\u3cem\u3eDistracted\u3c/em\u3e In Practice

Background - Distractions create well-known impediments to student learning. Many researchers have proposed techniques to overcome the challenges associated with distractions in the classroom.Purpose - Our study investigates instructors’ experiences in using various theories and practices in a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) and HSS (Humanities & Social Sciences) classrooms applied in a post-secondary setting. We examine how well the techniques work in practice, investigating questions such as which techniques were most employed, whether instructors perceived improvements in student engagement, and whether instructors plan to use the techniques in the future or advocate the use of the techniques to their colleagues.Method - We gathered a total of 42 survey responses from instructors across 16 departments reporting on 112 experiences using these techniques. The instructors, who were primarily junior faculty, were participants in a faculty development program over the course of one academic year that discussed the use of counter-distraction techniques proposed as a framework for improving engagement.Results - Instructors reported that student engagement improved, or stayed about the same, in all reported experiences applying these techniques to reduce distraction. Instructors perceived improved engagement in 82 of the 112 experiences. In fact, for 103 of the 112 experiences, instructors reported that they were likely to use the techniques in their classroom again.Conclusions – Our analysis of these techniques supports the claim that these practices help address the challenges of distracted students, though we would like to extend the study to more instructors, with increased variety of experiences, across more disciplines, and covering the full gamut of presented techniques

Correspondence between geometrical and differential definitions of the sine and cosine functions and connection with kinematics

In classical physics, the familiar sine and cosine functions appear in two forms: (1) geometrical, in the treatment of vectors such as forces and velocities, and (2) differential, as solutions of oscillation and wave equations. These two forms correspond to two different definitions of trigonometric functions, one geometrical using right triangles and unit circles, and the other employing differential equations. Although the two definitions must be equivalent, this equivalence is not demonstrated in textbooks. In this manuscript, the equivalence between the geometrical and the differential definition is presented assuming no a priori knowledge of the properties of sine and cosine functions. We start with the usual length projections on the unit circle and use elementary geometry and elementary calculus to arrive to harmonic differential equations. This more general and abstract treatment not only reveals the equivalence of the two definitions but also provides an instructive perspective on circular and harmonic motion as studied in kinematics. This exercise can help develop an appreciation of abstract thinking in physics.Comment: 6 pages including 1 figur

Uncertainty as Affective State and Critical Engagement Strategy in Museum and Heritage Site Settings

Linnea Wallen - ORCID: 0000-0001-7850-4098 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7850-4098Some pasts have long been uncertain—among those, prehistoric lives in areas where limited archaeological evidence has been unearthed. The Scottish Crannog Centre holds a collection of Iron Age artifacts that have been excavated from the bottom of Loch Tay, jigsaw pieces that are used to tell the story of the everyday lives of crannog dwellers two and a half thousand years ago. The visitor experience at the museum is built on direct interaction with the museum team as the visitors are guided through the site, presenting ample opportunities for critical questions to be raised and discussed about how the past can be understood in the present and how it can inform the future. Facilitating such conversations—and using Iron Age artifacts as points of connection and as conversational prompts—involves a careful balance between fact, interpretation, and imagination; what we know for certain, what is likely, and what we do not, and cannot, know. This paper focuses on how Scottish Crannog Centre museum practitioners employ uncertainty as a feeling, a process, and an engagement strategy in generating critical reflections and conversations among visitors. Drawing on data generated through twenty-five interviews with museum staff, apprentices, and volunteers, as well as ethnographic observations, we explore how the team manages uncertainty, how it is positioned and functions in interactions with visitors, and how uncertainty facilitates a sense of connection to the distant past. In so doing, we argue that uncertainty can be more clearly conceptualized as an affective state and a critical strategy when exploring how prehistoric and present-day life are connected in museum contexts.https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.730714pubpub