Some other answers underlined their appreciation of the courses’ organization and the lack of relationships with their peers and teachers

An Italian large case study on Emergency Remote Teaching: factors and predictors which affect Higher Education students’ attitude

Research on concerns about Emergency Remote Teaching has focused on teaching and management strategies, with some studies considering learners’ satisfaction, reactions, learning and overall acceptance. The present large case study, based on a survey on 3,920 undergraduate and postgraduate learners, aimed at investigating Politecnico di Milano students’ self-reported experiences of the Emergency Remote Teaching after identifying the empirical factors characterising such experience and the predictors of the students’ responses. Participants’ evaluation was expressed based on a five-point Likert scale, whereby a score equal to 3 corresponded to neutrality. We validated the questionnaire empirically through factor analysis. This questionnaire consisted of 66 items across 6 sections and focused on different latent variables as well as socio-economic information about the students. Our findings highlighted both the students’ assessment of their overall online learning experience of Emergency Remote Teaching and the change in their metacognitive strategies and self-efficacy as a consequence of the new learning approach. These results did not appear to depend on the learners’ gender or their educational level of degree study, while the academic year of attendance seemed to influence their opinion on teaching. Moreover, the change in the learning approach that learners experienced in the passage from bachelor to master’s programmes was discovered to be a further predictor which might be more critical for females than males. Finally, implications for policy makers and higher education institutions for online learning in the post-pandemic scenario are discussed

Peer learning for large size Physics lectures in higher education: yes, we can

The academic course on Mechanics and Electromagnetism “Fisica Sperimentale A+B” at Politecnico di Milano was selected to investigate peer learning effects in large size lectures. It was attended by both freshmen attending the first year of Chemical Engineering and those studying Materials and Nanotechnology Engineering during the first term of the academic year 2017-2018. After arranging the students in three different sections on the basis of an alphabetical order, the research team modified the design and pedagogical method of one of these sections. In addition to traditional lectures, the students of this section took periodical tests based on multiple choice quizzes whose provision was implemented by using the on-line portal Socrative and by allowing the students to use their own electronic devices. Immediately after each quiz and without getting any feedback on the accuracy, freshmen would discuss the quizzes in small groups for few minutes. At the end of this debate, they retook the same test. Thanks to the significant bulk of data collected, the findings are likely to show that the average score achieved by the students in the same test, normalised so that the highest value is equal to 10, increases considerably as a consequence of peer discussion: from 5.1 to 6.7 in Mechanics, corresponding to a growth by 32%, and from 3.6 to 5.6 in Electromagnetism, corresponding to an increase by 55%. Moreover, a sensible decrease in the incorrect answers rate emerges in relation to each quiz: on average, 43% and 30% in Mechanics and Electromagnetism respectively. Furthermore, significant and comparable reductions of this rate occur as regards quizzes characterised by both low and high percentage of incorrect answers in quizzes which precede peer learning and peer evaluation. Finally, the percent decrease in incorrect answers given by female students is higher than the male percent reduction in 90% of the Mechanics quizzes and lower in the remaining 10%; conversely, they are both equal to 50% with relation to Electromagnetism quizzes

Epileptiform Activity and Cognitive Deficits in SNAP-25+/− Mice are Normalized by Antiepileptic Drugs

Synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) is a protein that participates in the regulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis through the formation of the soluble NSF attachment protein receptor complex and modulates voltage-gated calcium channels activity. The Snap25 gene has been associated with schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder, and lower levels of SNAP-25 have been described in patients with schizophrenia. We used SNAP-25 heterozygous (SNAP-25+/−) mice to investigate at which extent the reduction of the protein levels affects neuronal network function and mouse behavior. As interactions of genotype with the specific laboratory conditions may impact behavioral results, the study was performed through a multilaboratory study in which behavioral tests were replicated in at least 2 of 3 distinct European laboratories. Reductions of SNAP-25 levels were associated with a moderate hyperactivity, which disappeared in the adult animals, and with impaired associative learning and memory. Electroencephalographic recordings revealed the occurrence of frequent spikes, suggesting a diffuse network hyperexcitability. Consistently, SNAP-25+/− mice displayed higher susceptibility to kainate-induced seizures, paralleled by degeneration of hilar neurons. Notably, both EEG profile and cognitive defects were improved by antiepileptic drugs. These results indicate that reduction of SNAP-25 expression is associated to generation of epileptiform discharges and cognitive dysfunctions, which can be effectively treated by antiepileptic drug

Integrating MOOCs in physics preliminary undergraduate education: beyond large size lectures

In this paper, the authors discuss the effectiveness of MOOCs as part of a pedagogical strategy aimed at supporting Physics’ preliminary undergraduate students in large-size lectures. Our study is based on an experimental activity based on a blended course, which integrated a parallel MOOC delivered through the POK (PoliMi Open Knowledge, http://www.pok.polimi.it), the Politecnico di Milano’s MOOC portal. The blended model also delivered face-to-face activities that included intensive technology enhanced learning, like feedback based on clickers. Specifically, we introduce the several elements of the approach (the tutors’ pedagogy, the adoption of clickers, the diversity amongst learning groups) and its process of implementation. The findings in this study highlight that the integrated model is effective in terms’ of students’ learning both for small and large size lectures. More importantly, it was found that the students in large size lectures demonstrated similar or even better performance than students in a small size group. Moreover, the students in all sizes lectures showed higher satisfaction with the MOOCs’ against other factors adopted within the learning design

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages