Helping students develop an understanding of Archimedes’ principle. II. Development of research-based instructional materials

Abstract

This paper is the second of two that describe how research on student understanding of Archimedes’ principle is being used to guide the development of instructional materials to supplement instruction on this topic in typical introductory courses. The instructional materials that resulted have proven to be effective. Also discussed are instructional materials for special courses and workshops for K–8 teachers. Evidence is presented that, on some tasks, teachers who have worked through these materials perform much better than introductory physics students.