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System development using application services over the Net (tutorial summary)
Assessing the Effectiveness of a Computer Simulation in Introductory Undergraduate Environments
We present studies documenting the effectiveness of using a computer simulation, specifically the Circuit Construction Kit (CCK) developed as part of the Physics Education Technology Project (PhET) [1, 2], in two environments: an interactive college lecture and an inquiry-based laboratory. In the first study conducted in lecture, we compared students viewing CCK to viewing a traditional demonstration during Peer Instruction [3]. Students viewing CCK had a 47% larger relative gain (11% absolute gain) on measures of conceptual understanding compared to traditional demonstrations. These results led us to study the impact of the simulation's explicit representation for visualizing current flow in a laboratory environment, where we removed this feature for a subset of students. Students using CCK with or without the explicit visualization of current performed similarly to each other on common exam questions. Although the majority of students in both groups favored the use of CCK over real circuit equipment, the students who used CCK without the explicit current model favored the simulation more than the other grou
Universal Description of Granular Metals at Low Temperatures: Granular Fermi Liquid
We present a unified description of the low temperature phase of granular
metals that reveals a striking generality of the low temperature behaviors. Our
model explains the universality of the low-temperature conductivity that
coincides exactly with that of the homogeneously disordered systems and enables
a straightforward derivation of low temperature characteristics of disordered
conductors.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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
Are Bosonic Replicas Faulty?
Motivated by the ongoing discussion about a seeming asymmetry in the
performance of fermionic and bosonic replicas, we present an exact,
nonperturbative approach to zero-dimensional replica field theories belonging
to the broadly interpreted "beta=2" Dyson symmetry class. We then utilise the
formalism developed to demonstrate that the bosonic replicas do correctly
reproduce the microscopic spectral density in the QCD inspired chiral Gaussian
unitary ensemble. This disproves the myth that the bosonic replica field
theories are intrinsically faulty.Comment: 4.3 pages; final version to appear in PR
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
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
Effects of fluctuations and Coulomb interaction on the transition temperature of granular superconductors
We investigate the suppression of superconducting transition temperature in
granular metallic systems due to (i) fluctuations of the order parameter
(bosonic mechanism) and (ii) Coulomb repulsion (fermionic mechanism) assuming
large tunneling conductance between the grains . We find the
correction to the superconducting transition temperature for 3 granular
samples and films. We demonstrate that if the critical temperature , where is the mean level spacing in a single grain the bosonic
mechanism is the dominant mechanism of the superconductivity suppression, while
for critical temperatures the suppression of
superconductivity is due to the fermionic mechanism.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, several sections clarifying the details of our
calculations are adde
Suppression of superconductivity in granular metals
We investigate the suppression of the superconducting transition temperature
due to Coulomb repulsion in granular metallic systems at large tunneling
conductance between the grains, . We find the correction to the
superconducting transition temperature for 3 granular samples and films. We
demonstrate that depending on the parameters of superconducting grains, the
corresponding granular samples can be divided into two groups: (i) the granular
samples that belong to the first group may have only insulating or
superconducting states at zero temperature depending on the bare intergranular
tunneling conductance , while (ii) the granular samples that belong to the
second group in addition have an intermediate metallic phase where
superconductivity is suppressed while the effects of the Coulomb blockade are
not yet strong.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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