BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gender Differences in Performance in Physics Practicals DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6764@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Maria Vivien Visaya (University of Johannesburg)\nAn analysis of Physics practicals data is presented. In particular\, we stu dy the association between gender of students and their overall mark and t heir Physics practicals marks (Mechanics\, Thermodynamics\, Optics\, and E lectricity). Together with gender\, all variables are binarized. To visual ize performance of students\, the qualitative method of plotting a two-dim ensional orbit is used to represent binary multivariate longitudinal data of each student. Analysis of orbits reveals information of patterns in the data. This study gives a good indication of which fields of Physics fema les perform well in and which fields the male students are stronger in (eq uivalently where gender struggled in various practicals). Details of the a nalysis of past exam papers will also be discussed . A comparison to the G EE statistical model tells us that visual results present initial insights to help and complement statistical data analysis.\n\nhttps://events.saip. org.za/event/93/contributions/6764/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6764/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SCIENCE IN 4D: A SUMMER SCHOOL FOR PROMOTING ACTIVE LEARNING IN A N INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154300Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154400Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6771@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vera Montalbano (Department of Physical Sciences\, Earth and Environment\, University of Siena)\nHow to prepare and implemen t effective in-service teacher training program to promote teachers’ pro fessional development? Despite many actions promoted by national and local administrators in order to enhance the quality of science education in th e secondary school\, the most effective experiences inspired by science ed ucational research remain isolated and find it hard to spread into the cl assroom practice. Starting from good results obtained in pre-service teach ers training by using active learning focused on activities in laboratory\ , we designed a national summer school in order to answer to the teachers ' request of a professional development in disciplinary topics and educati onal methodologies. Since in our experience the most powerful and interes ting teaching/learning processes often involve an interdisciplinary approa ch\, we decide to propose a school whose participants could be any science teacher (i. e. mathematics or physics\, chemistry or science teacher in a secondary school). Each edition is focused on a relevant topic in scienc e and can be declined in different and significant ways for every scientif ic discipline. The unifying theme proposed is broadly speaking a fourth di mension where scientific description of nature is realized. Hence the titl e of these summer schools became Science in 4D. In first editions the tra nsversal themes were the time\, sustainability and the color in nature.\nP rofessional development can provide the opportunities for teachers to lear n what they need to know and be able to do as they assist students in the learning process (Bybee & Loucks-Horsley\, 2000). Active learning\, probl em-based learning\, collaborative learning and inquiry-based teaching str ategies could have a significant impact on science education (Bybee\, 200 6\; Barron\, & Darling-Hammond\, 2008\; Savery\, 2006) if teachers used t hem diffusely. Moreover\, in-service teachers have few opportunities of tr ying and fully acquiring these educational tools in a laboratory environm ent. \nThe summer school was designed in such a way that participants were involved in laboratory where they could experience firsthand the effectiv eness of these methods in a disciplinary or interdisciplinary context. Sin ce motivation has been recognized as an important factor in the constructi on of knowledge and the process of conceptual change (Palmer\, 2000)\, an interdisciplinary approach was pursued in Science in 4D summer school. All editions are reported with some examples of disciplinary and interdiscipl inary laboratory developed by participants.\n\nREFERENCES\nBarron\, B.\, & Darling-Hammond\, L. (2008). Teaching for Meaningful Learning: A Review o f Research on Inquiry-Based and Cooperative Learning. Book Excerpt. George Lucas Educational Foundation\nBybee\, R. W. (2006). Scientific inquiry an d science teaching. In Scientific inquiry and nature of science (pp. 1-14) . Springer Netherlands. \nBybee\, R. W.\, & Loucks-Horsley\, S. (2000). Ad vancing technology education: The role of professional development. The Te chnology Teacher\, 60(2)\, 31-34\nPalmer\, D. (2000). A motivational view of constructivist‐informed teaching. International Journal of Science Ed ucation\, 15\, 1853-1881.\nSavery\, J. R. (2006). Overview of Problem-base d Learning: Definitions and Distinctions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Pro blem-Based Learning\, 1(1)\, 1-13. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.777 1/1541-5015.100.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6771 / LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6771/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Incorporating Computational Exercises into Introductory Physics Co urses DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6805@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Gerd Kortemeyer (Michigan State University)\nThe tal k describes the incorporation of computational exercises into introductory physics courses: mechanics\, electricity and magnetism\, and modern physi cs. While these courses traditionally emphasize symbolic and numerical cal culations\, as well as experimental methods\, over the last decade\, incre asingly computational methods are incorporated into the curricula. The tal k discusses opportunities for and examples of incorporating VPython projec ts\, as well as logistics\, learning outcomes\, and student feedback.\n\nh ttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6805/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6805/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Exploring how students in Physics Education can bring awareness on the importance of accessing solar energy in Namibian’s rural areas (Ca se Study) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6717@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mbela Kalengay (UNAM)\nThe sun is the principal sour ce of energy for all living things\, without its presence all life on eart h would come to an end. Solar energy is radiant energy from the sun caused by nuclear fusion in the sun’s core. For many years solar energy has been looked at as a fundamental source of energy due to vast amounts of en ergy that are made freely available. Solar energy is harnessed\, stored an d converted into heat\, light and electrical energy for various applicatio ns such as cooking\, refrigeration and lighting. \nAccess to modern energy services is a requirement for sustainable development\, to equip the nati on to accomplish their daily tasks\, to excel in business opportunities an d economic growth\, so as to uplift the whole community particularly the p opulation in the rural areas. Although Namibia has made significant progre ss in electrification\, rural electrification is still limited due to a la ck of knowledge and skills on how to harness the freely available solar en ergy. Financial constraints are also a contributing factor to acquiring mo dern technology. The possible solutions to solar energy concerns are widel y debated at different plat forms by stakeholders\, politicians and the pu blic at large. Therefore this study focused on raising awareness and sensi tise the communities especially the rural and informal settlements in urba n areas on how to make use of the freely available solar energy. The stud y involved 20 informants: 10 from each region. For data collection\, semi – structured interviews\, document analysis and focus group discussions were used for cross fertilisation of ideas. The results of the study will benefit the communities in both rural areas and informal settlements in u rban areas in Namibia.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribution s/6717/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6717/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:General Physics for Earth Sciences\, an undergraduate introductory physics course for first-year students majoring in the earth sciences at the University of Johannesburg DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6718@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Emanuela Carleschi (Department of Physics\, Universi ty of Johannesburg)\nCurriculum development for higher education science d egrees becomes particularly important with regards to service courses\, i. e. those courses designed to cater for students majoring in scientific dis ciplines different from that of the service course. Not only do service co urses provide general scientific literacy to future scientists\, but (if p roperly designed) they also address preconceptions around the relevance of a particular science discipline within the broader scientific context. Ph ysics service courses are not exempted from the above considerations. \nA first-year physics course for Earth Sciences majors recently developed at the University of Johannesburg is described. The need for such a course to be developed came from the necessity to address 1) the poor performance o f the students in the old “content-neutral” general physics service co urse\, and 2) the lack of engagement of these students with the content. \ nThe design of this fourteen-week course spans from vector algebra and two -dimensional mechanics to properties of solids and fluids. Particular care has been put into enriching each section with relevant examples within th e geosciences context\, and making linkages between physics principles and laws to more advanced geoscience subjects. Examples of these are: mass wa sting as an application of the inclined plane problem\; relevance of vecto r addition for the triple junction stability in plate tectonics\; Archimed es’ principle and buoyancy at subduction zones\; the importance of frict ion in rock deformation\, and many others. The pedagogical approaches adop ted in the teaching of the course are described\, bringing evidence that t hese\, together with the relevance of the course content to students\, hav e contributed to tremendously increasing the student performance and holis tic experience of the course. \nFinally\, arguments are proposed to suppor t the claim that the emphasis on relevance of the content is the appropria te answer to address the issues around decolonization of the curriculum wi thin the (South African) higher education landscape.\n\nhttps://events.sai p.org.za/event/93/contributions/6718/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6718/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Gaps in Teacher Competencies Linked to Inquiry-Based Practical Wor k in Certain Resource-Constrained South African Physical Sciences Classroo ms DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T154000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T160000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6719@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Fru Vitalis Akuma (University of Pretoria)\nScientif ic research and economic development are being threatened by the dwindling interest of learners in science. The incorporation of inquiry in science education can contribute to addressing this threat while fostering scienti fic literacy. However\, in relation to the implementation of inquiry-based science education\, serious gaps in the competencies of science teachers have been noted. In order to better address these gaps\, professional deve lopment efforts need to be context-specific and linked to the specific nee ds of the participating teachers. In order to inform such professional dev elopment\, we focussed in this research on the case of teachers in certain resource-constrained South African physical sciences (physics and chemist ry) classrooms. The purpose was to identify gaps in teacher competencies a ssociated with the routine implementation of inquiry-based practical work. Based on a framework of teacher competencies including the TPACK framewor k\, we used a multi-method case study involving two resource-constrained H igh Schools. The data collection methods consisted of interviews\, classro om observation\, artefacts (document analysis)\, and field notes. We analy sed the resulting data using the data-driven inductive approach in themati c analysis. The results show that in relation to the implementation of inq uiry-based practical work in the classroom\, participants have multiple ga ps in their content knowledge\, pedagogical knowledge\, technological know ledge\, pedagogical content knowledge\, technological pedagogical knowledg e\, in addition to certain professional values. We have discussed the rese arch- and practice-based implications of these results in relation to teac her professional development in South Africa and internationally.\n\nhttps ://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6719/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6719/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Probing introductory astronomy students’ notions of relative siz e and distance of celestial objects. Part II DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6720@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alexander Sivitilli (University of Cape Town)\nHow i s the present collective view of our place in the cosmos reflected in the mind of an individual? This is an important question to consider when teac hing astronomy\, as the descriptions involve the seemingly familiar\, like space and time\, yet on scales that are not easily comprehensible within simple mental models. \n\nAs outlined in Part I of the present work\, we e xplore how students in an introductory astronomy course conceive cosmic-sc ale sizes and distances. We present our analysis of student responses from the IAQ_R\, the modified version of the IAQ [Rajpaul et al. 2014. Phys Re v] described in Part I.\n\nOur preliminary findings confirm previous findi ngs with regard to the notions held by both cohorts of these students (Sou th African and Norwegian) not only in terms of the presence of these notio ns but also insofar as the proportions of students is concerned [Lindstrø m et al. 2016. 2015 PERC Proc.]. Amongst these notions are perceptions tha t stars are smaller than planets\, the overestimation of earth’s atmosph ere extent into space\, and the presence of other stars “within” our s olar system. As noted in the previous work\, we also explore the correlati on between students’ quality of knowledge of celestial objects and their ranking in size and then consider what limitations such a correlation (or lack thereof) may have in revealing the importance of spatial awareness i n astronomical knowledge.\n\nAs extensions to the previous IAQ analysis\, we discuss in detail (a) how the extra level of freedom (including =) in t he size ranking task plays itself out in the results obtained and (b) how size ranking correlates with distance ranking. With regard to the latter w e show that a higher proportion of the respondents who underestimate star size in the ranking task also appear to underestimate the relative distanc e of the nearest star to the sun. \n\nWe suggest that the results of the p resent and previous studies are clear indications that learning about cosm ic scales is challenging from a fundamental cognitive perspective. Eriksso n has used a social semiotic framework to show clearly that Disciplinary D iscernment is key to learning astronomy [Eriksson et al. 2017. EJSME]. We suggest there may be an even more fundamental aspect that underpins the co gnitive structure on which Disciplinary Discernment may depend. An embodie d cognition perspective places spatial engagement as a central component o f much abstract thinking as evidenced in the cognitive linguistic literatu re on conceptual metaphor [Lakoff 2000]. Thus\, we theorize that the key c hallenge arises from the difficulties of “compressing” the cosmic scal es to within human comprehension. Furthermore we suggest that the embodied cognition standpoint allows us insight into developing intervention metho ds that tap into the same neural mechanisms that allow people to spatially map their immediate surroundings\, thus aiding students in building spati al mental models of the cosmos. Such interventions would potentially be do ne with planetarium and virtual reality technologies\, projects currently being explored by the authors as doctoral research.\n\nhttps://events.saip .org.za/event/93/contributions/6720/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6720/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Probing the nature of student explanations of visual phenomena: a pilot study DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T152000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6721@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ishiyaku Abubakar (University of Cape Town)\nIshiyak u Mbela1\, Tshiamiso Makwela1\, Alexander Sivitilli1\, Dale Taylor1\,2\, S aalih Allie1\,2\n1 Physics Department\, University of Cape Town\, South Af rica\, 7701\n2 Academic Development Programme\, University of Cape Town\, South Africa\, 7701\n\nExplanations of what we perceive visually may not d epend solely on invoking an appropriate model for light but can also invol ve aspect of visual cognition. With regard to light\, three incompatible m odels are used to describe its complex behaviour: straight lines\, waves a nd particles. Each of these models describes aspects of light under differ ent contextual conditions. For example\, geometrical optics can be used to describe reflection\, but this model cannot account for the bending of li ght when it passes through a slit i.e. the model of light travelling in st raight lines does not offer the affordances for describing diffraction. Ho wever\, optical phenomena are not always adequately explained by such a “bottom-up” (reductionist) approach. For example\, the explanation as to why the moon is perceived to be larger on the horizon but smaller when directly above our heads requires a “top-down” explanatory component w hich draws on various cognitive aspects of visual perception. \nThe presen t\, broad programme of work aims to map out the nature of student explanat ions of visual phenomena in terms of (1) choosing the appropriate model of light and (2) recognizing the extent to which a top-down component is nec essary. To this end\, an instrument Models and Perceptions in Optics Quest ionnaire (MPOQ)\, is being constructed and piloted as part of the first ph ase of the broader programme.\nThe present talk reports on some of the pre liminary work that has been carried out in terms of question construction and piloting the questions to students both in South Africa and Nigeria. S pecifically\, we report on three questions: the first question involves th e directionality of light travel with respect to the eye\, the second ques tion centres around refraction while the third question involves the obser ved size of the moon. Each question is is framed as a debate among a group of posited students\, each of whom offers a different explanation. Respon dents must choose the explanatory option “with which they most closely a gree” (Forced Choice Responses)\, and more importantly\, are then asked to explain the reasons for the choice (Free Writing Responses). The FCR’ s are analysed by simple tallying while the FWR data are analysed using a grounded approach. \nThe first version of the three-question instrument wa s piloted in South Africa with a group of 140 first year medical students\ , while a second version of the MPOQ was administered to a (mixed) group o f 180 first year medical\, physics and physics education students in Niger ia. The questions will be discussed in more detail and preliminary results and observations from the analysis will be presented.\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6721/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6721/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DC CIRCUITS: CONTEXT AND SENSE-MAKING DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6722@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ignatius John (CPUT)\nThe present papers report on a programme that aims to probe\, at a fine-grained level\, how students eng age with simple DC circuits\, in particular with regard to context and sen se-making. We discuss the results from an instrument\, the Aspects of Circ uits Questionnaire (ACQ)\, in which non-substantive variations of a simple circuit were presented to students. This talk discusses ACQ itself and th en highlights the findings that pertain to context sensitivity. \n\nAn imp ortant part of the first year physics curriculum is electricity. However\, it has become apparent worldwide that teaching even the very basic concep ts has not been successful in helping students gain a proper understanding thereof. One criticism of the way in which circuits is often taught is th at it is too theoretical and that involving students in practical work and simulations should improve the situation. Thus many innovative curricula have been developed in which students are taken through a structured seque nce of laboratory exercises in order to clarify the concepts. One very pop ular approach for example has been to use circuits in which the brightness of a light bulb is used as a visual proxy for current. However\, despite many such attempts the results have not shown dramatic improvements in stu dent understanding. \n\nAn eight questions probe\, Aspects of Circuit Ques tionnaire (ACQ) was developed for this broad fine-grained investigation. A ll circuits were open circuits\, consisting of a single battery connected to a resistive element with a single wire. Each question was presented as a situation in which a posited group of students discuss a particular situ ation\, and take a particular stand. Respondents are then presented with f our choices\, from which they have to choose one\, Forced Choice Responses (FCR). The respondents are then requested to explain in detail their reas ons for the particular choice. The FCR data were analyzed by tallying the choices and presenting them as histograms for visual comparison while the Free Written Responses (FWR) data were analyzed using a grounded approach. \n\nThe analysis of the FCRs showed that majority of student’s response s were highly sensitive to context [3]. A key finding that emerged from th e coding of the FWR was that only one “foothold idea” was productive a cross the entire spectrum of micro-contexts: “loop continuity / complete ness” [4]. \n\nReferences \n\n[1] A. diSessa\, Knowledge in Pieces\, In Forman G and P. Pufall\, eds\, Constructivism in the Computer Age\, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.\n[2] S. Allie et al\, First-year physics students' perceptions of the quality of experimental measurements\ , Int. J. Sci. Educ.\, 1998\, Vol. 20\, No. 4\, 447-459\n[3] I. John an d S. Allie\, DC circuits: I. Evidence for fine grained contextual dependen ce\, Eur. J. Phys. 38 (2016). \n[4] I. John and S. Allie\, DC circuits : II. Identification of foothold ideas in DC circuits\, Eur. J. Phys. (201 7).\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6722/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6722/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CHANGES IN STUDENTS’ PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS: THE ROLE OF A FOCUS ED TEACHING INTERVENTION BASED ON SEQUENTIAL MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIONS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T103000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T105000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6723@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Suleiman Bala Musa (Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Universit y Bauchi\, Bauchi State\, Nigeria.)\nThis study was set to investigate the role of Sequential Multiple Representations in Enhancing Senior Secondary School Physics Students’ Problem-Solving Skills in the context of a tig htly focused teaching intervention. The intervention involved a sequence o f four lessons conducted over a period of 6 weeks\, with the first and las t week used for pre and post-test. The intervention was set deliberately t o push students to use multiple representations in a particular sequence ( starting from word to symbols\, diagram\, and then generating equations) t o solve electric circuit problems. The population of the study comprised o f all students offering physics in the fifteen public senior secondary sch ools in Bauchi state\, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select two schools and 80 students constituted the sample size. Forty (40) students were assigned to the intervention (experimental) group and 4 0 students to the non-intervention (control) group. The instrument used fo r data collection was a Physics Problem-Solving Task on Electric Circuit ( PPSTEC) with a reliability coefficient of 0.76. An assessment rubric was d eveloped by the researcher with four (4) levels of attainment of problem-s olving skills (No attempt\, Problematic\, emergent and exemplary). The rub ric was used as an analytical tool that characterized\, assessed and ascer tained the changes in students’ problem-solving skills before and after the teaching intervention. The result shows that the intervention group ma de substantial improvement from about 89.75% at the level of no attempt an d problematic response in the pre-test to 74.50% moved to the higher level s of emergent and exemplary. Based on the finding\, it was concluded that the use of sequential multiple representations as a teaching strategy is a n effective tool for enhancing students’ problem-solving skills in the c ontext of electric circuit problems. We therefore recommend for further re search with different sets of students\, and in different context across N igeria to provide more empirical evidence on the role of sequential multip le representations as a means of developing students’ problem solving sk ills in electric circuit problems.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/ contributions/6723/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6723/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Solar system at your fingertips: an interdisciplinary learning pa th DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154800Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154900Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6724@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vera MONTALBANO (Department of Physical Sciences\, E arth and Environment\, University of Siena)\nAn active learning path was carried out directly by students in a vocational school by following a co operative-learning approach. At the beginning of the school\, some student s showed relationship problems and formed small groups that\, in some case s\, led to the exclusion of pupils with special educational needs. These p roblems\, coming from a quite diversified socio-cultural context\, were li nked to a lack of interest and a mnemonic few reflective approach to Scien ce. \nThe path was designed with the aim of creating a learning environmen t as much involving as possible and with the purpose of fostering aggregat ion\, i.e. form a more cohesive and collaborative class group in which stu dents could appreciate the advantages of cooperative work\, help and mutua l support. The laboratory path was organized in a sequence of activities c arried out during the first part of the year. To encourage research and pl anning\, various phases were designed: firstly an initial brainstorming to stimulate curiosity and allowing to evaluate the prerequisites and misco nceptions\; secondly the design and the active construction of models on t he Solar System and on Kepler's Laws. \nSince reasoning with ratios and pr oportions is widely regarded as a critical bridge between the numerical\, concrete mathematics of arithmetic\, useful in day life practice\, and the abstraction that follows in algebra and higher mathematics\, the science teacher in collaboration with the mathematics teacher\, realized a further laboratory on the proportionality in celestial bodies\, astronomical dist ances and scale ratios.\nAll phases were conceived according to a group wo rk and the continuous sharing of the products realized by using the Google Suite and Google Classroom platforms. Collective discussion allowed the c omparison of ideas and a problem solving approach to various difficulties that emerged. A relevant activity was the final exhibition in the school: each group presented their products. This led the subsequent self-evaluati on and peer review phase. \nA closer analysis of laboratories shows that a ll requests for achieving a cooperative learning are satisfied (Curseo 199 2\, Johnson 1999)\, such as positive interdependence\, individual accounta bility\, face-to-face promotive interaction\, social skills and group proc essing.\nThe designing and the planning of the learning-teaching path (Fri end 1999) was discussed with special education teachers in order to favori ng the active participation of students with special educational needs in cooperative groups. In these cases\, the focus was centered on pupil's lea rning and mainly at the maturation of attitudes (observational\, descripti ve and cooperative in the classroom) rather than at the contents. The path has guaranteed training success for everyone\, none excluded. The interdi sciplinary learning path was an effective realization of an inclusive clas sroom\, where also borderline students were involved and gained a successf ul learning experience. \n\nCuseo\, J. (1992). Cooperative learning vs sma ll group discussions and group projects: the critical\ndifferences\, Coope rative Learning and College Teaching\, 2(3).\nFriend\, M.\, & Bursuck\, W. D. (1999). Including students with special needs. Boston\, MA\, USA: Ally n & Bacon.\nJohnson\, D.W.\, & Johnson\, R.T. (1999). Making cooperative l earning. Theory into Practice\, 38(2)\, 67-73.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org. za/event/93/contributions/6724/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6724/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Effect of Problem Posing Teaching Strategy on Prospective Physics Teachers’ Conceptual understanding and Problem Solving Behaviour in Some Selected Concepts of Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154900Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6725@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sa'adatu Abubakar (Tafawa Balewa University\, Bauchi State Nigeria)\nIt is pertinent to consider appropriate alternatives mean s of imparting knowledge so as to defend quality science teaching and lear ning from going into extinction when the need arises. Among these alterna tive is the use of problem-solving strategies that involve different probl em-solving activities like learning through open ended such as problem pos ing. Problem posing improves students’ problem-posing activities\, reinf orce and enrich basic concepts\, foster more diverse flexible thinking and preconceptions. Based on this\, the study determines the effect of proble m posing teaching strategy on prospective physics teachers’ conceptual u nderstanding and problem solving behaviour in some selected concepts of ph ysics. The objective of the study is to find the effect of problem posing teaching strategy on different categories of problem solvers (experts and novices) conceptual understanding and problem solving behavior in some sel ected physics concepts. The design adopted for the study was mixed method and the sampling techniques was multistage sampling techniques. This sampl ing technique enables the categorization of the prospective physics teache rs into experts and novices problem solvers. The area of the study was Bau chi State. Instruments used for data collection are Physics test for conce ptual understanding (PTCU) and physics test for problem solving behavior ( PTPSB)\, developed by the researcher based on the concepts work and energy . The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative appro ach. The findings indicate that experts’ prospective physics teachers’ conceptual understanding is logically organized according to schema with systematic problem solving behaviour\, while novices’ prospective physic s teachers’ conceptual understanding is hierarchically organised with ra ndom mode of problem solving behavior. It was recommended among others tha t teacher educators should adopt problem posing teaching strategy in teach er training programme for flexible and systematic thinking that enhance sk ills acquisition.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/672 5/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6725/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Student ideas on vector direction in kinematics graphs DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T152000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T154000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6726@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ignatius John (CPUT)\, Martin Kudinha (CPUT)\nUnders tanding graphs is a primary skill in any discipline\, physics in particula r. Students frequently do not know whether to extract the desired informat ion from the slope or height of a graph. This is a pilot study to understa nd the interpretation of direction of a vector in a kinematics graph. We u sed a questionnaire consisting of three graphs to study the understanding of kinematics graphs of first-year university students in various contexts . The study was conducted on Extended Curriculum Students (ECP) and main s tream students who were registered for various courses in a UoT. The stude nts were asked to determine the direction of movement of the objects in va rious graphs within different contexts. The result from the study shows th at the students are engaging with the shape of the graphs rather than the variables in each axis. This paper presents the outcome from three differe nt graphs and their reasoning for their responses\, and the comparison bet ween the two groups.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/ 6726/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6726/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Contributions of History and Philosophy of Science course for unde rgraduate physics teachers students DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153700Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153800Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6727@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Maykon Müller (Instituto Federal de Educação\, Ci ência e Tecnologia Sul-rio-grandense)\nWe live in a world widely influenc ed by Science\, being perceptible its action in several areas of life. Thi s overvaluation develops naive beliefs about the nature of Science and sci entific work\, impacting on science teaching that\, after the end of the 5 0's\, aimed to train student as "little scientists" through the scientific method. However\, many studies in the fields of History\, Philosophy and Sociology of Science\, especially after the 70's\, pointed out and critici zed some deformities that science teaching could be playing\, such as: the empirical and inductive conceptions\, the infallible and ahistorical view of science\, among other deformities. Understanding that contemporary vis ions of Science contribute to the improvement of Science teaching\, it bec omes important to analyze the perceptions of undergraduate physics teacher students in relation to the History and Philosophy of Science (HFS) cours e. Their perceptions about Science will impact their teaching and conseque ntly the students' perceptions. In this perspective\, this work presents r esults of an exploratory case study that investigated how the epistemologi cal conceptions of a group of students evolved after the accomplishment of this course\, as well as have been maintained over time. We attempted to answer the following research questions: in the context of the survey\, ho w was the evolution of epistemological conceptions of the students? How th is evolution has remained over time? The units of analysis were four under graduate physics teacher students\, from the Instituto Federal Sul-Rio-Gra ndense\, in the city of Pelotas - Brazil. The study occurred after the fir st semester of 2017\, when the compulsory course of HFS was taken. Two que stionnaires were applied. The first after completion of the course. The ot her six months after the first. The answers obtained were compared in thre e aspects: the role of observation and experimentation in scientific resea rch\; possibility of transformations of scientific theories\; and the role of error in scientific work. The students' answers showed a positive infl uence of the discipline for the construction of thoughts aligned with the contemporary epistemological conceptions. Science is seen\, through these conceptions\, as a human construction susceptible to error. Theory precede s observations\, which are not neutral\, and there is no rigid scientific method. We realized that\, in general\, these perspectives have been remai ned\, presenting some maturity. The students had a more flexible idea abou t the role of observation and experimentation in scientific research. They also pointed out that the theories can change\, thus contributing to the progress of Science. The same was observed with regard to the role of erro r in scientific work\, where all the students stated that the error is pre sent\, since Science is built by individuals who can make mistakes. This w ork contributes to the discussion about the importance of the content of t he HFS course to the initial formation of physics teachers\, considering t he indispensability of scientific literacy for the training of students as critical citizens\, as well as understanding that teachers are able to pe rform the necessary transformations for this process.\n\nhttps://events.sa ip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6727/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6727/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Support for an undergraduate physics program: A first year mainstr eam module DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6728@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mark Herbert (University of the Western Cape)\nFirst year students entering the mainstream undergraduate physics program are a t different levels of preparedness which have impact on their learning at the university\, in particular\, their learning of physics which influence their retention\, performance and success in the subject. In a survey don e most students reported that they find the physics interesting but diffic ult and that they needed more guidance and support in their learning of ph ysics inside and outside the lecture periods and tutorial. In response to this\, the lecturer in the first year mainstream undergraduate physics ali gn the curriculum\, i.e. the teaching and learning activities to guide stu dents learning as well as to provide a collaborative and supportive learni ng environment inside and outside the lecture periods and tutorial. This p aper describes the initiatives implemented in the mainstream undergraduate physics program to enhance guidance and support of students learning of p hysics inside and outside the lecture periods and tutorial. The paper exam ines the role of tutors in the initiatives implemented as well as successe s achieved and challenges encountered with the implementation of the initi atives. Tutors as well as students’ experiences of the initiatives were surveyed and are presented and discussed. The paper concludes that tutors have an important role to play in providing the mainstream undergraduate p hysics students a collaborative and supportive learning environment inside and outside the lecture periods and tutorials to enhance the learning of physics.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6728/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6728/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:In-cooperating a two-stage tests in physics learning DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6729@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mark Herbert (University of the Western Cape)\nThis paper reports on work that has been done in the Physics Department at Univ ersity of the Western Cape (UWC). The mainstream mechanics physics first y ear module centers its focus on improving students’ success by giving th em epistemological access to the study of physics. Central to the module t eaching philosophy and pedagogy is the socio-cultural perspectives on lear ning in the sciences. This has guided the development of our intervention strategies to direct students’ learning toward gaining access to the ‘ ways of knowing’ of the discipline. Such perspectives suggest that an ex clusively individual or cognitivist approach may need to be complemented b y those that recognize the social contexts in which science learning takes place\, and which places a greater emphasis on learning as participation and identity development. \nThis paper reports on the two-stage tests used to support physics learning. The two-stage exam is a way to encourage stu dents’ to participate and reflect on their learning by providing immedia te formative and summative assessment of their learning. An overview of th e mainstream mechanics physics first year module teaching and learning app roach as well as the results of a survey of students’ experiences of the two-stage test will be presented and discussed.\n\nhttps://events.saip.or g.za/event/93/contributions/6729/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6729/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An overview of a teacher’s development program for in-service te achers DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150300Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150400Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6730@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mark Herbert (University of the Western Cape)\nSince the mid-nineties\, South Africa schools have been in a state of education reform. At the centre of the reform was the establishment of the comprehe nsive curriculum project named Curriculum 2005. Deficiency in the Curricul um 2005 resulted in the establishment of the National Curriculum Statement in 2008. Curriculum reform as required by the National Curriculum Stateme nt for grade 10-12 physical sciences teachers implied that teachers have a deep understanding of the highly structured content knowledge as well as the pedagogical content knowledge to transform the content for effective t eaching. How every research has indicated that teachers found the curricul um challenging and that they were concerned that they did not have the nec essary skills to deal with the content.\nThe South Africa Institute of Phy sics (SAIP) in its draft document “Strategic Plan on the enhancement of Physics Training in South Africa” recommended that Physics Departments a t South Africa Universities plays a more active role in teacher training. This paper reports on the University of the Western Cape\, Department of P hysics and Astronomy’s teachers’ program to help address the curriculu m challenges teachers faces in terms of content and pedagogical content kn owledge. An overview of the program as well as teachers experiences of the program will be presented and discussed.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/ev ent/93/contributions/6730/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6730/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AXIOMATIC SYSTEM OF THERMO-PHYSICS THEORY - A TEACHING MODEL OF TH ERMODYNAMICS AND STATISTICAL PHYSICS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150400Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6731@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Xixia Liang (Inner Mongolia University\, China)\nAs a course of theoretical physics\, “thermodynamics and statistical physic s” is often complained hard to learn and teach by some university studen ts and teachers in China. To a certain extent it is related to the current knowledge system of the course\, in which the macroscopic theory-“therm odynamics” and microscopic theory - “statistical physics” are separ ated from each other [1\,2]. Students usually dull perception of the relat ion between the macro- and microscopic theories\, and sometimes fell the c ontents multifarious and disorderly.\n We reformed the course of “the rmodynamics and statistical physics” and constructed a new knowledge sys tem - the axiomatic system for teaching the theory of thermo-physics [3]. The macro- and microscopic theories are fused together and the microscopic theory plays a leading role in the system. The theory starts from an axio m (postulation)——the equal-probability hypothesis——the basic hypot hesis of the statistical physics\, and is tested and verified well by expe riments. The ensemble theory is into the main line throughout the course. The macroscopic laws of thermodynamics are straightforward derived by the equal-probability hypothesis. Thermodynamic potentials for the micro-canon ical ensemble\, canonical ensemble as well as the grand-canonical ensemble are obtained based on the basic postulation\, and the properties of vario us thermodynamic systems can be easily discussed.\n The new system is m ore reasoned and self-consistent in theory. Its application in teaching “thermodynamics and statistical physics” enables students systematical ly know statistical physics and clearly understand the relationship betwee n the macro- and microscopic theories. And then they can use the thermo-ph ysics theory flexibly to solve many practical problems.\n\n [1] W. Grei ner\, L Neise and H Stöcker (1995) Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics \, Springer-Verlag New York\, Inc.\n [2] Zhi-cheng Wang (2013) Thermody namics•Statistical physics\, 5th ed. China Higher Education Press\, Beij ing.\n [3] Xixia Liang and Shiliang Ban (2008) Statistical Thermodynami cs\, 2nd ed. China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. Beijing.\n\nhttps://eve nts.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6731/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6731/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The role of mathematics and self-efficacy in learning quantum mech anics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6732@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Inkeri Kontro (University of Helsinki)\nQuantum mech anics (QM) is a complex and often difficult topic for physics students. To make sense of the topic\, the students need to grasp both the physical in terpretation and the mathematical formulations [1-2]. Quantum theory is ba sed on the notion of vector spaces and their features\, which makes linear algebra part of the necessary mathematical toolbox. \n\nAt the University of Helsinki\, the QM curriculum begins in the first or second year of stu dies\, depending on study track. The first course\, Basics of quantum phys ics\, covers the basics from the historical background up to a qualitative treatment of the hydrogen atom. Many students struggle with the mathemati cs on the course\, and\, partly to address this\, the curriculum was chang ed to include a linear algebra course simultaneously to Basics of quantum physics. Hence\, the QM course in 2018 was taken by both students who stud ied linear algebra at the same time\, and students who had taken linear al gebra earlier.\n\nTo study the effect of this change we administered a mat hematics pre-test and a self-efficacy questionnaire based on [3] and adapt ed for QM\, and correlated the results with learning outcomes (exercise an d exam scores\, N = 50). \n\nSurprisingly\, the preliminary results indica te that neither the self-efficacy nor the initial mathematics skills of st udents correlate with the learning outcomes in Basics of quantum physics. For the first year students\, the students who reported theoretical physic s as their study track had equal initial mathematics level to their “phy sics” peers\, but had higher self-efficacy beliefs and scored higher in the exercises and exams. Second-year “physics” students scored even lo wer in all measures. The explanation is likely a selective effect: the “ physics” students who take the course in their first year are more comfo rtable with more advanced physics and mathematics content.\n\n[1] C. Singh and E. Marshman\, Review of Student Difficulties in Upper-Level Quantum M echanics\, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11\, 020117\, (2015).\n[2] B. W. Dreyfus\, A. Elby\, A. Gupta and E. R. Sohr\, Mathematical sense-making i n quantum mechanics: An initial peek\, Physical Review Physics Education R esearch\, 13\, 020141\, (2017).\n[3] J. M. Bailey\, D. Lombardi\, J. R. Co rdova\, and G. M. Sinatra\, Meeting students halfway: Increasing self-effi cacy and promoting knowledge change in astronomy\, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13\, 020140\, (2017).\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribu tions/6732/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6732/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PRE-SERVICE PHYSICS TEACHERS' STEM INTEGRATIONS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6733@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: FATMA CANER (Marmara University)\nOne of the most pr oblematic topics for STEM researchers is that there are different interpre tations of STEM integration and STEM education. As stated in many studies\ , STEM education has been described in a variety of ways from disciplinary approaches to disciplinary approaches. Bybee (2013) argues that it is nec essary to determine where we are to get details of where we want to go. Fo r this reason\, how STEM disciplines\, science\, technology\, engineering and mathematics disciplines are related is important.\nBybee (2013) demons trates that this integration can be done in different ways to create a STE M curriculum as STEM 1.0 (one discipline)\, STEM 2.0 (two disciplines)\, S TEM 3.0 (three disciplines) and STEM 4.0 (four disciplines). The study las ted for 13 weeks and STEM training was given to pre-service physics teache rs including STEM philosophy\, engineering design process\, computational thinking and technology. At the end of the 13th week\, they were asked to perform a STEM activity from the teacher candidates as micro-teaching. 14 teacher candidates\, 10 girls and 4 boys\, participated in the study. Pre- service physics teachers’ perspectives are categorized as nested\, trans disciplinary\, sequential\, siloed and others through using pre-service te acher STEM Education Survey\, developed by Radloff and Guzey. As a result\ , STEM integration model is related to the perspectives of pre-service phy sics teachers. For instance\, pre-service physics teachers who have transd isciplinary perspective integrated using STEM 4.0 integration model in the ir micro-teaching. On the other hand\, pre-service physics teachers should also be encouraged to use technology such as simulations\, WEB 2.0 tools to build STEM 4.0 integration.\n(Conclusions will be shared during the pre sentation of the conference.)\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contr ibutions/6733/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6733/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:REFLECTIONS ON DIDAKTIK ANALYSIS OF PHYSICS TEACHING METHODS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6734@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mohd Zaki Ishak (University Malaysia Sabah)\nIt is a bout a decade the researcher started introducing didaktik tradition in his undergraduate course\, the physics teaching methods. Prior to didaktik tr adition\, physics teaching methods at the Faculty of Education equipped pr e-service teachers with pedagogical strategies which is commonly focus on understanding learning. Here\, the specific content is not treated as prob lematic in the teaching and learning of physics as physics courses are tau ght by the Faculty of Science. As the meaning of didaktik is based on the notion of Bildung (the formation of the learner on his or her development) \, and it concerns the process of transforming and developing the physics content structure from the contexts primary source of scientific knowledge into the contexts of schooling knowledge and subsequently enhancing the p ractice of teaching and learning in the classroom\, thus the researcher em ploys one conception of Didaktik that is didaktik analysis. Didaktik analy sis in physics teaching methods involves with: conceptual analysis of spec ific physics content as contained in the curriculum specifications and tex tbooks\; analysis of literature on students’ alternative conceptions\; d eveloping a lesson plan\; developing teaching sequences that involve teach ing and learning activities\, and reflection. Since then\, the researcher begins to reflect more thoughtfully on his actions at the end of conductin g physics teaching methods course\, during pre-service physics teachers’ teaching practices in the microteaching (seven weeks) and their practicum (14 weeks) in secondary schools\, and during presenting papers at the nat ional and international conferences. The researcher engages in ‘technica l reflection’\, where the focus is on the physics teaching methods cours e and teaching practice issues in the microteaching and practicum\, and in ‘practical reflection’\, where the focus is on didaktik analysis issu es. The researcher finds that although pre-service physics teachers did th eir didaktik analysis assignment on mechanics\, energy\, optics\, electric ity and electromagnetism\, and implemented these in their lesson plans and teaching sequence in the micro-teaching. Their lesson plans did consist o f ‘learning outcomes’\, a teaching sequence\, assessment procedures\, and reflections. However\, during practicum their lesson plans developed w ere not strongly based on didaktik analysis\, but were more in accord with the textbooks and curriculum specifications. Pre-service physics teachers seem bound by the physics content contained in the curriculum specificati ons\, and subsequently this impacted on their lesson plans and teaching se quence in the classroom during their teaching practice in secondary school s. It would seem then that having experiences with didaktik analysis assig nments and teaching practice\, are not enough alone to ensure that pre-ser vice physics teachers will actually use didaktik analysis-based teaching p ractice in their future teaching. In addition\, comments or feedbacks from the participants during the conferences about didaktik tradition said tha t didaktik and pedagogy are almost similar and the terms are commonly used in teacher training programmes. Generally\, the researcher finds that edu cational contexts have influenced on pre-service physics teachers in their teaching practice on didaktik analysis in the classroom as didaktik is st rongly culture-bound. \n\nKeywords: didaktik tradition\, pedagogy\, didakt ik analysis\, teaching methods\, teaching sequence\, technical reflection\ , practical reflection.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributio ns/6734/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6734/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON LEARNING IMPROVEMENTS FROM SCALE-UP PEDAGOG Y AND REFORMED LECTURES DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150200Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150300Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6735@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Guillaume Schiltz (ETH Zurich)\nIn the past\, many l arge physics lectures have been reformed and supplemented by active learni ng elements such as Peer Instruction [1]. A different approach consists of breaking up large lectures into smaller classes and shifting to highly in teractive flipped learning settings. Studio Physics and SCALE-UP are well- documented implementations of this approach [2]. Running multiple parallel classes\, however\, implies substantial investment efforts (rooms\, facul ty) [3] and it is advisable to gain insights on expected learning improvem ents before deciding on either reformed lectures or small interactive clas s settings. A comparative study of student achievements between these two different settings is needed in order to guide pedagogical decisions going forward. \n\nFor this reason\, we have conducted a pilot study within a p hysics lecture class of 370 students at a major Swiss research university. In a one-year undergraduate physics course\, we divided the student cohor t into two parallel teaching settings. During one semester\, we offered a highly interactive SCALE-UP environment to one group of 52 students and a reformed lecture to the remaining 318 students. In the following semester\ , all students were taught in the same lecture setting without a SCALE-UP alternative. Within the 14-week parallel teaching period\, we compared stu dents’ performance in both settings and could draw conclusions on immedi ate differences. Eight months after the SCALE-UP intervention\, all studen ts had to sit the same high-stakes final exam\, which consisted of topics throughout the entire year\, including topics from the previous interventi on. We related the final exam results to the former performance results an d gained insights on medium-term effects based on the two teaching setting s. We also addressed questions on gender differences. In addition\, we ana lyzed student feedback that included data related to class attendance\, ou t-of-class preparation\, level of intellectual challenge\, and other items .\n\nIn this poster\, we present the major results of our study and draw c onclusions on implementing SCALE-UP pedagogy compared to a typical reforme d lecture setting.\n\n[1] J.M. Fraser et al. (2014) Rep. Prog. Phys. 77\, 032401. \n[2] R.J. Beichner (2014) New Directions for Teaching and Learnin g\, 137\, 9-16.\n[3] E. Brewe et al. (2018) Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14 \, 010109.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6735/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6735/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Blurring the classical-quantum divide DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T080000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T090000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6736@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Andrew Forbes (U. Witwatersrand)\nInterference\, the quintessential property of wave optics\, is a venerable topic that spans centuries of study\, influencing how we understand both the classical and quantum worlds. Infact\, little has changed since the seminal work of Youn g with his double slit experiment\, performed even to this day in much the same way as he did it. In this talk we will revisit the central paradigms in classical and quantum interference and show how they can be bent\, in some cases broken\, and how this influences the way we teach such topics. We will outline through simple demonstrations that interference may be obs erved in places one may not think to look\, that quantum entanglement may be demonstrated with purely classical light\, and that much of quantum mec hanics can be taught in a practical manner without the need for complicate d single photon experiments. In the process we will provide a complete res ource for DIY experiments that incorporates modern digital tools with 3D p rinted components to bring the concepts alive in the laboratory.\n\nhttps: //events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6736/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6736/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:WHAT ARE EXPERIMENTAL SKILLS? A STUDY WITH IN-SERVICE TEACHERS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6737@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rajesh Khaparde (Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Educ ation\, TIFR\, Mumbai\, India)\nThe teaching and learning of physics is in complete and inadequate unless students gain a significant experience in e xperimental physics through a well-planned laboratory courses. The physics laboratory training is supposed to develop in students\, a variety of imp ortant cognitive and psycho-motor abilities related to experimental physic s. It is very well accepted that developing and nurturing ‘experimental skills’ is an important goal of laboratory courses. The authors\, In the process of development of a laboratory course felt that it is important t o identify details of specific skills and abilities which students should develop through that particular laboratory course.\n\nAs part of an ongoin g survey with teachers\, a need was felt to understand what do teachers an d lab instructors understand by the term ‘experimental skills’. Do the y associate only psycho-motor skills or they include other analytical\, co gnitive skills under the title ‘experimental skills’.\n\nThe authors\, in this paper reports the results of a pilot study with 38 teachers from across the country\, who were directly involved in teaching laboratory cou rses at various schools and colleges for at least 8 years. In the first in teraction\, teachers were asked to a) describe what are ‘experimental sk ills’ required in experimental physics and b) to identify and make an ex haustive list of experimental skills which they would like their students to develop through laboratory courses from grade 8 till undergraduate leve l. To our surprise\, we noted that teachers were not able to separate psyc ho-motor\, cognitive and affective abilities and skills. Based on their li sts\, we prepared a list of 83 skills and abilities and asked the same tea chers to confirm if they would identify as ‘experimental skill’ or ‘ other abilities’ for each of the 83 skills and abilities. The results i ndicate that teachers do not have clear understanding about the psycho-mot or\, cognitive and affective abilities and skills. Thus the authors felt a need to design a learning module for in-service teachers on objectives an d goals of laboratory courses in which each aspect will be discussed and i llustrated with required details. This is essential because the tasks\, me thods\, contents and learning processes involved in the development of the se psycho-motor\, cognitive and affective skills and abilities are differe nt and should be appropriately emphasized during the designing of a labora tory course and strategy for instruction and assessment.\n\nhttps://events .saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6737/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6737/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An Alternate Approach to Execution of Second Year Thermodynamics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T152000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T154000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6738@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ross Dix-Peek (NMMU)\nThe first and most important q uestion with regards to any educational activity: ‘What is the purpose o f this activity?’. The simple answer to this to this question\, in the t erms of Physics education in South Africa\, is the to develop the skills h ighlighted in the SAIP Draft Benchmark Statement. The second question is t hen: ‘How do you best develop these skills?’. The purpose of this pape r is to discuss an alternate\, student-centric\, self-directed\, approach to the execution of a second year Thermodynamics course. The approach focu sses on the benefit of the cooperation between the practical course and th e theoretical course. The goal of such an approach is to not only ensure t he development of the skills required from the course but to develop the i ndividual student’s abilities within a scientific context. \n\nKeywords: SAIP Draft Benchmark Statement\, student-centric\, self-directed\n\nhttps ://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6738/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6738/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Embracing the interconnectivity of people beneath the night sky: W here physics and culture meet DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T080000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T090000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6739@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Richard Hechter (University of Manitoba\, Canada)\nI n Canada\, like many other countries around the world\, there has been an increased call for incorporating Indigenous knowledges within physics\, an d physics teacher\, education. Coupled with this are dedicated efforts to foster learning environments where students grow to become problem solvers not only for physics-based problems\, but for societal problems as well. Physics\neducation\, at all levels\, and within formal and informal settin gs\, is being reconstructed to increase the relevance and resonance of phy sics content matter for students on personal\, community\, and global leve ls. It is from this launch point that physics is now being taught and lear ned through lenses of multiple perspectives\, modalities\, cultures\, and social justice and\nawareness. As such\, a focused effort to introduce and ragogical and philosophical approaches beyond the traditional methods of p hysics education is underway. \n\nThrough the contextual sharing of globa l and Indigenous star-lore and sky-lore legends and lessons\, this talk wi ll weave stories of ethnoastronomy of the aurora and constellations as an exemplar of assist learning about the globally shared night sky. It is thr ough this vision that the hope of sharing and learning these stories in ph ysics with our current and future students can create a better world.\n\nh ttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6739/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6739/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AN ANALYSIS OF PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS P HYSICS LEARNING POST-INTERVENTION WITH VIRTUAL LABORATORY SIMULATIONS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6740@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mafor Penn (University of Johannesburg)\nThis paper reports the preliminary findings of a wider study targeted at assessing th e affordances of virtual and augmented reality in Physical sciences learni ng. In this preliminary study\, we assess pre-service teachers’ attitude s towards the use of virtual laboratories for learning of physics concepts . The study followed a sequential mixed-method design. In the first phase\ , a quantitative approach was employed in a survey design to assess pre-se rvice teacher attitudes towards physics learning. Pre- and post- test was done using an adapted Physics Attitude Scale (PAS) questionnaire before an d after an intervention with virtual laboratory simulations. In the second phase\, semi-structured interviews were used to elicit elaborations on th e use of virtual simulations for physics learning. Fifty third year pre-se rvice teachers’ were randomly selected to participate in the attitude su rvey after which Phet virtual laboratory simulations where used by the gro up in learning Faraday’s law (magnetic fields and magnets)\, collisions\ , momentum and velocity. Findings revealed significant differences in pre- service teachers’ attitude scores post intervention with virtual simulat ions. That is\, result from paired sample t-test revealed a significant di fference in preservice teachers’ attitudes (t(49) = 17.429\, p < .01) wi th the mean post-test attitude score (M = 84.04\, SD = 5.345) being signif icantly higher than the mean pre-test attitude scores (M = 58.42\, SD = 14 .444). Semi-structured interviews further revealed that\, the pre-service teachers found the use of simulation as a useful alternative for understan ding abstract physics concepts. The pre-service teachers elaborated that\, the aspect of repetition possible with the Phet simulations\, made physic s learning more interesting. Another aspect highlighted was the accessibil ity to simulations from anywhere and anytime\, which facilitated learning during spare times. However\, pre-service teachers noted that the simulati ons could not replace the experiences in an authentic situation. The impli cations of these findings for teaching practice are that\, virtual simulat ions can be seen as supporting tool for learning physics concepts. The may not be able to replace hands-on authentic learning experiences\, but can be used to complement the learning of abstract physics concepts. We recomm end further research and larger scale studies on the epistemological posit ions\, on the affordances of virtual laboratory simulations in science tea ching and learning.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6 740/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6740/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MASTERCLASSES HA NDS ON PARTICLE PHYSICS ON THE SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS OF PHYSICS TEACHERS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T095000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T101000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6741@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rodrigo Araujo (Programa de Pós-graduação Interun idades em Ensino de Ciências- USP)\nThe insertion of Modern and Contempor ary Physics (MCP) topics in the high school physics curriculum has been di scussed for approximately two decades in Brazil and it is already possible to observe the inclusion of some of these topics in the curricula adopted by some schools. In accordance with the guidelines contained in the Natio nal Curricular Parameters for High School (PCNEM) and the complement to th is document (PCN +)\, the official curriculum of the state of São Paulo i ncludes the study of elementary particles and other MCP topics among the s ubjects to be taught in Physics classes. However\, researches shows that m ost physics teachers are still not addressing these topics in their classe s. Teachers argue that\, among other obstacles\, they lack the knowledge t o do so and\, even those with some knowledge about these topics say they d o not feel confident to teach them. In this study\, we consider that one o f the variables that may influence teachers' decision to accept or not the challenge of promoting innovations in teaching is their self-efficacy bel iefs\, that is\, the subjects' beliefs about their ability to perform a gi ven action in a satisfactory way\, regardless of the outcome of that actio n. These beliefs gain importance as subjects try to avoid situations that cause them frustrations\, and therefore\, unless they believe they can per form a task satisfactorily\, they have little or no incentive to invest ti me and energy on it. In this sense\, this study aimed to analyze the influ ence of the participation of Physics teachers in a scientific outreach eve nt – the International Masterclasses Hands on Particle Physics\, or simp ly Masterclass – and in a workshop on particle physics – a related eve nt – on their self-efficacy beliefs\, aiming at the teaching of elementa ry particle physics in high school. To accomplish this objective\, we cond ucted semi-structured interviews with two teachers who had already attende d the Masterclass and the workshop\, both organized by the São Paulo Rese arch and Analysis Center (SPRACE). Based on these interviews\, we elaborat ed narratives about these teachers’ histories and conducted an analysis to characterize their self-efficacy beliefs and the meanings attributed by them to the participation in both events. The analysis revealed that both teachers had high levels of self-efficacy beliefs and attributed educatio nal\, instrumental and motivational meanings to the participation in these events. Given that several aspects of teacher education (such as content learning and the theoretical assumptions in which this education relies) a nd the availability of pedagogical resources (like learning activities\, e xperiments and examples to contextualize the content) can influence teach ers' self-efficacy beliefs\, this analysis has led us to conclude that att ending such events has the potential to affect teachers' self-efficacy bel iefs\, influencing their decisions about whether accept or not the challen ge of promoting curricular innovations\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event /93/contributions/6741/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6741/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Preservice teacher’s understanding of the concept of acceleratio n DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T160000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T162000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6753@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mphiriseni Khwanda (University of Johannesburg)\nCha llenges in the teaching and learning of physics existed as far as educatio n existed worldwide. During the period\, various approaches were continuou sly suggested and implemented but the learning gains were always disappoin ting\, and physics was labelled as a difficult subject for the chosen few and that idea encouraged instructors accept high failure rate in physics a s normal. Departing form that belief that physics is for the chosen few. T he current study explored how pre-service teachers understand the concept of acceleration. Google form was initially used to collect data that infor med the instructor about students’ prior understanding of the concept of acceleration. Data collected were used to determine if acceleration is al so threshold concept. Threshold concepts open productive ways of thinking in a domain and are troublesome in nature. Troublesome knowledge is said t o be knowledge that is “alien\, or counter-intuitive or even intellectua lly absurd at face value”. Learning can be blocked if learners are exper iencing difficulties in grasping a certain threshold concept. Threshold co ncepts were rationally classified into liminal states. The aim of this pap er was to: \n\n1. Explore if acceleration is a threshold concept and\,\ n2. Categorize pre-service students’ knowledge of acceleration in ter ms of liminal states\n\nKeywords: Preservice teachers\, acceleration\, thr eshold concepts and troublesome knowledge\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/ev ent/93/contributions/6753/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6753/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Multiple choice question responses: beyond just right or wrong DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6742@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Hilary Masenda (School of Physics\, University of th e Witwatersrand)\nMultiple choice questions (MCQs) are a tempting alternat ive to constructed response questions\, especially when large numbers of s tudents are being examined\, because of their potential to save labour dur ing marking [1]. However\, one major criticism of the MCQ is that it lack s a mechanism to award ‘partial marks’. Moreover\, it is limited in it s ability to assess understanding\, or the candidate’s ability to produc e anything.\n \nThe candidate who chooses a partly correct answer is indi stinguishable from an entirely incorrect choice\, yet these are usually aw arded the same marks in most MCQ-based examinations – i.e. zero. There exists a way to award different marks to each option in an MCQ\, depending on the seriousness of the error resulting from the choice. Alternative o ptions are distractors intentionally designed to follow logically from an anticipated error\, which makes it possible to award a different mark to e ach distractor according to the magnitude and/or importance of the error c oncerned. The magnitude and/or importance of error is linked to the questi on of whether the mistake is one of principle\, procedure\, execution or c ommunication.\n\nThe feasibility of doing this depends on the practicaliti es of marking – it is possible to do it manually\, although the extra la bour almost defeats the purpose of using MCQ as an assessment method. Com puter-based systems need to be more sophisticated than the norm if they ar e to cope with the demand presented here.\n\nIn the School of Physics at W its\, the assessment of MCQ responses is being evaluated using a marking p rogramme developed by one of our co-authors\, which allows the execution o f MCQ examinations as described above. A number of examples will be demon strated and discussed.\n\nReferences\n\n[1] Dufresne et al.\, The Physics Teacher\, 40 (2002) 174.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributi ons/6742/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6742/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Making Physics Relevant: Getting teachers to look beyond the Physi cs that they teach DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T152000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T154000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6743@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Emmanuel Mushayikwa (University of the Witwatersrand )\nAmid the information and technology revolution (aka 4th industrial revo lution) many researchers have bemoaned the apparent decline in interest in the natural sciences (especially Physics) exhibited by high school studen ts in many developed and developing countries. Researchers have attributed this decline to the growing alienation between Physics and everyday livin g. In developing countries Physics is seen as the preserve of the intellec tually elite\, and many “average“ students shun it because of its perc eived complexity as well as its irrelevance to meeting the needs of daily living. In developed countries many researchers similarly report a marked decline in the popularity of Physics despite the fact that these communiti es are awash with Physics-driven technological innovations.\nThis study se eks to rekindle public understanding and interest in Physics by highlighti ng the relevance of Physics applications in everyday living. The study foc uses on how Physical Sciences teachers could be exposed to the real life a pplications of the Physics that they teach\, and how these physics princip les influence their physical and psychological experiences. If teachers ca n be inspired\, motivated and convinced of the relevance of Physics in eve ryday living\, they can in turn motivate their learners to enjoy Physics a nd this could stem the tide of dis-interest in the natural sciences. For d eveloping countries\, increased interest in science could result in a wide r human resource base available to spearhead the country into the 4th indu strial revolution.\nThe presentation discusses the strategies used to garn er interest among physical sciences student teachers and the reflections o f these teachers after the intervention.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/eve nt/93/contributions/6743/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6743/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An investigation of the effectiveness of using analogies to develo p a robust understanding of direct current (DC) electric circuits in first -year university students DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6744@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Collin Bacela (Nelson Mandela Univeristy)\nThe effec tiveness of using a teaching strategy\, based on analogies for direct curr ent electric circuits\, to attempt to address first-year underprepared uni versity students was investigated. The study consisted of 53 participants drawn from the faculty of health sciences at Nelson Mandela University. A quantitative research design was adopted using the “Determining and Inte rpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test” (DIRECT) version 1.2 as a research instrument. The DIRECT is a 29-item multiple-choice test wi th only one correct answer in each question. The DIRECT was modified to fu rther probe students’ confidence levels in their answers. The instrument served as a pre-test prior to the start of the formal lessons on direct c urrent electric circuits. At the end of a five-week treatment period\, the same instrument was administered to all participants as a post-test. The statistical analysis and interpretation of the pre-and posttest data were conducted using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 and STATISTICA version 12. In answering the main research question (Can a mis conception-based module\, using analogies\, positively influence academica lly underprepared first-year physics students’ conceptual understanding of direct current (DC) electrical circuits?) and sub-questions thereof\, t he students’ mean scores between the pre-and posttest were calculate and compared using t-test at a significant level of 0.05. The results reveale d a statistically significant difference between the pre-and posttest mean scores. The pre-test mean score was 22.24 with a standard deviation of 8. 07. The posttest mean score was 38.68 with a standard deviation of 13.93. The mean score difference between the posttest and pretest was 16.44 with a standard deviation of 13.82 at p-value less than 0.05. The results from the pre-test suggest that students held very strong alternative conception s on direct current electric circuits. The post-test results also revealed that some alternative conceptions were still held onto after the interven tion. There were no statistical significant difference found between the s tudents’ correct answers and their confidence levels. The quantitative a nalysis of the results suggested that there is a positive change between t he post-test mean score and pre-test mean score and this change is statist ically significant (p < 0.05). The results showed efficient evidence to co nclude that analogies-based teaching strategy was an effective means of re ducing the number of alternative conceptions the students held about direc t current electric circuits. The study recommended the need to ascertain o ut what the students felt about the improvement of their understanding of direct current electric circuits concepts. The study suggested qualitative research methodology as an area for future research.\n\nKeywords: Analogi es\, Alternative conceptions\, Direct Current Electric Circuits.\n\nhttps: //events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6744/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6744/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:APPRAISAL OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGIC AL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6745@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Hassan Junaidu Mustapha (Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Univ ersity Bauchi Nigeria)\nABSTRACT\nThe study was designed to appraise the s enior secondary school physics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge ( PCK). It also determined the relationships between the level of the teache rs' PCK and their students' understanding of physics\; and the students' p erception of their teachers and their understanding of physics. The study employed a survey and classroom observation for data collection\, using st udents' perception of teachers questionnaire\; Physics Teaching Observatio n Scale (PTOS) and Physics Achievement Test (PAT). Descriptive statistics i.e. mean and standard deviation\, was used to analyze the level of posses sion of physics teachers' PCK. