Calculus-based Physics Class Research Articles

Synchronous versus asynchronous online teaching of physics during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study compares synchronous versus asynchronous online teaching in an introductory calculus-based physics class. Like many schools, our institution transitioned to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We held optional synchronous online sessions during the original class time, and approximately half of our students were regular attendees. In the study, we look at how students’ grades changed after the transition. While students who attended the synchronous sessions saw an average test grade drop of 3.5%, students who did not attend saw a drop of 14.5%. The students who attended also saw a larger gain the standard Force Concept Inventory pre/post assessment: 56% versus 43%. We also created a survey to gauge the students’ perceptions of the course difficulty and workload. The survey showed that students who did not attend the synchronous sessions found the course more difficult and felt they spent more time on the class than those who attended. These findings lead to our recommendation that future online offerings should require mandatory synchronous participation.

Inquiry-based electrostatics

Students often find the study of electrostatics to be abstract, heavily mathematical, and non-intuitive. This paper describes an inquiry-based approach to teaching electrostatics in an introductory calculus-based physics class that emphasizes the primacy of student conceptual understanding.

Computer simulations combined with experiments for a calculus-based physics laboratory course

This paper presents a set of laboratory classes to be taught as a part of a 1 year calculus-based physics class. It is composed of 7 modules designed to bring together experiments and computer simulations. Each module uses both simulations and experiments to address a phenomenon under study, and lasts for 3 weeks (21 weeks total for the whole set). Wolfram Mathematica is used for computer simulations. Topics are: motion with drag, pendulum with an arbitrary amplitude, Magnus effect, centripetal force acting on a pendulum, a ball rolling from paths of various shapes, Doppler shift and Fourier transformation, equipotential lines. These laboratory classes were taught for 2 years at Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science.

The Leaf Electroscope: A Take-Home Project of Unexpected Depth

The leaf electroscope is a common piece of demonstration equipment found in many high school and introductory college physics laboratories. Its simplicity allows a compelling demonstration of electrostatic forces, and its versatility makes it useful in the demonstration of a number of physical phenomena. The electroscope has a long history; a device for detecting net static charge using a rotating needle, the versorium, was described by Gilbert in De Magnete in 1600.1 The leaf electroscope was invented by Bennet and described in a letter published by the Royal Society in 1787.2 This paper will describe the use of the leaf electroscope as a build-at-home project in the second-semester introductory calculus-based physics class at the University of Arkansas.

The Real Prize Inside: Learning About Science and Spectra from Cereal Boxes

Opportunities to learn are everywhere, often in overlooked places, such as in the Universal Product Code (UPC) that is used for barcodes on nearly everything we buy. In this paper, we describe an engaging and meaningful activity in which these barcodes were used in an introductory calculus-based physics class.