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coeffici ent was used to measure the relationship between teachers’ level of PCK and students’ understanding of physics\, and students' Perception of the ir teachers and their understanding of physical . Emphasis was placed on two levels of PCK: Knowledge of the subject matter and knowledge of instru ctional strategies for teaching physics. A sample of sixty students and th ree teachers were involved in the study. Findings revealed that the teache rs possessed low level of PCK of physics\, and there is a significant rela tionship between the teachers’ level of PCK and students’ understandin g of physics\, and students’ perception of their teachers and their unde rstanding of physics. Among others it was recommended that opportunities s hould be provided for both pre service and in service teachers to enhance their PCK through courses and other professional development programs that specifically improve a teacher's content knowledge as well as pedagogical knowledge of physics.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribution s/6745/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6745/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SCHOOL CONTEXT AND ITS RELATIONS TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ DISCOU RSE ABOUT PHYSICS CLASS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154700Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154800Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6746@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: FERNANDA BOZELLI (UNESP/FEIS)\nThis research aimed t o investigate high school students’ discourse about Physics class and it s relations to the school context. To achieve our purpose\, we invited stu dents from a public state high school of the countryside of São Paulo sta te\, Brazil\, to participate of debate groups on the theme “Physics clas s”. We organized three meetings with different groups\, one with freshme n students and two with seniors. The meetings took place in a special room in the facilities of a public university of the same town. We recorded th e meetings in audio and then transcribed them for the process of analysis for which we used the referential of French Discourse Analysis initiated b y Michel Pêcheux. We interpreted that the meanings about physics classes in the students' discourses are greatly influenced by some factors of the school context: (a) low quantity of weekly Physics classes provided to the students\, which are only two per week\, and this number is even lower wh en school events or holidays happen on the days on which the classes were supposed to happen\; (b) heavy workload for teachers\; (c) insufficiency o f number of teachers\; (d) lack of teachers graduated in Physics\; (e) man y open classes or classes with substitutes whom do not have sufficient kno wledge and practice to provide a Physics classes with quality\; (f) the ob ligation on teachers to comply with requirements from superiors\, such as the obligation to use certain text-books in class\, to apply specific type s of tests and to cover an amount of subjects with students in a short per iod of time\; (g) among other reasons\, problems in the educational and cu ltural Brazilian system do not afford good work conditions and salaries to the teachers\, whom end up been unhappy about their jobs or even changing to other occupations. As a matter of fact\, many students go through the entire high school process with meanings of Physics class that are negativ ely affected by these conditions. As we noted in the literature and in our research\, the majority of students graduates from high school believing that Physics class is the same thing as Math class\, that Physics class on ly requires memorization of formulas and equations and do not afford meani ngful discussions in class. We also consider that teachers cannot take all the blame as they are as victims of the educational system as much as the students are. Thus\, in an optimistic way\, not only we expect that this paper can contribute to reflections about the quality of physics classes t hat are being offered to young people\, but also\, that our discussions ma y draw attention from researchers and politicians to think about the quali ty of the educational system of their countries.\n\nhttps://events.saip.or g.za/event/93/contributions/6746/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6746/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PHYSICS LITERACY THE MISSING LINK TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN KE NYA DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T101000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6747@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Josephat Kariru Kigo (Lecturer Kenya Methodist Unive rsity)\nDr. Kigo J. Kariru\nKenya Methodist University\nEmail: kakmg2016@g mail.com\nProf. Mark Okere – Egerton University\nEmail: okeremark836@yah oo.com\nDr. Christopher Maghanga – Kabarak University\nEmail: cmaghanga@ kabarak.ac.ke\n\nABSTRACT\nPhysics research is known to unlock mysteries o f the Universe and the world we live in. Many innovations and discoveries are enabled by understanding concepts in physics. The great achievements o f world physists have not inspired many youths to enrolling for physics at secondary level or at courses requiring physics as core in tertiary insti tutions. A very big working and adult population is not literate in physic s and this leads to under achievement of the many challenges of our times e.g. sustainable sources of future energy\, understanding our changing cli mate and global food security\, managing technologies used daily e.g. comp uters\, smartphones\, and GPS devices and sustaining quality lives for exa mple in healthcare and treatment of diseases like cancer. A population tha t is not physics literate may not cope with demands and sustainability of space industry\, liquid-crystal displays\, optic fibers\, cancer treatment \, energy efficiency\, data storage and detecting of explosives and pollut ants among the many challenges of our time. Many reasons ranging from the quality of teachers to low motivation among the learners as well as poor t eaching methods have been identified for apathy shown in the enrolment of physics at all levels. This paper aim at bringing out what needs to be don e to produce a literate society in physics for sustainability of critical development in Kenya.\nKey Words: Physics Literacy\, Sustainable Developme nt\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6747/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6747/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PROBING INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY STUDENTS' NOTIONS OF RELATIVE SIZE AND DISTANCE OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS. PART I DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6748@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Tshiamiso Makwela (Department of Astronomy\, Univers ity of Cape Town\, Rondebosch\, South Africa\, 7701)\nAs part of ongoing e fforts to improve teaching in astronomy an instrument\, the Introductory A stronomy Questionnaire (IAQ) was developed at the University of Town (Rajp aul et al. 2014)⁠. The IAQ covered a wide range of topics that are usual ly covered in an introductory astronomy course and was first administered to a cohort of students who had enrolled for such a course as a pre- and p ost-test. The IAQ was subsequently translated into Norwegian\, (NIAQ)\, wh ich investigated pre-service science teachers and middle school students ( Lindstrøm et al. 2015\, 2016)⁠⁠. Despite the differences between the cultural contexts of the two studies\, both studies yielded similar resul ts in terms of students’ views of astronomy. What stood out most was the fact that understanding of distances and sizes were equally poor across c ontexts. The present study\, focuses on these two aspects which are key to students’ being able to engage meaningfully with astronomy as a discipl ine.\n\nTo this end we modified the IAQ (hitherto IAQ_R) with regard to th e questions that involves ranking 1) celestial objects (galaxy\, planet\, star\, universe\, solar system\, and sun) by size and 2) similar objects ( centre of the Milky Way\, edge of the observable universe\, edge of the So lar System\, the Moon\, the Sun\, Alpha Centauri\, the ozone layer\, centr e of the Earth\, Neptune) by distance from the Earth. The modifications in clude the omission of the asteroid belt in the distance ranking\, the swap ping of Polaris for ‘the nearest star to the sun (Alpha Centauri)’ and the addition of ‘star’ in the size ranking. Most importantly we added in the facility for respondents to set objects equal (=) to each other in the size ranking. The original IAQ only allows for ‘’ comparisons. Al lowing students to set size of objects equal to each other permits many mo re response combinations. (The same responses could in principle be elici ted as per the NIAQ\, but the extra possibility and additional object pote ntially prime different cognitive resources). This present study seeks to accomplish two things: 1) to see to what extent the present study can repl icate the results from the previous studies and 2) to set the ground-work for future qualitative analysis and intervention methods focusing on size and distance visualization in astronomy education.\n\nThe modified IAQ (IA Q_R) only focuses on questions pertaining to size and distance of celestia l bodies. The IAQ_R was administered to a comparable cohort of students at the University of Cape Town who were taking the Introductory Astronomy co urse. The IAQ_R was administered during the first lecture\, in order to pr obe students’ pre-instruction understanding of the ranking tasks. The ac companying paper\, Part II (Sivitilli et al.\,) details the analysis\, re sults and a possible interpretive framework.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za /event/93/contributions/6748/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6748/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:IMAGINARY FORMATIONS OF TEACHERS OF THE INITIAL YEARS OF ELEMENTAR Y EDUCATION ON PHYSICS AND THEIR TEACHING IN A CONTINUED TRAINING PROGRAM DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6749@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: SORANDRA CORREA DE LIMA (Federal University of Uberl ândia)\nWe present here part of a research outcomes that was carried out in a public school\, through a partnership with the university\, which was willing to advise teachers of the initial years of elementary education\, acting in the first and second cycles\, in matters related to the teachin g of Sciences\, particularly physics. The design of the program was determ ined through the "imaginary formations" presented by the teachers during t he realization of an Initial Focus Group (IFG)\, which allowed to ascertai n the teachers' training needs\, conceptions and desires related to Physic s and Science Teaching. The study had as theoretical-methodological refere nce notions of Discourse Analysis in the French line. The main imaginary f ormations detected related to Science Teaching in the context of the cours e were: "experiment draws attention of the student and breaks the routine of the common classes"\; "Themes of Science related to the Universe are at tractive for the student"\; "The advice of a specialist in the area has he lped a lot"\; "Unlike a lecture given when a specialist shows up at school ." In addition\, the IFG allowed us to verify imaginary formations present in the teachers' discourses\, full of discrepancy between what the Curric ulum of Sciences proposes in the initial and final cycles of the initial y ears of elementary education in the State of Minas Gerais and how teachers understand it for the preparation of lesson plans. Regarding the "imagina ry formations" of teachers related to science\, we found at the beginning and at the end of the program that aspects of an empirical-inductive visio n prevailed (the role of observation and experimentation are highlighted)\ , a rigid view of scientific activity scientific method is considered as a set of steps to be followed). And we understand that there were signs of "imaginary formations" of science as the work of geniuses\, but scientists do not have to live "isolated" from the world\, for they are ordinary peo ple\, like a teacher\, and research phenomena that do not necessarily have to be investigated in the laboratory. In addition\, we realize at the end of the process that the teachers of the sample show that there is evidenc e of a constant reconstruction of Science.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/e vent/93/contributions/6749/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6749/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SENSOR SCILAB 3.0: STUDENTS UPGRADE A PHYSICS LAB USING NEW TECHNO LOGIES DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T095000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T101000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6750@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: MARIA ROSARIA DEL SORBO (IS "LEONARDO DA VINCI")\nSt udent labs of scientific disciplines\, in educational practices\, aims to build knowledge through recursive reshaping of concepts in a repeated appr oximation to correct and complete competences of learners. Students\, unde r teacher’s supervision\, foresee and plan a path of investigation\, ref lect and make choices\, design models and hypotheses and verify them accor ding to collected and processed data\, observe unexpected phenomena and mo dify initial models of the reality [1].\n'Sensors Sci.Lab 3.0' is an ongoi ng project aiming at using the most innovative technologies to help studen ts to realize a complete makeover of the scientific laboratory's instrumen ts.\nThis can be considered as an instance of a project-based learning edu cational experience [2]\, where students are encouraged to pursue medium-t erm objectives with concrete solutions of authentic problems. This approac h\, combined with action research\, allows students to learn how to manage complexity\, interdisciplinarity and teamwork more practically\, thus fos tering their training in order to support their ability to overcome future challenges.\nThe main idea of the project is to provide scientific labora tory with equipment\, based on microprocessor boards [3]\,[4] and sensors\ , assembled and programmed by second\, third and fourth years’ students of a Scientific High school under the supervision of expert teachers.\nSci entific curricula would be deeply updated both in instruments\, extremely flexible and suitable to inspire and develop new experimental ideas\, and in methodology completely different from teaching approaches based on lect ures and passive memorization of formulas. This experience can motovate s tudents to exploit new technologies to perform their tasks more easily [5] . In particular\, the Web\, full of tutorials and multimedia contents\, ca n support students in analysis and also push them to conceive and compare alternative solutions\, to communicate and present their ideas and project s more effectively.\nMore in details the basic steps which make up the pro ject are the following:\n1. Analysis of tools available in the laborato ry\;\n2. Training in the operation of the programmable cards with micro controllers and microprocessors\;\n3. Division into working groups for the study of different branches of Phyics\;\n4. Design and identificati on of the most suitable devices and technique to realize experimental setu ps\;\n5. Realization of accurate multimedia documentation for the execu tion of experiments with the various devices.\n6. Organization of demon stration events on stage to spread the practice of lab equipment and to en gage the entire school population\;\n7. Share all materials developed o ver time in a cloud platform.\n8. Measure and evaluate the impact of th e project on students and teachers.\n\nReferences \n[1] M. J. Prince et al.\, “Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions\, Compariso ns\, and Research Bases”\, Journal of Engineering Education 95 (2)\, 1 23-138 (2006).\n[2] F. Bouquet and J. Bobroff D. Project-based physics labs using low-cost open-source hardware\, American Journal of Physics\, 85\, 216 (2017)\; \n[3] https://www.raspberrypi.org/\n[4] https://w ww.arduino.cc/\n[5] C. A. Petry et al.\, "Project teaching beyond Physi cs: Integrating Arduino to the laboratory\," 2016 Technologies Applied to Electronics Teaching (TAEE)\, Seville\, 2016\, pp. 1-6.\n\nhttps://events. saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6750/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6750/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR BASIC PHYSICS CONCEPTS: LEARNING AND T HINKING FROM NEURODEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6751@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nageswar Rao Chekuri (Woodbury University)\nDuring s tructured actions on an event in physical-sociocultural (PSC) environments \, peripheral neurosensors capture patterns and changes in variety of PSC- environmental energies and convert into electric signals. These signals tr avel through specified neural paths to various brain areas where they pers istently fire neighboring neurons to form neural circuits by synapsing wit h them. A neuron “persistently firing” to synapse with the other neuro ns is called neural learning\, which follows specific rules. The persisten t firing depends upon the level of neurotransmitters\, which are responsib le for emotions. The paper draws an analogy between the neural and electri c circuits.\nThe earliest synaptic connections are found around 5 weeks an d simple neural circuits are observed between 18-22 weeks of gestation age . After formation\, the neural circuits continue to modify owing to furthe r relevant sensory experiences. The biochemical traces the signals leave i n the circuits during the formation and their modification is storage of l earning\, which is memory. \nStructured relations are associated in real t ime emotional context to the active neural circuits through a self-regulat ing\, holistic “structured” process that reaches a level of equilibrat ion with its environment\, and does not further undergo genetic change. Th e “structure” and its development are the result of probabilistic epig enetic process triggered by the environmental affordances for the purpose of survival. We begin learning to associate since birth and continue there after throughout lifetime. These associations lead to uni-and multimodal-a ssociated learning. The structured process\, which is called "thought proc ess\," transforms external structured actions into a particular kind of in ternal structured relations\, which are "thoughts" and these are internal representations of the events. Such thoughts are expressed using semiotics \, which include meanings and feelings. The thought process\, which is lea rnt\, and the thoughts continue to undergo nonlinear developmental changes owing to the new associations to the continuously modifying neural circui ts that result from further relevant sensory experiences. The new thoughts thus generated are hierarchically more complex than the previous ones. \n This paper utilizes Fischer’s Developmental Model to explain how simpler thoughts transform into complex thoughts\, including how the thought proc esses also undergo developmental changes. \nUsing the Fischer’s model\, this paper analyzes basic physics concepts to classify them into a hierarc hically complex classification scheme. The paper proposes a mechanism for how a physics concept is associated to a set of patterns in the informatio n that corresponds to the patterns in the event\, and how simpler concepts develop into more complex concepts. Furthermore\, it explains what transf ormation rule develops a set of simpler concepts into a particular complex concept\, and how the “newly” developed complex concepts relate to th e “prior” simpler concepts\, as well as how to identify the sets of re quired patterns from vast database of information in order to associate a concept. The paper argues that this classification helps develop student s kills to learn how to develop complex physics concepts from simple concept s as well as how to help students to identify sets of required patterns fr om the sensory information to associate with a concept.\n\nhttps://events. saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6751/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6751/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Enabing Astronomy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152800Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152900Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6752@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: MIchael Gastro (Human Sciences Research Council)\, W anda Diaz Merced (Office of Astronomy for Development)\nGlobally the perce ntage of disabled and impaired learners completing school is suboptimal wh en compared to abled peers. School incompletion detains the progress to H igher Education and in many cases to longer term contributions to the econ omy once in the work-field. The situation worse in the natural and branc hing sciences specially if heavily based on mathematics or visualisations like physics and astronomy. In this abstract we present a project carri ed by the Office of Astronomy for Development and the Human Science Resear ch Council\, seeking to assess the effect of access on equal participatio n and progress into all the process of the natural sciences. In this pos ter we will propose measurement tools\, the framework\, work carried at t he Athlone School where we use astronomy to elicit the interest of the le arners and provide a baseline experience for the development of skills and progress into the field.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribut ions/6752/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6752/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Construction of a Community of Practice in Undergraduate Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6754@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Antonia Candela (Center of Research and Advanced Stu dies\, México)\nThis presentation is ethnography of physics lessons at th e University in order to analyze how the social interaction among teachers and students construct a community of practice (Lave & Wenger\, 1991). Th e work is grounded in Sociology of Scientific Knowledge perspective (Gilbe rt & Mulkay\, 1992) that studies how physicists make sense of their practi ces in their own voices (teaching physics\, in this case)\, developing sci ence as a social construction (with their students). I take practice as a mutual compromise in action and learning as participation in social practi ces (Lave\, 2011). A discourse analysis of extracts of three physics teach ers’ lessons to the same generation of students is done. The analysis sh ows how they communicate the historical construction of the purpose of phy sics as a discipline that tries to understand the natural phenomena\, givi ng special importance to the historical context. The teachers make especia l emphasis in the personal attributions (a little bit of vanity\, fall in love with the research topics\, thinking about them day and night\, being perseverant) the physicists have to develop in order to be successful. Oth er results deal with the construction of possible futures for students ope ning expectations for their trajectories. It is also shown how these teach ers explain students some features of everyday job at the discipline as it s complexities\, and the mutual compromise and responsibility among physic ist sharing task that cannot be solved individually. Some final reflection s emphasized on the shared repertoires that the teachers communicate to th e students about what constitutes the disciplinary practices. This work al so presents examples of students work in studding groups that show their a ppropriation of some of those practices. The community of practice is then constructed as an identity place that provide shared trajectories. This w ork represents an example of how even expositive lessons centered in the t eachers discourse (Rogoff\, Matusov & White\, 1995) can develop a communit y of learning when they work with dialogic discourse (Bakhtin\, 1982) of t he teachers.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6754/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6754/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Challenges and solutions for quality STEM education in eastern Con go DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6755@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Othy Kasereka Vitswamba (Université Chrétienne Bil ingue du Congo)\nThere are a number of challenges for proving a strong uni versity education in D.R.Congo. Academia in DRC suffers from a lack of qua lified teachers in STEM and access to information is very limited since th e internet is both costly and unreliable. In addition\, students come from secondary schools with very limited study skills and weak problem-solving skills. Targeting the real cause of these problems is not straightforward due to the chronic conflicts and violence which have created insecurity a nd have had negative effects on the population. At our university\, we are building strategies to produce conscientious capable graduates despite th e challenges mentioned above. Graduates from our program finish with stron g academic skills\, new mind sets\, and they strive to transform the count ry through creative and innovative technological solutions. Yet we are sti ll looking to improve. We are in process of implementing new pedagogical s trategies by utilizing some our best alumni as teaching assistants and by applying active learning methodologies such as flipped classroom\, incorpo rating reading and writing in the physics classroom\, and a philosophy of learn a little and apply a lot to foster self-learning through creativity and innovation. Because we still have a limited access to laboratory mater ials\, we are actively investigating digital tools that could be used to e nable students to have hands on experience in the physics classroom. We ar e in the midst of developing a renewable energy research lab to provide st udents the opportunity to learn through solving real problems that are hig hly relevant to their context. Through some of our new strategies\, we are seeing more and more educated innovators and young long life learners who strive to find solutions and make Congo a better place to live.\n\nhttps: //events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6755/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6755/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Choice of representations in the crafting of university physics te aching practice DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T095000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6756@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Cedric Linder (Uppsala University and University of the Western Cape)\nThis case study looks at reflective dialogue about the choice of disciplinary representations* in relation to the crafting of tea ching practice that is skilful\, knowledgeable\, and conceptually based. T he data (n=15) comes from a purposeful sample of teachers drawn from Swede n\, South Africa\, Germany\, Canada and the United States who are responsi ble for introductory level classes in physics at their respective universi ties. The analysis involves the construction of qualitatively different ca tegories that characterise how physics teachers are guided in their choice of disciplinary representations for the crafting of their teaching practi ces. These categories are epistemically anchored in teaching and learning pragmatism\, personal experience of learning\, disciplinary teaching style \, and learning benefits of using multiple semiotic systems (multimodality ). Discussion is centred on thinking about how semiotic systems may be use d to optimize the possibility of learning.\n\n*For the purposes of this st udy disciplinary representations are taken to be the collection of semioti c systems (modalities) that constitute the physics classroom communication that is used for sharing physics knowledge and practices. Examples of the se semiotic systems for physics education are written language\, spoken la nguage\, three-dimensional models\, pictures\, graphs\, diagrams\, mathema tical formulae\, and gestures.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/cont ributions/6756/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6756/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The ψ(1S) and ψ(2S) Mesons in a Double Pole QCD Sum Rule DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152700Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152800Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6757@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mikael Maior de Sousa (Universidade Federal de Rorai ma)\nIn 1977\, Shifman\, Vainshtein\, Zakharov\, Novikov\, Okun and Volosh in created the successful method of QCD sum rules (QCDSR)\, which is widel y used nowadays. With this method\, we can calculate many hadron parameter s such as: mass of the hadron\, decay constant\, coupling constant and for m factors in terms of the QCD parameters as for example: quark masses\, th e strong coupling and nonperturbative parameters like quark condensate and gluon condensate. The main point of this method is that the quantum numbe rs and content of quarks in hadron are represented by an interpolating cur rent\, where the correlation function of this current is introduced in the framework of the operator product expansion (OPE). To determine the mass and the decay constant of the ground state of the hadron\, we use the two- point correlation function. On the QCD side\, the correlation function can be written in terms of a dispersion relation and on the phenomenological side can be written in terms of the ground state and several excited state s. The usual QCDSR method uses an ansatz that the phenomenological spectra l density can be represented by a form pole plus continuum\, where it is a ssumed that the phenomenological and QCD spectral density coincides with e ach other above the continuum threshold. In this work we use the method of double pole QCD sum rule\, which is basically a fit with two exponentials of the correlation function\, where we can extract the mass and decay con stant of mesons as a function of the Borel mass. We apply this method to s tudy the mesons: ψ(1S) and ψ(2S).\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93 /contributions/6757/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6757/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:From Helicopter to Lighthouse: The experiences of a lecturer in eq uipping first year university physics students to move away from ‘answer making’ towards ‘sense making’ DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6758@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jennifer Williams (Rhodes University)\nAs the South African universities become more inclusive and the number of students ente ring increases\, the range of backgrounds of these students is also broade ning. The physics departments have noticed that students are ‘not well p repared’ for university studies (SAIP & CHE\, 2013). The physics departm ents realised that while there are many people engaged in trying to improv e the school system\, things will not change anytime soon and that we must commit to teaching the students ‘we have and not the ones we wish we ha d’. This paper explores the experiences of an undergraduate physics lect urer as she tries to equip students who enter university as ‘answer make rs’ to move towards leaving as ‘sense makers’. While the lecturer c oncerned is speaking about her experiences with reference to lecturing fir st year university physics\, the pedagogical approach employed and the und erlying teaching philosophy transfer easily to high school physics.\n\nThi s approach is built on Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal develo pment complemented with Bruner’s concept of scaffolding. In addition\, we acknowledge the importance of the theories of epistomological access (B oughey\, 2005) to increasing the success of students at university in gene ral and at physics in particular. We try to do this by enabling students t o think about their learning in a metacognitive way by being explicit not only about the content of the curriculum but also about the learning actio ns that we expect from them and the cross-curricular skills that we are tr ying to help them to develop (Ellery\, 2016).\n\nThe challenge faced by th e lecturer in these case studies is to engineer the learning environment s o that sense-making is encouraged over answer-making. We desire students t o realise early on that many of the learning methods which they are used t o employing need to be changed. As lecturers we realise that we cannot jus t expect students to realise this on their own but that we need to scaffol d the process so that students do not become discouraged by repeated failu re (Scott\, 2009). If we are serious about “equal access for all” then we as educators need to seriously consider our pedagogy so that there is also an equal chance of success for all without compromising our exit stan dards.\n\nC. Boughey (2005) ‘Epistemological’ access to the university : an alternative perspective. South African Journal of Higher Education\ , 19(3) 230–242.\n\nK. Ellery (2016) Epistemological access in a science foundation course: A social realist perspective\, (Unpublished doctoral d issertation). Rhodes University\, South Africa.\n\nSAIP\, & CHE. (2013) Re view of Undergraduate Physics Education in Public Higher Education Institu tions (Tech. Rep. No. June). Pretoria: SAIP\, CHE.\n\nScott\, I. (2009). F irst-year experience as terrain of failure or platform for development? Cr itical choices for Higher Education. In B. Leibowitz\, A. van der Merwe\, & S. van Schalkwyk (Eds.)\, Focus on first-year success: Perspectives emer ging from South Africa and beyond (pp. 17– 35). SUN Media.\n\nhttps://ev ents.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6758/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6758/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An evaluation of student’s understanding of DC circuit concepts through students’ written explanations DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154600Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6759@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mphiriseni Khwanda (UJ)\nOne of the topics that is r egarded as challenging to learn for conceptual understanding by students f rom secondary to tertiary levels is simple electric circuits. The topic is said to be challenging to learn for qualitative understanding due to the presence of misconceptions brought by or derived from every day prior expe riences about the topic. In literature\, the word “misconception” is m ostly interchanged with alternative conceptions\, naïve conceptions etc. The results of various studies from different countries showed that studen ts have the same pattern of learning difficulties in understanding electri c circuits and ultimately pass their grade with vague or inconsistent unde rstanding of the topic.The use of multiple-choice concepts tests is common in probing students’ understanding of physics concepts but less has bee n done in probing students’ understanding of the concepts by using stude nts’ responses to explanation-type questions. However\, the study that d ealt with the analysis of explanation-type question to physics grade 12 ex amination scripts concluded that the analysis of the explanations written by students in exams “does offer researchers and teachers a reliable an d efficient way by which written student explanations can be probed for co nceptions”. Departing from the norm of using multiple-choice concept tes ts to probe students’ understanding of some concepts in DC circuits the current study used the scientific explanations to achieve the following tw o aims: \n(a) To explore pre-service students’ understanding basic D C concepts through their responses to written explanations. \n(b) The i mpact of using the explanation-type questions on diagnosing students’ mi sconceptions of DC circuits prior to formal instruction.\n\nhttps://events .saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6759/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6759/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Exploring Pre-Service Science Teachers Physics Pedagogical Orienta tions towards Their Own Classroom Teaching DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T160000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T162000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6760@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Aviwe Sondlo (University of Johannesburg)\nMost of t he South African universities attract their pre-service teachers’ cohort from previously disadvantaged schools\, either from the township or rural areas. This cohort of pre-service teachers lacks knowledge of science con tent due to their previous school conditions of limited resources such as science laboratories\, availability of science teachers\, large numbers of under-qualified physical science teachers and overcrowded classes. Again\ , teachers limited Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the subject they are t eaching plays a role in learner’s lack of science knowledge. At universi ty\, these pre-service teachers are expected to transform their teaching s tyles to accommodate inquiry-based learning and other teaching approaches that are often learner-centered. This can be done by either exposing them to reading materials\, observing each other teaching during micro-teaching \, watching recorded videos or creating lesson plans for assessment purpos es while they are not being exposed on different ways of teaching science topics for different contexts and including the elements of inquiry-based. A key dimension in science education is being investigated which is refer red to as teacher’s pedagogical orientations. Orientations are teachers ’ knowledge and beliefs about the purposes and goals of teaching science at a specific grade level. \nThe aim of this study was to explore pre-ser vice science teacher’s physics pedagogical orientations towards their ow n classroom teaching and identify factors that influence their orientation s. There are various classifications of pedagogical orientations in litera ture\, however\, based on research by Ramnarain and Schuster (2014) in Sou th Africa orientations were divided as follows\; direct approaches into (d irect didactic and direct interactive) and inquiry approach into (guided i nquiry and open inquiry). The pedagogy preferences of pre-service science teachers were measured using an instrument comprised of three items that p ortrayed an actual teaching scenario for physics concepts. The items had f our alternative teaching methods\; participants were expected to select th e most appropriate and the most inappropriate options and space was provid ed for them to justify their preferences. Therefore\, a mixed method appro ach was employed\, where a questionnaire was administered to all 2018 Bach elor of Education 4th year physical science students which they were 35 in total at a South African university. In the final year of study\, student s take a year module on the methodology of physical sciences teaching. One of the core themes is to enable students to understand the nature and sig nificance of physical sciences and then develop competencies necessary for successful and effective teaching in physical sciences.\nThe results reve aled that pre-service teacher’s preferences from the three items portray ed an actual teaching scenario for physics concepts were an inquiry approa ch\, which is aligned with the guided inquiry and open discovery. A small number of participants preferred teacher-centered teaching approach\; dire ct didactic. Apart from teacher’s knowledge\, factors such as the availa bility of resources\, class sizes were found to influence their pedagogies . This invokes the need to establish to what extent the preferred pedagogi cal orientation of pre-service teachers aligns with an inquiry-based pedag ogy.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6760/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6760/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CHANGES IN THE IMAGINARY OF FUTURE PHYSICS TEACHERS DURING THEIR I NITIAL TRAINING DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T152000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6761@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Roberto Nardi (State University of São Paulo - UNES P - Brazil)\nThe research presents a longitudinal study that sought to acc ompany a group of undergraduates students in Physics of a Brazilian Public University\, from the beginning until the conclusion of this program\, de signed to physics teachers and called physics ‘licenciatura’ in Brazil . It aims to understand how the imaginary of these future physics teachers changed during their initial formation and how the program contributed to their formation. The research data was collected using questionnaires\, a pplied at the beginning of each school year\, in certain disciplines of th e program. The theoretical foundation that supports the data analysis was the Discourse Analysis in its French approach.\nFour data collections were carried out during the last years (2014-2018). All questions were retaine d\, except in the first questionnaire\, where we are concerned to understa nd\, besides the questions that would serve as analysis\, the personal and student profile of each of these undergraduates. Initially\, forty-nine u ndergraduates participated in the first data collection\; in the second ye ar\, this number decreased to eleven undergraduates\; in the third data co llection\, just eight answered the survey\; in the last questionnaire only three undergraduates from the initial sample participated. At the end of the program\, only one of these students graduated within the expected tim e. Although it seems to us a very unusual data\, it corresponds to the pre vious research carried out by Kussuda (2012) that in his research was show ed the dropout of the course of Physics in the same University.\nThe resul ts of the analysis of the profile of these undergraduates and how their im aginaries were modified in relation to the questions that involve assessme nt\, the role of the teacher in the classroom and the skills that an exemp lary teacher must own were presented at some important events in the area. The only student who completed the graduation within the expected time\, studied his basic education in private school and the reflection of this e nvironment\, in the construction of his discourse\, is evident. In the fir st two years of the program\, the student makes various references and def ense to the traditional education model in his speech\, highlighting the a bility to treat didactic material as something fundamental for an exemplar y teacher\, in addition to starting the undergraduate program defending th e traditional model of learning assessment. During his graduation\, after studying different disciplines that approach this subject\, we perceive so me changes in the imaginary of this student\, where in the last year he co mes to understand the assessment as a continuous process.\nThe conditions of production of the discourses were the elements that made possible the c hange in the future Physics teachers’ imaginary. Just because the materi al conditions of discourse are directly linked to the institution\, langua ge and imaginary formations in which this student is inserted.\n\nhttps:// events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6761/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6761/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:RETOOLING PHYSICS INSTRUCTION THROUGH CONTEXT-BASED STRATEGY DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6762@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: FOLASHADE AFOLABI (Department of Sciene Education\, Distance Learning Institute\,University of Lagos\, Nigeria)\nPhysics is a science subject that has attracted the attention of researchers over the y ears due to low enrolment and poor achievement of students in the subject. One of the major focuses of Government reform in science education is ame nding the curriculum from teacher-centred to student-centred curriculum an d life-long learning. This is done for students to be able to relate what is learnt in the classroom to real life situation in order to make science most especially physics more relevant to students’ lives. This will en able students to develop thinking skills by connecting physics concept to real life situation in the society. This paper examined the perception of students in learning physics concepts through related encounters with real life situations\, living styles and day to day activities. The population of the study comprised of students and community members of Ifelodun Loca l Government Area in Kwara State. Data were collected both in the classroo m setting and among community members where students are living using ques tionnaire and oral interview. Findings from the study showed that students were not able to connect what they learnt from the classroom to their day to day activities and real life situation. Also\, it was discovered that physics concepts were used everyday in their activities but little could t hey explain the concepts. It was recommended that synergy should exist bet ween the curriculum in schools and the culture of the society for better u nderstanding of physics and for technological development of the society.\ n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6762/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6762/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:From the recovery of mathematical inadequacies to the development of transversal skills for physics students DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6763@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vera Montalbano (Department of Physical Sciences\, Earth and Environment\, University of Siena)\nReducing the drop-out rate between the first and second year during university studies through the in novation of teaching tools and methodologies has been the new action promo ted by a national project in recent years. As part of the interdisciplinar y coordination of the project's areas of Siena\, we conducted a survey amo ng the students of the scientific degree courses to identify the shortcomi ngs and difficulties encountered in the first years of the course and the perception that the students had of the usefulness of scientific skills in (mathematical\, physical and chemical tools) in the disciplines characte rizing the course of study. The outcome of this survey\, which began with sample interviews and ended with online questionnaires\, revealed the nee d to develop an innovative action to fill in the entry shortcomings and to immediately promote the development of transversal skills such as problem posing\, problem solving and the ability to model and argue in an interes ting context for students.\nThe concept of the contextualized laboratory s tems from a close collaboration between Physics and Mathematics teachers gained in interdisciplinary activities with the aim of designing and test ing with the students materials that promote the active learning both in r ecovering incoming mathematical skills and in developing new skills needed in scientific training. The activity is configured as an educational rese arch in order to identify the most effective tools which can be used in th e training of graduate tutors who can use it correctly and permanently in support activities for students.\nSince last year the survey on student ne eds ended well beyond the end of the first semester\, it was decided to st art a contextualized laboratory for the students of the degree course in p hysics in the second semester. The experimentation with the students was u nsuccessful but allowed us to identify the critical issues to be overcome. This year the workshop took place in the first half of the year and achie ved results well beyond the most optimistic expectations. The trial confi rmed the validity of the educational materials developed and it will allow the next year to move on to the active training of the tutors.\n\nhttps: //events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6763/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6763/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:THE “E3D+VET” ERASMUS+ PROJECT: INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN VET CENTRES THROUGH 3D PRINTING DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153300Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153400Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6765@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nicola Pizzolato (Istituto di Istruzione Superiore " Pio La Torre"\, Palermo\, Italy)\nThe “E3D+VET” (Erasmus+ for the imme rsion in 3D printing of VET centres) is a project supported by the Europea n Commission through the Erasmus+ programme\, Key Action 2 - Strategic Par tnership for vocational education and training on Development of Innovatio n. The aim of the project is to develop educational tools for the VET syst em\, which will provide new competences to both teachers and students and will serve as important means of innovation and acquisition of effective k nowledge on interdisciplinary STEAM topics. The project started on the fir st day of October 2017 and it will last 30 months\, up to the end of March 2020. The main objectives of the project can be summarised as: (1) train teachers non-computer design (CAD) skilled in VET centres with the aim of using 3D printing across almost of all subjects\, (2) improve student tran sversal abilities through the use of 3D printing\, (3) heighten concentrat ion of students with Attention Deficit Disorder\, (4) improve 3D printing skills of VET teachers without technologic background as the best way to t ransfer this innovative knowledge to 21st century students. The activities that the project team has planned to carry out are mostly related to the development of a common methodology to improve the key competences in VET learners\, create innovative education practices by means of the model-bas ed 3D printing industrial technology\, introduce systematic approaches to\ , and opportunities for\, the initial and continuous professional developm ent of VET teachers\, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based s ettings. The expected results will cover the development of a methodology for defining 3D printing exercises suitable for transversal education\, a set of 3D printing exercises for VET-school lessons in different subjects\ , a networking community tool for teachers using 3D printing for immersion of 3D printing in European education and training. At the conference\, al l the main pedagogical aspects of the project will be presented\, together with the 3D printing exercises involving physics topics and their applica tion as interdisciplinary educational resources for teaching and learning in a wider perspective. A plan for classroom pilot test of the teaching de sign-based materials will be also presented\, together with the evaluation of the efficacy of the global formative process.\n\nhttps://events.saip.o rg.za/event/93/contributions/6765/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6765/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Activities to enhance students understanding of acceleration DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6766@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Paul Molefe (University of Johannesburg)\nAccording to literature\, the most important factor in education is to determine wha t students already know and to consider when teaching them. Unfortunately\ , there is a body of knowledge from physics education research revealing t hat we cannot simply build onto all existing knowledge that students have\ , because they contain misconceptions that differ from the accepted scient ific understanding. As an example\, students understand acceleration as an increase in the magnitude of speed or velocity. Based on that understandi ng\, a brake pedal and a steering wheel of a motor car are not regarded as accelerators because they don’t increase the magnitude of speed. That i s caused by the everyday usage of the term which differs with a scientific understanding. Other examples in mechanics where students have lack of un derstanding is their understanding of the concept of force. Literature rev ealed that students believe that a constant force causes an object to move with a constant speed\, some force always acts in the direction of motion and that a larger mass falls faster towards the earth than a small mass S ome physics education researchers argue that productive elements in learne rs’ existing knowledge should be determined and used as bases for buildi ng scientific knowledge. Despite an earlier teaching of the concepts of mo tion in relation to acceleration from high school and in their first-year of physics at university\, many of the students have difficulties in the p roblem solving required for the acceleration assessments. It is against th is background that this paper presents and evaluates the impact of the act ivities that were designed to enhance students’ understanding of the con cept of acceleration. The evaluation of the impact of intervention was don e through Google forms. Preliminary analysis of the results reveals that i f the vector nature of acceleration is emphasized\, students would also va lue the importance of including the change in direction as the result of a cceleration. The results implied that teaching mechanics should starts wit h the impact of force in our everyday life since acceleration is the visib le impact of force.\n\nKeywords: Acceleration.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org. za/event/93/contributions/6766/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6766/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Studio Teaching Model for an Introductory Engineering Physics Cour se on Classical Mechanics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6767@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nada BELKEBIR (Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs / Al A khawayn University in Ifrane)\nStudio teaching approach is increasingly ad opted as an alternative to the standard teaching methodology. It allows a better active learning setting for students to increase their participati on inside the classroom while lecturing time by teachers is substantially reduced. This new methodology has been tested in many universities around the world and has proved its effectiveness. In this paper we present our d esign\, experimentation and evaluation of using studio teaching for the in troductory engineering physics course on classical mechanics over two cons ecutive academic years. Our studio teaching model led to an overall relati ve improvement in class performances and a substantial decrease in student s' absenteeism rate. Students' satisfaction surveys show an overall accept ance of the new methodology despite few complaints about the duration leng th of the studio sessions and the workload in class.\n\nhttps://events.sai p.org.za/event/93/contributions/6767/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6767/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:QUANTUM TUNNELING INDUCING AC AND DC EFFECT IN A MODIFIED JOSEPHSO N JUNCTION DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154600Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154700Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6768@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pernel NGUENANG NGANYO (student)\nWe study a novel m odel of Josephson junction and investigate the appearance of tunnelling cu rrent. Using quantization technique\, we prove the junction to be modelled as a two-level system where the tunnelling current is induced by the Land au - Zener transition. We prove that\, the current passing through the jun ction is caused by LZ tunnelling with the nature of that probability curre nt changing significantly with charging energy. In the case of sinusoidal energy\, the system mimics a Landau-Zener-Stckelberg interferometer with t he resulting current exhibiting AC behaviour.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.z a/event/93/contributions/6768/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6768/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AN EXPLORATION OF SENIOR PHASE TEACHERS’ MISCONCEPTIONS ON ELECT RIC CIRCUITS IN THE MOSES KOTANE AREA DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T160000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T162000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6769@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: JOYCE POTI (NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY)\nThis study aims at revealing senior phase teachers’ misconceptions about electric circui ts. It also seeks to explore the source of the misconceptions amongst the teachers. Available literature is replete with evidence that most of the m isconceptions on electric circuits arise from one’s initial knowledge of electricity and hence the need to further explore and probe these claims. A conceptual comprehension test that consists of ten open-ended questions will be administered and semi-structured interviews will also be conducte d. The interviews will primarily be employed to seek and interrogate the s ource of the ensuing misconceptions. The collected data will be qualitativ ely analyzed using relevant exploratory techniques and appropriate interve ntion methods will be proposed to address the misconceptions that will be revealed.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6769/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6769/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A case for miniature demonstration apparatus DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T103000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T105000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6770@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Douglas Clerk (School of Physics\, University of the Witwatersrand)\nA challenge that is perhaps common to many universities i s that of large class sizes\, particularly at the first-year level\, with ever-larger lecture venues being needed to accommodate the ever-larger cla sses. As a result of this trend\, physics teaching staff in our universit y have increasingly found themselves teaching in venues that are not only remote from their usual “home territory” but are usually not structura lly suited to teaching physics – especially not for doing lecture demons trations - even though in most cases they were quite well suited to teachi ng - or at least to lecturing - in a very broad generic sense. The remote locations of some of these venues and the difficulty of moving demonstrati on apparatus – which is of necessity usually large in scale – has resu lted in the lecture demonstration increasingly becoming a thing of the pas t. A possible solution to this problem is to make the demonstration appa ratus small enough to carry - and to project an image of the apparatus in action using a portable document camera. The document camera needs to hav e a short focal length so that the depth of field is reasonably large\, ot herwise it becomes impossible to focus on more than a very thin plane of t he apparatus at any one time. \nWhile the efficacy of lecture demonstratio ns as a teaching tool has been much debated (Crouch\, Fagen\, Callan\, & M azur\, 2004) - the consensus does seem to be that they can be of value pro vided that the students are not expected simply to watch passively (Sharma et al.\, 2010\; and Miller\, Lasry\, Chu\, & Mazur\, 2013). \nThe pres entation will show the feasibility of this solution\, using a small sample of suitable apparatus in conjunction with a portable document camera. Oth er potential uses of the document camera as a teaching tool will also be m entioned.\n\nReferences:\n\nCrouch\, C.\, Fagen\, A. P.\, Callan\, J. P.\, & Mazur\, E. (2004). Classroom demonstrations: Learning tools or entertai nment? American Journal of Physics. http://doi.org/10.1119/1.1707018\nMill er\, K.\, Lasry\, N.\, Chu\, K.\, & Mazur\, E. (2013). Role of physics lec ture demonstrations in conceptual learning. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research\, 9(2)\, 1–5. http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysR evSTPER.9.020113\nSharma\, M. D.\, Johnston\, I. D.\, Johnston\, H.\, Varv ell\, K.\, Robertson\, G.\, Hopkins\, A.\, … Thornton\, R. (2010). Use o f interactive lecture demonstrations: A ten year study. Physical Review Sp ecial Topics - Physics Education Research\, 6(2)\, 1–9. http://doi.org/1 0.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020119\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contri butions/6770/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6770/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A New Trial of Physics/Science Short Lab Class for Non-Science Cou rces Students in Kagawa University DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154400Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6772@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Naoshi Takahashi (Kagwa University\, Japan)\nWe have demonstrated a new use of technology which is based on a conventional the rmography to show the heat transfer of water. Our main purpose of the rese arch was focused to the development of science class lob in primary school . After then we could expand some teaching materials and ideas to some nat ional and public primary schools. \nNowadays we found that our students su bject to non-scientific area had only tiny knowledge of natural science ju st like primary school children\, even though they passed difficult entran ce examinations. More seriously\, this trend is becoming conspicuous. We p hysics and science teachers have made a project team in the university fou r years ago against this situation\, and planned new science lab class for such the students. We employed a teaching material (ex. thermography) whi ch is intuitively understand but based on new technology facing to cutting edge for a single class\, and we provided such the materials continuously through one semester. \nWe are going to start from a short survey of educ ational situation in Japan\, and show our project in the university and ex plain our materials.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/ 6772/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6772/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Practical preparation videos on a zero Rand budget DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T095000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T101000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6773@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Antonie Fourie (University of the Free State)\nDue t o limited equipment and laboratory space for practicals\, students only ha ve a relatively short time to complete their weekly practical. In this tim e they need to familiarise themselves with the apparatus that they are goi ng to be using\, carry out the experimental procedure\, and obtain and int erpret all the expected results. Their practical manual is comprehensive e nough for them to prepare adequately for a practical session. But with the addition of a preparation video to supplement the practical guidebook\, t he hope was that students would arrive at a practical already familiar wit h the apparatus and with a clearer idea of what they are going to have to do. A video would also help cater for students with different types of le arning methods\, in line with universal design for learning.The project wa s undertaken to produce videos for half of our first semester second year practicals at The University of the Free State. No money was spent buying equipment or software\, nor to pay professionals for their services. The assigned demonstrators for each practical were given the task to write the script for and present the video for their own practical. Evaluation of t he effect of the videos were done by comparing the students’ experience and marks with two other groups. These are the practicals from the previou s year\, where all the practicals were presented in the same way\, but not of them had introductory videos\, and also to half of the current year’ s practicals which did not have videos. The demonstrators also gave feedba ck on their experience\, each of them were responsible for two practicals this year\, one of them we made an introductory video for and the other we did not.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6773/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6773/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The use of data triangulation as a resource to find a better strat egy to teach concepts of physics applied to medicine DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154100Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154200Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6774@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mara Fernanda Parisoto (UFPR)\nPotentially meaningfu l materials were developed to promote meaningful learning of concepts of p hysics applied to medicine. They were used in implementations with four di fferent groups of students\, and the implementations were modified accordi ng to the needs and wants of each situation. The didactic proposal involv ed experimental activities\, simulation and computational modeling\, recre ational/playful activities\, concept mapping\, and V diagramming. This pap er focuses on data triangulation as a resource to find strategies that are more adequate for teaching concepts of physics applied to medicine and\, at the same time\, to help finding evidences of the occurrence of meaningf ul learning of physics concepts\, which might stem from the implementation s themselves. It is not the aim of this paper to investigate the proposal per se. Hence\, reliable and validated pre-test and post-test has been use d in these implementations and is presented in this paper. Data gathered b y these tests underwent non-parametric statistical analyses. It can be obs erved that the last two groups presented relevant improvements in the resu lts of the post-test whereas the very last one showed even more relevant r esults in comparison to the other groups. This finding might be due to the use of recursiveness\, which did not occur in the three previous implemen tations.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6774/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6774/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Project Method in the Educational Background: A Review of Recent L iterature (2000 - 2013) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153900Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6775@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alysson Mateus Rabelo Kiessow Rabelo (UFPR)\, Mara F ernanda Parisoto (Parisoto)\nAlthough Project Methodology is known to be a n effective tool in teaching physical concepts while at the same time fost ering essential skills\, it received surprisingly little academic interest over the last years. For this comprehensive review of research published on Project Methodology and closely related didactic methods during the yea rs 2000 to 2013\, we looked at the 26 international and 14 national (Brazi lian) journals on physics education considered the most important (Qualis rated with A1\, A2 and B1) by the Brazilian funding agency CAPES. We fou nd that the topic is not only under-researched in general\, particularly i n Brazil\, but that important aspects of such student centered approaches require more attention in both academic research and its application at da y-to-day teaching\, such as: Conceptual development\, teachers resistance against increased student autonomy\, effectiveness of Project Methodology different educational levels\, and teacher training strategies that encour age more teachers to really implement student centered approaches in class \, to name but  few. This review itself aims at helping interested teach ers and researchers to gain an overview and deeper understanding of Projec t Methodology\, as well as summarizing the current discussion on the subje ct in the scientific literature. Furthermore\, we hope that the ideas and experiences in the examined articles inspire both academics and practition ers to explore further the potential of Project Methodology and similar me thods.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6775/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6775/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:LEARNING BY PROJECTS: theory and practice in Brazilian teachers ed ucation DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6776@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mara Fernanda Parisoto (UFPR)\nIn this article\, we share some of our experiences and lessons learned from a practical impleme ntation of Carl Roger’s approach of Project Based Learning\, as well as\ , we discuss the Ausubel’s principles of “meaningful learning”\, whi ch underlies this theory\, in a situation involving future High School mat hs teachers. Our declared goal was to train and encourage these students\, who often worked full-time and arrived to the evening classes\, to apply Project Based Learning effectively in their own future teaching practice. In our research\, which was conducted during the second semester of 2013 i n the Federal Institute of Alagoas\, we analysed the progress of these stu dents based on their productions (presentations\, reports\, peer- and self -assessment\, etc.) and on the data collected in a questionnaire and semi- structured interviews. The preliminary results indicated that the students took more responsibility for their own learning\, showed an increase in s elf-efficacy and procedural knowledge and developed a positive attitude to wards applying Project Based Learning in class. However\, we also observed deficiencies in the gain of conceptual knowledge that required to be addr essed in the course design before embedding this approach in the curriculu m.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6776/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6776/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ALTERNATIVES TO CLASSICAL LABORATORY ACTIVITIES DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6777@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Juana I Gallego (UNLP)\nPhysical experiments are nec essary for learning and practicing concepts: theoretical models are compar ed to actual experiences. In this work we analyze different experimental a lternatives: tradicional laboratory experiments\, mobile phone labs and “home made” experiences.\nFor classworks\, we notice that students fee l that experiments are not priority activities and in case they would choi ce\, not do them. Classworks are performed after introduced the subject in the classroom\, while making an evaluation and then\, if passed\, they go to the lab. A smallgroup\, shows interest\, while the rest only want the work and leaving\, yet without fully understanding the key concept behind the experiment. This turns evident when reporting the experiences. \nIn th ose labs using mobile phones as measuring devices\, we were able to apprec iate a major involvement of the students\, although of course\, outcomes t end to be less accurate. In calculating inaccuracies\, specific sensors fo r each measurement (proximity\, light intensity\, etc)\, are much more pr ecise than mobile sensors\, as spected.\nFinally\, in a volunteer “exper imental challenge” proposal\, we realize that the achievement of bonding physical theory with measuring effects are enhanced by the degree of part icipation and the quality in the answers. \nThe scope in which this work w as done is in the physics chairs I\, II and III of the engineering faculty of the UNLP\, city of La Plata\, Buenos Aires\, Argentina. The university is public and students do not pay tuition. The first and second year clas ses\, to which these subjects belong\, have between 50 and 100 students.\n \nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6777/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6777/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:RESEARCH ABOUT THE ADAPTATION PROCESS OF ASTRONOMY DIDACTIC MATERI AL - THE DIARY OF SKY - FROM THE CONTEXT OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6778@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Roberto Nardi (UNESP - Brazil)\nThis paper describes one of the phases of a broader research carried out by the Science Educat ion Research Group (SERG) from State of São Paulo (UNESP\, Brazil)\, whic h has evidenced the distance between the academic production of the area o f Astronomy Education and the knowledges and practices of students and tea chers in Basic Education. In this text\, we seek to investigate the singul arities found during the stages of translation and adaptation of a specifi c didactic material\, in the form of a school diary – “Il Diario del C ielo” (Diário do Céu / Diary of Sky) -\, originally created and ideali zed to the reality of the Northern Hemisphere (Rome\, Italy) and adapted t o the reality of the tropical belt of the Southern Hemisphere (Bauru\, Sã o Paulo\, Brazil)\, as well as discuss the potential of this material\, to work with concepts of phenomena related to Astronomy\, in a training prog ram of continuing training for in-service teachers in Secondary and High S chool in the area of sciences. Topics such as: the visible horizon\, the t ime of birth\, climax and sunset and the Moon\, the duration of the day ac cording to the time of year and the latitude of the place of observation\, equinoxes\, solstices\, seasons\, phases of the Moon\, among others\, are approached from a sequence of didactic activities developed with students \, in regular schools\, according to the bases of Position Astronomy. Amon g the results found\, it is important to note that the need to record dail y data from the active and systematic observation of the sky and the envir onment in a diary\, besides revealing an interdisciplinary character\, inv olving different areas of knowledge\, also points to the need to diagnose\ , discuss and reflect on the teacher's difficulties in managing the contra st between the times of astronomical phenomena (day / night cycle\, lunar cycle\, seasons\, eclipses\, ...) and those of the school\, between open s paces for the sky and the confinement of classrooms in schools\, making th e task of teaching about astronomical content more difficult. It also poin ts out the reduced expectation of teachers in relation to teaching about t he relations of similarities and spatio-temporal differences between the r ealities of the contexts of the North and South Hemispheres\, compromised by the way and the quality - or even by the inexistence - of the initial f ormation of the teachers\, which leads to the incipient domain of discipli nary and pedagogical knowledges focused on astronomy and sometimes the fee ling of incapacity and insecurity\, when working with the subject in schoo ls.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6778/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6778/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Google it: why\, what\, and how should instructors teach if studen ts can find everything online? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T154000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T160000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6779@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Linley Fourie (University of the Free State)\nThe ai m of this presentation is to rethink the role of the instructor in the tea ching and learning process. It is directed at instructors and staff member s involved in the course design process. Learners browse the internet for most of their knowledge acquisition. From Google\, YouTube\, Wikipedia\, a nd even social media sites – the internet has become its own “new age ” instructor. Online resources relevant to Physics Education is vast and accessible. Some leading institutions\, such as Harvard\, MIT\, and Khan Academy have developed meaningful content and have already shared their co urses to the public free-of-charge. These institutions may offer insight i nto the variability amongst learners and their motivation to learn. But ha ve the "official" instructors accepted that they are no longer the only do orway to knowledge? Do instructors intentionally design courses and learni ng activities to include these additional sources of expertise? A learning designer at the University of the Free State has designed blended courses that leverage the new age instructor and its resources – offering an al ternative approach to curriculum development and delivery. These course de signs have roots in several teaching and learning methods\, amongst others : open educational resources\, blended learning\, flipped classroom\, and personalised learning. Samples of re-designed blended courses will be show cased along with lessons learned from revisiting the role of both the offi cial and new age instructor.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contri butions/6779/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6779/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Development of methodologies for reducing dropout in courses in th e Exact Sciences DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154200Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154300Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6780@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mara Fernanda Parisoto (UFPR)\nThis paper seeks to p resent new methodologies aimed at maintaining the number of students in th e undergraduate programs in areas related to the exact sciences\, with the intention of gradually increasing the quantity of qualified professional s who work in the areas encompassed by these courses. This line of researc h demonstrates its importance at a moment in which the dropout rate from u ndergraduate courses in these areas has been increasing at an alarming pac e. This leads to a situation in which a lack of professionals has the effe ct on the labor market of making it necessary for unqualified candidates t o take on positions in an area for which they have not been trained. We co nducted data analysis based on questionnaires that included problems of ba sic mathematics and basic physics\, given to students seeking degrees in the exact sciences. With the objective of identifying the greatest difficu lties faced by students who took the tests\, this analysis pointed to reas ons that might explain the high dropout rate in these courses. By identify ing some of these reasons\, it is possible to develop tools and methodolog ies for reducing student dropout in these courses. The results of these qu estionnaires\, which were analyzed with statistical software called IBM SP SS\, provided data showing that\, for example\, 57% of participating stude nts chose the course because they liked the area of study\, which directly influences the posterior decision to abandon the course.\n\nhttps://event s.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6780/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6780/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A STUDY OF STUDENT TEACHERS’ MISCONCEPTIONS ON UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6781@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Andrew Mutsvangwa (North-West University)\nUniform c ircular motion is one of the key mechanics topics in Physics that students fail to comprehend and master. In South Africa\, uniform circular motion is currently not taught to Physical Sciences Matriculate learners and thus students are only introduced to it at university level. It is common caus e that poor comprehension of fundamental concepts and tenets of uniform ci rcular motion leads to difficulties in understanding related topics such a s Rotational Kinematics and Rotational Dynamics. This study aims at inves tigating student teachers’ misconceptions about uniform circular motion and its pertinent underlying concepts such as tangential acceleration and centripetal acceleration. The study will also attempt to figure out the so urce(s) of the ensuing misconceptions. The sample of the study consists of 45 second-year Physical Sciences student teachers at a South African univ ersity. A multiple-choice test consisting of 20 questions on uniform circu lar motion will be administered. Simple and explanatory statistical techni ques will be employed to analyse the data and appropriate intervention met hods will be proposed to curtail the identified misconceptions.\n\nhttps:/ /events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6781/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6781/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:FIRST YEAR PHYSICS STUDENTS’ ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS ON BERNOULL I’S PRINCIPLE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T101000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6782@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Annaretha Coetzee (Tshwane University of Technology) \nPart of a larger project\, first year students’ alternative conception s relating to Bernoulli’s principle were investigated. In order to devel op teaching interventions using constructivist principles\, students’ pr ior understanding is important as new knowledge is linked to their prior k nowledge. In most of the secondary schools\, flow dynamics is not part of the curriculum and therefore very little research regarding alternative co nceptions concerning Bernoulli principle has been conducted. An explanator y case study design was followed\, by identifying the most prevalent alter native conceptions relating to the Bernoulli principle\, which describes p ressure of fluids in motion. The study was done amongst 71 first year phys ics students at a University of Technology in South Africa. Both qualitati ve and quantitative research methods were used to determine these students ’ alternative conceptions. Three instruments were used to collect the re quired data: (i) a questionnaire with structured multiple choice questions before the intervention\, (ii) a tutorial where students had to solve app licable problems using the continuity equation and Bernoulli’s principle during the intervention and (iii) a test with multiple choice questions\, followed by a motivation for each choice\, as well as two open-ended ques tions\, after the intervention. The motivations and open-ended questions s ought to elicit the students’ views regarding flow dynamics\, and to gai n more original responses than would have been the case had the students b een asked to respond to already pre-conceived statements regarding flow dy namics. Although quantitative data were collected\, the main thrust of dat a analysis for this study was on the qualitative data.. The analysis of th e students’ responses did not focus on the knowledge\, per se\, but the underlying conceptions behind the respondents’ answers. The results show ed that the students held many alternative conceptions concerning the equa tions of continuity and Bernoulli’s principle in a dynamic fluid system\ , which include the following notions: pressures are equal when flow speed s are equal\, without taking different altitudes in consideration\; pressu res are equal where cross-sectional areas are equal\, without taking diffe rent altitudes in consideration\; pressure in a fluid is the same througho ut the fluid (a misconception from Pascal’s Principle)\; in a pipe with different altitudes the speed increases due to gravitational acceleration\ ; the depth in static fluids and the height due to potential energy cause confusion. These answers were further categorised into six themes namely n aïve physics\; lateral alternative conceptions\, ontological alternative conceptions\, Ohm’s p-prims\; mixed conceptions and loose ideas. Even fu ndamental concepts of static liquids were not mastered and recommendation s are made. Due to the multiple alternative conceptions in these different categories\, the importance of the larger project to design an instructio nal intervention with constructivist principles which focuses on teaching sequences to address the alternative conceptions relating to Bernoulli’ s’ principle\, is clear.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribu tions/6782/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6782/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Active-learning in oscillations with high – speed video analysis DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T095000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6783@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pornrat Wattanakasiwich (Thailand Center of Excellen ce in Physics)\nAn oscillation is a basic topic covered in either mechanic s or vibration and wave course in undergraduate physics. Physics education research studies over five years indicated that most students have diffic ulties with visualization\, so they are often capable of solving the equat ions without relating to real situations. Thus activities using high-speed videos have been constructed and designed based on active-learning approa ch. Numerous high-speed videos (such as oscillations with massive springs\ , damped oscillations in glycerin and self-oscillators etc.) were recorded and distributed to students. Students were taught to use Tracker and spre ad sheet software to analyse videos. Both quantitative and qualitative res earch studies were conducted to evaluate effectiveness of these activities over the past three years. Student understanding in several concepts were improved\, but many students still had difficulties in concepts such as p hase\, quality factor and normal modes etc.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/ event/93/contributions/6783/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6783/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND SEMIOTIC RESOURCES IN A CLASSICAL MECHA NICS LESSON SETUP DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6784@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Lassana Ouattara (National Resource Center for Physi cs Education)\nIn this paper we present an investigation of what meaning f irst-year university physics students make of force and motion when discus sing elevation\, velocity and acceleration during trampoline bouncing. A m athematical analysis of trampoline bouncing is provided in [1\,2]. We aim to develop a better understanding of how students can overcome difficultie s in understanding those central concepts of classical mechanics.\n\nAs a starting point\, we used an assignment based on Rosannagh MacLennan's gold medal trampoline routine. She used 19 seconds (as extracted from the vide o [3]) to complete the routine of 10 jumps. The score board shows that 16 of these seconds were 'flight time'. Several groups of students were video -recorded as they worked to discern the different types of motion involved . They were asked to draw approximate graphs of elevation\, velocity and a cceleration during two full jumps of the routine with the approximation th at all jumps are similar.\n\nPreviously [4]\, we found that students rarel y made use of earlier kinaesthetic experiences of trampoline bouncing. To encourage that connection\, another cohort of first-year university physic s students were asked to work in small groups to create short movies of th emselves bouncing and also explaining the forces involved during the motio n\, as well as draw graphs of elevation\, velocity and acceleration during the jumps. They were also invited to use their smartphones for data colle ction [5\,6].\n \nThe video-recordings were analysed using a naturalistic methodology with respect to the use of various semiotic resources and how the students interact with each other in discussing the assignment. Also w e looked for students´ understanding and conceptions concerning disciplin ary knowledge\, kinaesthetic experience and (pre-/alternative-) conception s. In addition\, we analysed how the students explain force and motion\, w hen asked to create a short movie of themselves bouncing.\n\nAn analysis o f these discussions will be presented and implications for teaching classi cal mechanics will be discussed.\n\n1. A.-M. Pendrill and D. Eager\, Free fall and harmonic oscillations - analysing trampoline jumps Physics Educa tion 50\, 64-70 (2015)\n \n2. D. Eager\, A.-M.Pendrill and N. Reistad\, Be yond velocity and acceleration: jerk\, snap and higher derivatives Eur. J. Phys. 37 065008 (2016)\n \n3. London 2012 Olympics: Rosannagh MacLennan W ins Women’s Trampoline Gold\, https://youtu.be/vm3HAM1czb0?t=1125\n \n4. A.-M. Pendrill and L. Ouattara\, Force\, acceleration and velocity during trampoline jumps—a challenging assignmentPhysics Education 52\, 6\, 065 021 (2017)\n\n5. C. Vieyra\, Physics toolbox sensor suite http://vieyrasof tware.net/\n\n6. PhyPhox – Physical Phone Experiments\, phyphox.org\n\nh ttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6784/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6784/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Programming: A tool for meaning-making and a transductive link bet ween semiotic systems. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T101000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6785@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kim Svensson (Lund University)\nProgramming is an in tegral part of modern physics and\, at the same time\, gaining increased i nterest in modern education. More and more students are being taught progr amming at schools. In upper secondary schools in Sweden\, where\, after th e first of July 2018 [1]\, students are required to experience and use pro gramming in both mathematics and technology. This elevation of programming from a specific subject to a semiotic system used within other subjects\, is an indication that programming has entered the “common knowledge”- domain\, similar to mathematics or reading and writing. \n\nHowever\, litt le is known on what programming may offer as a semiotic system for meaning -making in physics when used to create interactive visual representations in 2D and 3D. Therefore\, in this project\, we ask what disciplinary-speci fic meaning-making gets constructed by students as they engage with progra mming as a semiotic system [2] in relation to their disciplinary discernme nt from the created visualizations [3].\n\nThe epistemological starting-po int is that students may construct a better understanding for how differen t semiotic systems and resources are used together for meaning-making to e xplore and explain a particular phenomenon\, and that programing may work as a transductive link between different semiotic systems [2].\n\nTo inves tigate students’ meaning-making\, we have devised a workshop\, based on variation theory [4]\, where upper secondary students use programming in p hysics to construct models and create visual representations. In the works hop the participants are guided through the creation of a particle system that follows Newton’s laws of motion [cf. 5]. This particle system is th en used to explore interactions between particles\, such as elastic forces \, electrostatic forces\, gravitational or other forces.\n\nWe have collec ted video and audio data of students working in groups of three\, solving different physics problems. The data analysis is still ongoing\, using a q ualitative method\, and preliminary results suggest that students\, with n o prior programming knowledge\, are able to follow the implementation of m odels of physical phenomena with little to no problem. This suggests that programming may indeed be a powerful semiotic system very useful for meani ng-making in physics. Further analysis will focus on what programming per se means for physics meaning-making and how it works in relations to other semiotic systems used in physics. \n\n1. Utbildningsdepartementet\, F örordning om ändring i förodningen (SKOLFS 2011:144) om läroplan för gymnasieskolan. 2017-03-09. LaroplanGymnasieskolan.pdf.\n2. Airey\, J.\ , & Linder\, C. (2017). Social semiotics in university physics education. In Multiple Representations in Physics Education (pp. 95-122). Springer\, Cham.\n3. Dahlgren\, L. O.\, & Marton\, F. (1978). Students’ Concepti ons of Subject Matter: An aspect of learning and teaching in higher educat ion. Studies in Higher Education\, 3(1)\, 25–35. \n4. Marton\, Ferenc e. (2006). On some necessary conditions of learning. Journal Of The Learni ng Sciences. 15. 193-220. \n5. Caballero\, M. D. & Pollock\, S.J. A mod el for incorporating computation without changing the course: An example f rom middle-division classical mechanics. Am.J.Phys. 82\, 231–237 (2014). \n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6785/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6785/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:STUDENT-CENTERED\, INTEGRATED APPROACH TO A FRESHMAN SCIENCE COURS E DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T095000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T101000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6787@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Yuki Kaneko (Sabanci University)\nTraditional teachi ng methodologies and non-integrated contents of freshman physics courses a re often inadequate in preparing students for coping with real-life challe nges. To address this\, we redesigned our two-semester introductory scien ce course into active-learning format and with integrated contents\, to eq uip the students with scientific knowledge and skills for contending real complex contemporary challenges. This course is one of the core curriculu m courses taken by all freshmen students (>1000 per semester) regardless o f their prospective majors. The aim of the course is to initiate curiosit y and scientific thinking in students\, and at the same time introduces so me of the basic concepts of physics\, chemistry\, and biology and their in terconnections. The new version of the course takes a modular structure d esigned around four open science questions closely related to everyday lif e: 1. “Are we alone in the Universe?”\, 2. “Is antibiotic resistance a big threat for the humankind?”\, 3. “Are humans causing climate cha nge?”\, and 4. “Can we ever comprehend the workings of the brain?”. Within these modules\, basic physics concepts such as kinematics\, dynami cs\, energy\, electricity\, magnetism\, thermodynamics\, and a brief intro duction to quantum mechanics\, are scattered throughout and discussed in v arious contexts. When designing\, we adopted backward design model with s tudents at our focus\, and the learning activities are done in classrooms specifically designed for collaborative learning. Specially-trained gradu ate and undergraduate assistants facilitate discussions among students whi le they work on problem sets\, which also benefits the assistants to becom e better educators\, leaders\, and learners themselves. Through such cour se design and integrated contents relevant to their lives\, we emphasize o n promoting teamwork\, critical thinking\, problem solving\, and scientifi c literacy skills\, valuable for all professionals of tomorrow. Moreover\ , since 2016 the course has been offered in a flipped format\, in which st udents work on a preparation set (video lectures\, readings\, and quizzes) before coming to the class. This allows for more in-class activities and instructor-student interaction time\, benefiting both parties. Such an i nnovative approach\, including the core curriculum educational model\, app lied at such a large scale is deemed especially progressive in the region\ , and consequently\, we have overcome a number of unique challenges specif ic to our students. We present the design\, implementation\, and example physics activities of the course\, together with preliminary results of le arning outcome comparison between traditional and non-traditional approach es using both quantitative and qualitative analyses. We find considerable increase in the attendance rates\, which contributes to a change in the c ourse grade distribution and general attitude. The qualitative feedback i ndicates positive impact on students’ learning culture.\n\nhttps://event s.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6787/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6787/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CAEN: Tools for Discovery DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T095000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6788@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Cristina Mattone (CAEN S.p.A.)\nCAEN S.p.A. is an im portant industrial spin-off of the INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Ph ysics)\, since 1979. CAEN is pleased to present company and its activities in educational field. CAEN brings the experience acquired in almost 40 ye ars of collaboration with the High Energy & Nuclear Physics community into the University educational laboratories by providing modern physics exper iments based on the latest technologies and instrumentation.\nCAEN realize d different modular Educational Kits\, developed together with the Univers ity of Insubria (IT) and University of Aveiro (PT). The set-ups are all ba sed on Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) state of-the-art sensor of light wi th single photon sensitivity and unprecedented photon number capabilities. The Educational Kits\, provided with a dedicated Control Software\, are m odern and flexible platforms for teaching the fundamentals of Statistics\, Particles Detection and Nuclear Imaging.\nMoreover\, CAEN developed a ser ies of experiments with different difficulty level\, from basic experiment s to more complex applications. The idea is to target the experiment depen ding on the student educational level. With this approach\, the experiment s proposed can be performed at high school level (grade 11\, 12) science c lasses up to undergraduate physics laboratory and PhD courses. The main go al is to inspire students and guide them towards the analysis and comprehe nsion of different physics phenomena with a series of experiments based on state-of-the art technologies\, instruments and methods.\n\nhttps://event s.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6788/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6788/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charged liquid droplets in electromagnetic fields - An experiment for developing conceptual understanding during student activity DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T101000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6789@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Andreas Johansson (University of Gothenburg)\nIntrod uction\nWhat is the relative impact on learning when the abstraction in le ssons changes?\n\nThings that are too small to be seen by the human eye ne ed to be visualized to be well understood. Visualisations can be realized with digital tools but at the cost of introducing a higher level of abstra ction. The visualizations could also be made by observing and experimentin g with an analog macroscopic object that behaves in a similar way as the o bject of study\, and this is the main idea behind the experiment presente d in this work.\nWe limit our study to scientific questions\, whereas soci al factors affecting learning in the lab is left for future studies. \n\nR esearch questions\nWhat can students learn about concepts and properties o f electric fields\, electric charge\, electric force\, Newton's laws while building their experience on direct observations of charged droplets movi ng through electric fields?\n\nWhat kind of teaching\, such as direct obse rvations during experiments\, pre-recorded videos of experiments or classi cal theoretical studies with literature and lectures\, presents the subjec t in a way that enables the students to learn efficiently\, which we inter pret as students having obtained long-term knowledge of the subject matter . \n\nPhysical experimental setup\nDuring the study\, an experimental setu p was used to teach the above mentioned concepts. The experimental set-up consist of: charged macroscopic liquid droplets that fall through an elect ric field that can be controlled by the observer. This gives the student s the opportunity to experience ideas and concepts that otherwise only app ear as particle-motion exercises in the Physics textbook. When illuminated by a strong light-diode the 20 microns in diameter droplets are made visi ble for the human eye. By a simple web-camera we can directly record and o bserve the motion of of the droplet as it moves a curved path in an electr ic field created. \n\n\nStudents are able to change a number of parameters and simultaneously observe how the changes affects the paths of the dropl ets. We investigate in this study how work with this experimental system a ffects the learning of the students.\n\nDesign of Study\nAll students perf ormed a pre-test.\nThree groups of students got an equal amount of teachin g-time:\nGroup one: Short introduction to the concepts in the lab while th e teacher uses the experimental setup as a teaching tool. Students can int eract with the setup.\nGroup two: Short introduction while the teacher is showing a short video of the experiment. Held in ordinary classroom.\nGrou p three: A theoretical lecture about the concepts in an ordinary classroom . \nAll three groups then received the same task: “Design an experiment where a charge droplet will move in a circle.” This task was conducted i n groups of two or three students.\nAll these lessons were recorded with v ideo cameras.\nThe post-test was given within two weeks after the lessons. \n\nWe will discuss our first results and give suggestions for further stu dies to improve both the understanding of the teaching situation and the k nowledge gained by the students.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/co ntributions/6789/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6789/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Let us improve students understanding of Physics and beyond DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6790@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mmantsae Diale (University of Pretoria)\nThe type of students we receive at University are digital\, have a device at all time s in their hands\, do not even know how to fast social media. Many of them cannot work without a calculator\, though their matric results are excell ent. We have been engaged in first year teaching for over a decade\, with the number of students majoring in physics increasing. The increase in num bers has also resulted in increasing the quality of students in the main s tream. The lecturers’ inputs have shown to directly affect the results o f students. Using different resources available due to technology\, with traditional teaching methods led to a conclusion that more students are ca pable of majoring in physics. The other group of students who continued in medicine and engineering have excelled in their way of learning\, proving that the teaching methods we have used have benefited students beyond phy sics. Students’ feedback were accompanied by personal letters from stude nts and parents appreciating the inputs academics have used to improve stu dents learning. In this workshop we will discuss the type of students are accept for first year at University\, how we are using available teaching resources to improve learning and how have changed the laboratory experien ces to improve hands on activities for students success.\n\nhttps://events .saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6790/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6790/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SA Physics Olympiad goes on-line DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6791@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Case Rijsdijk (SAAO (retd))\nSouth Africa\, SA\, lik e every other country around the world\, has a huge\, latent talent\, much of it in the rural areas\, that needs to be identified\, nurtured and mon itored. Olympiads and Competitions have the capacity to do this\, but to g ive access to many learners to enter these Olympiads and Competitions mean s that Multiple Choice Questions\, MCQ\, need to be used. The SA Agency fo r Science and Technology Advancement\, SAASTA\, runs a very successful SA National Youth Science Olympiad\, SANYSO. This Olympiad tests learner’s knowledge of both Physics and Chemistry as SA teaches Physical Science. It reaches up 30 000 learners each year from both SA and some of the SADC Co untries\, and notably\, many from rural areas.\n\nDuring the International Year of Physics\, in 2005\, the SA Institute of Physics\, SAIP\, launched the SA Physics Olympiad\, SAPhO\, by selecting learners from the SANYSO a nd other Olympiads and Competitions in SA. The aim here was to identify l earners with an above average ability in Physics. It has worked most succe ssfully as a 50 MCQ Olympiad\, using the usual pencil-and-paper grid appro ach. After a most successful trial run last year\, for a limited group of learners\, with an on-line Olympiad\, SAPhO 2018 will be an on-line Olympi ad.\n\nIn this presentation I will look at different forms of MCQ assessme nts made possible by taking the digital route and how the on-line SAPhO wi ll give a superior assessment of a learner’s Physics ability. There are of course still challenges\, the principal one lies in setting the paper\; not in finding the questions\, but in providing the detractors to assist in the final assessment. It becomes a time consuming exercise but I am con fident that the time is well invested and the rewards will hopefully show this.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6791/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6791/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:INFORMAL PHYSICS TEACHING FOR A BETTER SOCIETY: A MOOC-BASED AND C ONTEXT-DRIVEN EXPERIENCE ON LEARNING RADIOACTIVITY DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6792@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nicola Pizzolato (Istituto di Istruzione Superiore " Pio La Torre")\nScientific literacy is a main target and recommendation of many National Standards of Education around the world\, strongly convince d that a scientific culture can foster the development of better and safel y lives. Teaching physics has the general objective of providing the learn ers with an adequate wealth of knowledge\, in terms of both interdisciplin ary scientific concepts and practical skills\, in order to make them able to address the scientific problems they might face in the context of every day life. In this work\, we report the experimental evidence\, collected d uring a first year physics class in an upper secondary technical school\, for the urgent necessity to adopt an informal and inquiry-based strategy t o teach physics effectively\, in particular to all those students living i n degraded socio-economic environments. Within the pedagogical framework o f “Learning by Doing” and the paradigm “Learning by Teaching”\, we have explored the benefits of the students’ participation to an informa l ICT-based learning experience and\, subsequently\, as scientific speaker s to a national science exhibition where the majority of the secondary sch ools in the region presents their scientific exhibits. A sample of 33 stud ents from an upper secondary school has been involved in this experimentat ion. First\, they attended a two-week long MOOC-based laboratory focused o n the topic of radioactivity\, where they had the opportunity to learn the basic concepts of a radioactive decay and carry out real measurements int o a remote lab\, challenging themselves through an inquiry-based learning path suitably developed in the context of the European Erasmus+KA2 project “Open Discovery of STEM Laboratories”. Before participating to the ex hibition\, the students also built a model of atomic nucleus\, alpha and b eta particles\, and practiced the use of a Geiger-Muller counter device fo r measuring natural radioactivity. After the lab\, they trained themselves for a week to present the exhibit to the audience\, firstly introducing t he basic concepts of ionizing radiation and then the main medical applicat ions\, imaging/diagnosing\, of radioactive isotopes. About three months af ter the participation to the scientific exhibition\, the students answered to a questionnaire about these issues. Their answers have been analyzed i n comparison with those provided by the students who attended a traditiona l lecture-based instruction. A significant improvement in the memorization of the main aspects concerning a radioactive decay\, such as the definiti on of isotope\, particle and electromagnetic radiation\, the understanding of the radioactivity process at microscopic level\, as well as a stronger view of the useful aspect of radioactivity in the everyday life have been definitely achieved by the students involved in this study. A final discu ssion about the overall benefits of the “Learning by Doing-and-Teaching ” educational strategy within an informal inquiry-based laboratory is al so reported.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6792/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6792/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ENCOURAGING INNOVATIVE THINKING AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN TH E BIUST FIRST-YEAR COURSE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T152000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6793@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jacobus Diener (Botswana International University of Science and Technology)\nIn Botswana\, a drive is underway to transform t he country's economy from being mining/resource-based to research and tech nologically driven. In aid of this cause\, the Botswana International Uni versity of Science and Technology (BIUST) was recently established\, with classes starting in 2012. \n\nWith few large-scale industries\, the formal employment possibilities of graduates in Botswana are limited. Therefore \, encouraging innovation and innovative thinking amongst students are pri ority areas of the university.\n\nThe approach adopted in this first-year Physics course aims to enable students to transfer the gained knowledge an d skills to new contexts\, thus enabling innovation. The achievement of th is conceptual understanding is a key factor in terms of the teaching appro ach and the assessment criteria of the course. The teaching approach is gu ided by Kolb’s learning cycles. The objective is to equip the students to apply Kolb's learning cycles as a way to reflectively assess/gauge thei r progress. Furthermore\, it should also assist students to identify area s in their understanding that need improvement\, which in turn would encou rage more self-directedness amongst the students. The overall aim of the i ntervention is to foster greater ownership by the individual of his/her le arning experience.\n\nIn support of the above objective the course's asses sment criteria is expanded to include reflective exercises and an increase d focus on conceptual understanding. In practice the number of formal ass essments is increased\, but the assessments\, compared to that of the prev ious academic year\, are much shorter in length and more focused on specif ic aspects of the curriculum. \n\nMy presentation will elaborate on the ap proach and implementation as well as discuss the preliminary results.\n\nh ttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6793/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6793/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A CONTEXTUALISED\, ONLINE INTRODUCTO RY PHYSICS COURSE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T103000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T105000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6794@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Elizabeth Angstmann (UNSW\, Sydney)\nIn this talk I will discuss the development of an introductory contextualised online phys ics course and the methods that have been used to measure its effectivenes s. The course\, entitled “Everyday Physics”\, has been running since 2 013. The course consists of twelve topics\, one per week\, based on everyd ay objects and phenomena. For example\, students learn about thermal physi cs in topics called “Why does your kettle boil?” and “How does a hot air balloon work?”. Being online\, it is very easy for students to dise ngage as there are no scheduled classes\, using contexts relevant to the s tudents has kept them engaged in the course over the semester. \nDuring th e course students complete experiments at home with common household equip ment and submit reports for marking. In the kettle topic they measure the specific heat of water by timing how long it takes to boil different volum es of water. Lectures are presented as short videos which are available th rough YouTube. Most lectures comprise of theory which is linked to the rel evant phenomenon\, demonstrations and worked examples to demonstrate how t o solve problems. Each week the students have a set of tutorial problems t o solve\, worked solutions are provided to them.\nThe assessment comprises of six experiments students complete at home\, four quizzes and a report they write about an experiment they have designed themselves to investigat e they physics behind a phenomenon of interest to them. During the course they peer review the reports of their class mates which gives them an oppo rtunity to learn from their classmates about many different applications o f physics but also helps build their confidence as they get feedback on th eir report before submitting the final version to their tutor for marking. \nThe course has been very popular with students. It is an elective course \, not required by any degree program. Over 800 students chose to take thi s course during 2018\, the numbers have been increasing since its introduc tion in 2013. The participation rate of female students in the course is o ver 40%. Over this time I have been using the Force Motion Concept Evaluat ion (FMCE) survey to collect data on the learning gains of students. I hav e compared this with the learning gains measured in our face-to-face algeb ra based introductory physics course\, taken by around 400 students each y ear. The learning gains measured in the online course are a little higher than in the face-to-face course.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/co ntributions/6794/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6794/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Experimentation in primary school: Discover and understand or veri fy what is expected? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153800Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153900Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6795@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Silvia SQUILLA (Consejo de Formación en Educación\ , ANEP\, Uruguay)\nScience education in primary schools in Uruguay is stil l a pending task. Frequently\, only biological science is taught in class and concerning Physics\, topics like light and energy are the most commonl y studied. Often activities\, even in biology\, are reduced either to loo k for information without experimentation\, or very guided experimental ac tivities with little space for actual research where results may differ fr om what expected and new questions might come up. As a result\, children h ave a partial and sometimes wrong concept of science. The idea of science as something distant from reality and ordinary life\, holding absolute re sults and truth\, is reinforced. \nThere is a lot of research in science d idactic about the role of the experimentation in order to improve scientif ic competences in the students. \nIn this project that is still in process \, we analyze the role of experimentation during science class as well as the speech of the teacher in relation to his objectives with the planned d idactic sequence. A qualitative methodology was used\, through classroom o bservations and interviews with teachers. We choose a case study to inquir e how the experiments are used in a science class and what is the role of experiments proposed by the teacher. To collect the data\, recordings of c lasses was used and in-depth interviews were conducted with the teachers.\ nWe found that in experimentation is used for verify a concept or a theory provided by the teacher or to conduct children to classify objects accor ding their properties and characteristics. \nThis study let show up: the t eacher´s conception of science and its teaching\, the teacher´s ideas ab out how the children learn and the cognitive processes that in fact are e ncouraged by the teacher. What we found was a conception of science that s till reminds a positivism way. Children are then introduced to a wrong vie w of science\, which probably reinforces dislike and low interest for scie ntific issues.\n\nPartially supported by: ANII - Fondo sectorial de educac ión (National agency for innovation and research\, Uruguay).\n\nhttps://e vents.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6795/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6795/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Using spreadsheets to improve student engagement in the laboratory DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T160100Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T162100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6796@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)\nThis pape r explores whether the integration of digital technologies in the form of a spreadsheet can be used to improve students’ engagement with experimen tal work. In addition\, the experiment was presented as an open inquiry i nvestigation. The experiment\, investigation was about electricity and pow er consumption\, Vampire Power. Using Design-Based Research methodology\, in Trial 1 we ran an open inquiry investigation with 41 teachers and 58 st udents in 4 workshops. In Trial 2\, digital technology\, an Excel spreads heet\, was integrated into the investigation and deployed with 25 teachers and 38 students in 2 workshops. In Trial 3 the same investigation as in T rial 2 was deployed with 29 teachers and 85 students in 3 workshops. Measu res of ‘mental effort’ and ‘attitudes’ indicated that\, in Trial 1 \, teachers invested mental effort and showed positive attitudes\, but stu dents did not. In Trial 2\, both teachers and students invested mental eff ort and had positive attitudes. Trial 3 results were similar to Trial 2. W e conclude that harnessing digital technologies\, spreadsheets specificall y into an open inquiry investigation improved student engagement.\n\nhttps ://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6796/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6796/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:AssessING laboratory SKILLS: SHARING something WE TRIED THIS YEAR DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T101000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6797@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)\nPROBLEM \ nThe teaching of experimental physics in laboratories is central to any ph ysics course. Through the teaching of experimental skills\, students learn to produce scientific knowledge following scientific methods\, by develop ing expertise in identifying and designing experiments\, critical thinking and problem solving skills\, the capability to analyze scientific finding s and to communicate them effectively to the scientific community. \n \n However\, in articulating the big picture\, we must not lose sight of the basics of experimental work: students taking actual measurements and using equipment\, analyzing data\, and interpreting and connecting with knowle dge. This was articulated by Kirkup (2009) who says `Experimentation is at the heart of science... Many of the skills required to convert theory int o reality and to explain measurements are learned through… a methodical and systematic approach to solving experimental problems and analyzing exp erimental data.'  Richardson\, Sharma and Khachan (2008) capture the deve lopment of these basics of experimentation as ‘levels of sophistication ’.  \n \nIn our work\, we have gone back to the basics and are incorpo rating these fundamental skills into our lab program\, strategically utili sing these to teach the broader skills such as critical thinking. Togethe r with teaching the basics\, we have developed and implemented tools to te st whether students are actually acquiring them.\n\nACTION\nWe have introd uced a new model for assessing student laboratory learning. Three learning outcomes are identified for each lab: an experimental approach\, an analy sis of the data acquired\, and interpretation of the results in the light of theory. Over the semester\, students practice this threefold approach t o experimental work in each of eight separate experiments. \n\nThese skill s are then assessed in three separate assessment tasks: an individual prac tical test\, which tests the students’ ability to perform an experimenta l investigation\; a paper-based test which tests student’s understanding of analysis and uncertainties\, and a short lab report\, which tests stud ents’ ability to interpret experimental data to address an experimental aim. The novelty of this approach is that we are assessing the process of experimental work\, instead of the outcomes. \n\nOUTCOMES\nWe introduced t his model during semester 1 2018 in Junior Physics at the University of Sy dney. We involved our lab tutors as partners in the development and implem entation phases. This presentation will discuss our experience with the in troduction of this new assessment model for experimental lab. Our initial results suggest that students are mastering the skills they need\, and tha t this mastery is noticeably better once explicit assessment of the skills is introduced. We will discuss feedback from students and tutors\, as wel l as how we can improve the schemes in future semesters.\n\nREFERENCES\nKi rkup\, L.. Design template for the development of a physics laboratory pro gram\, in ALTC Associate Fellowship Report: New perspectives on service te aching: tapping into the student experience\, July 2009. \nRichardson\, A. \, Sharma\, M. D.\, Khachan\, J. (2008) What are students learning in pra cticals? A cross sectional study in university physics laboratories. CAL- laborate International\, 16(1)\, 20-27.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/even t/93/contributions/6797/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6797/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Riddles in VERITASIUM: Making sense of how students reflect DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6798@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)\nReflectio n\n“Reflection enables us to correct distortions in our beliefs and erro rs in problem-solving” (Mezirow\, 1990). The importance of reflection in education has been noted as far back as 1910 in John Dewey’s book “Ho w we think”. According to Dewey\, there are 6 phases of reflection.1. an experience\;\n2. spontaneous interpretation of the experience\; 3. naming the problem or the question that arises out of the experience\; 4. genera ting possible explanations for the problem or question posed\; 5. ramifyin g the explanations into full-blown hypotheses\; 6. experimenting or testin g the selected hypothesis. (Rogers\, 2002)\nReflection is also an integral part of metacognition including self-regulation in learners (Ertmer and N ewby\, 1996\, Bewes and Sharma 2011).\n\nIntervention\nDerek Muller of the physics education channel “Veritasium” uploaded two videos\, the firs t of which asked four physics riddles\, and the second answered these ridd les. These video mirror the stages of reflection outlined by Dewey. These two videos were shown to first year physic students at the University Scho ol of Physics. The students watched the first video\, and were prompted to write down their answers\, and the confidences in their answers. Then the y watched the second video\, and answered if they did/or did not change th eir mind\, and why. The total sample size was 548 first year physics stude nts.\n\nCategories\nThe answers were coded qualitatively\, and fell into d istinct categories\, which match Mezirow’s (1998)taxonomy of critical re flection. \nThe categories were “Almost”\, “Alternative Solution”\ , “Issues”\, and “Self”. “Almost” “Alternative” and “Fau lt” all match Narrative Critical Reflection On Assumptions (CRA)\, outli ned by Mezirow\, and “Self” matches Narrative Critical Self Reflection on Assumptions (CRSA). The question had a profound impact on the types of reflection triggered. The detailed analysis will be presented at the conf erence. \n\nReferences:\nZimmerman\, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulati on: A social cognitive perspective. In Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13-39).\nMezirow\, J. (1990). How critical reflection triggers transformat ive learning. Fostering critical reflection in adulthood\, 1\, 20.\nMezi row\, J. (1998). On critical reflection. Adult education quarterly\, 48( 3)\, 185-198.\nRodgers\, C. (2002). Defining reflection: Another look at J ohn Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers college record\, 104(4)\, 84 2-866.\nErtmer\, P. A.\, & Newby\, T. J. (1996). The expert learner: Strat egic\, self-regulated\, and reflective. Instructional science\, 24(1)\, 1-24.\nSharma\, M. D.\, & Bewes\, J. (2011). Self-monitoring: Confidence\, academic achievement and gender differences in physics. Journal of Learni ng Design\, 4(3)\, 1-13.\nDewey\, J.\, & HMH\, H. M. H. (1933). How we thi nk: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative processD. C. Heath\, Boston.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contr ibutions/6798/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6798/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Does the diagram that you draw tell its meaning? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153600Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153700Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6799@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Minoru SATO (Tokai University)\nSchematic diagrams r epresenting physical concepts do not necessarily define how to draw. For example\, arrows are used for the various meaning in physics education. T here is a possibility that the learner who saw the schematic diagrams cont aining arrows does interpretation different from the true intention by whi ch they were drawn. The confusion of learners formed by the disagreement of such interpretation may be one of the reasons that making learning of p hysics difficult. However\, such difficulties in visual communication are hard to grasp as compared to linguistic communication. For example\, dis crepancies in linguistic communication are grasped by the fact that the co nversations do not mesh\, but such a process does not exist for visual com munication. Therefore\, if the learner does not understand the contents\, in the case of linguistic communication the teacher can repeat the explan ation until the learner can understand\, but in the case of visual communi cation the teacher cannot notice that the learner does not understand. In other words\, it seems that a schematic diagram\, which is a typical exam ple of visual communication\, needs to be carefully drawn to be conveyed t o the learner without misunderstanding. In order to know whether the inte ntion of the schematic diagrams is conveyed to the learner without misunde rstanding\, the validity of existing schematic diagrams used in Newtonian mechanics was evaluated using an eye tracking device. In addition\, the r elation between understanding Newtonian mechanics concept and schematic di agrams understanding was examined.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/ contributions/6799/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6799/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Analysing assessments in introductory physics using Semantic Gravi ty: Refocussing the purpose DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6800@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Christine Steenkamp (University of Stellenbosch)\nIn physics it is required from students from first year onwards to be able t o apply core concepts in different contexts\, ranging from commonplace to highly specialised examples. Students also need to transfer their understa nding of core concepts to subsequent years of study since physics hierarch ically builds on these understandings as students progress in their studie s. Cumulative learning has been defined as learning that facilitates the a bility to “transfer knowledge across contexts and build knowledge over t ime” [K. Maton\, British Journal of Sociology of Education 30\, 43\,2009 ]. \nCultivation of cumulative learning during first year physics modules is critical and challenging\, particularly in South Africa where student cohorts have highly diverse educational backgrounds. Assessment is a key a spect of learning that influences students’ approach to learning. It is therefore important to ask whether our assessment practices encourage cumu lative learning. \nLegitimation Code Theory (LCT)\, developed by Maton and co-workers\, provides a framework for analysis of educational practices [ K. Maton\, British Journal of Sociology of Education 30\, 43\,2009]. The S emantics dimension is one of the tools from LCT that facilitates distincti on between levels of abstraction and complexity. Abstraction (termed seman tic gravity) refers to the role of context in meaning\, whereas complexity (termed semantic density) is related to the degree to which meaning is co ndensed into words or symbols. Maton argues that cumulative learning is fa cilitated by exposing students to appropriate ranges of complexity and abs traction in teaching and assessments. In this paper we illustrate how sema ntic gravity was used to critique the quality of assessments in introducto ry physics on university level\, and how the results were then used to inf orm assessment practices. \nWe analysed past assessments of two mainstream first year physics modules over a five year period. The results revealed large variation in the range of abstraction that was assessed over this pe riod. It also highlights challenges with regards to cumulative learning. T he study was followed up by an intervention during 2017 consisting of real time analysis of the test and exam papers\, in combination with interacti ve internal moderation sessions. The analysis empowered both the lecturers and internal moderator by providing a practical categorisation of questio ns. The process guided both lecturers and students to refocus on the teac hing and learning of core concepts. Analysis of grades of cohorts before a nd during the intervention suggests that it has improved student understan ding of the core concepts and advanced cumulative learning. \nThis study i llustrates how semantic gravity can be used to guide the moderation of ass essments and support the development of more consistent assessments over c onsecutive years.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/680 0/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6800/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Developing representational competence in first year physics: Impl ications for curriculum and classroom practices DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T130000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6801@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Honjiswa Conana (University of the Western Cape)\nPh ysics educators recognise that successful introductory physics learning de pends on understanding and using the various ‘representational modes’ (i.e. semiotic systems) (see Airey and Linder 2017) which are characterist ic of the communication practices in physics (for example\, specialised la nguage\, symbols\, graphs\, sketches\, diagrams\, mathematics\, and gestur es). Physics Education Research has demonstrated that the explicit use of multiple representations in undergraduate physics teaching is important fo r helping students learn the ‘disciplinary discourse’ (Airey and Linde r 2009\; Lemke\n1990\, 2004) of physics\, and thus explicitly shift the ph ysics education focus to\nlearning to ‘think like a physicist’ (van He uvelen\, 1991).  It has been argued that this can be achieved through cre ating a ‘representation-rich learning environment’ (for example\, see Rosengrant et al.\, 2009: 010108-2)\, which focuses on helping students le arn and understand how to appropriately use physics representations\; to a ppreciate why certain representations are useful\, and to see the epistemo logical underpinnings of these representations\, thus developing students ’ ‘meta-representational competence’ (for example\, see Kohl and Fin kelstein\, 2008: 010111-11).\n\nIn this presentation\, I discuss two diffe rent pedagogical approaches used in introductory physics courses\; one mor e traditionally oriented and the other oriented towards developing student s’ ‘representational competence’ (see\, Linder\, Airey\, Mayaba and Webb\, 2014). The theoretical framing for this study draws on a particular Semantics perspective that was developed by Karl Maton at the University of Sydney\, as part of his Legitimation Code Theory (Maton\, 2014). The st udy examined how pedagogical approaches have an impact on the way that stu dents approach physics problem tasks. The results illustrate how the adopt ion of a pedagogical approach that is based on an explicit unpacking of co ntent through pedagogically designed ‘moves’ (Conana\, 2016) between r epresentations that includes making their underlying ‘epistemological co mmitments’ (Hewson\, 1985) transparent\, led to more sophisticated appro aches being adopted by students when tackling physics tasks.\n\nFinally\, I will discuss what I see being the usefulness of the methodology used in the study for providing rich educational insight into ways that curriculum and classroom practices that I argue can make a meaningful difference whe n seeking to generate optimal ways of supporting student learning in the c hallenges that they meet in undergraduate physics courses.\n\nhttps://even ts.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6801/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6801/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:INTEREST OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE GRADE 12 LEARNERS TO UNDERTAKE STUDIE S AND CAREERS WITHIN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6802@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Shalini Dukhan (School of Animal\, Plant and Environ mental Sciences\, Faculty of Science\, University of the Witwatersrand)\nI nvestment in Research and Development results in economic growth. Not sel ecting Science as part of one’s school curriculum places learners at a d isadvantage in terms of the range of tertiary qualifications accessible to them when they enter university\, and in terms of their career choices.Li terature has reported repeatedly that South African learners have the poor est literacy and numeracy skills according to global standards.Studies at Wits University indicate that unlike most subjects that learners take in G rade 12 in South Africa\, Physical Science acts as a predictor for academi c success at the level of first year.It is crucial to determine factors th at learners perceive as supportive and constraining to their choice of qua lification and career post-secondary school. \n\nThis study sets out to d etermine the extent to which career guidance at school\, support from the home environment\, peer-influence\, and the students’ aspiration to ente r into Sciences as a career influence the Grade 12 Physical Science studen ts to make this choice. Data collected in the form of a questionnaire fro m 75 learners across three schools\, i.e. private school\, fee-paying publ ic school\, and no-fee Dinaledi public school. A Dinaledi school receives a grant to improve the number and quality of passes in Mathematics and Ph ysical Sciences.\n\nLearners indicated their family would support their de cision to attend university (60% of learners from no-fee school\, 79% from fee-paying public school\, 100% from private school).67% of learners from the no-fee school indicated they learnt about career options and requirem ents based on watching television\, 55% from the fee-paying public school and 25% from the private school alluded to this. 81% of learners from no-f ee schools indicated that their friends supported their choice of career\, 75% of learners from the private school and 45% from the fee-paying publi c school expressed a similar belief.There is a substantial pool of student s who would like to study Science at University (69-81%) but either do not believe that they have the grades to enter (25% from private school\, 52% from fee-paying public school\, and 57% from no-fee public school)\, the financial resources for their studies (17% from the fee-paying public scho ol and 31% from the no-fee public school)\, and are concerned about their work ethic (17% from fee-paying public school and 40% from no-fee public s chool).Compared to learners in the private school (75%) and fee-paying pub lic schools (83%)\,only 31% of learners taking Physical Science at the no- fee public school believe that a career in Science is accessible to them. This means that there is a reduction in the pool of potential talent avai lable for the R&D industry that stems from the level of secondary school.I f current trends in Science in the South African landscape continue\, the research and development industry in South Africa will be negatively impac ted. Thus the deep-seated reasons for students studying Physical Science a t school need to be investigated.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/c ontributions/6802/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6802/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:WHAT DOES EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH EXPE RIMENTS DEPEND ON? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155600Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T160100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6803@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Manjula Sharma (The University of Sydney)\nIntroduct ion\n\nStudents’ emotional engagement is one of the important factors to be considered in Physics Education Research. Our study aims to investigat e the role of colour\, and the inclusion of a history of science context i n generating students’ emotional engagement (Stinner\, 1993). We have tr ied to engage students emotionally with thermal physics through an experim ent.\n\nResearch question\n\nDo students emotionally engage in the experim ent if colours and a history of science context are included in the experi ment notes?\n\nMethodology\n\nWe constructed an ‘intervention’ experim ent on thermal physics. This was a guided inquiry experiment with clear in structions. Students were explicitly asked to discuss\, analyze and interp ret. We included a colourful story on the ‘History of Heat’ in the int roduction of the experiment. The ‘control’ experiment on ‘ultrasound waves’ was written in a standard manner and was not modified. We design ed a survey of 19 items based on Peixoto et al. (2015) and four open-ended questions. The surveys were given to the students of both the ‘interven tion’ and ‘control’ groups.\n\nData Collection\n\nThis study was don e over three weeks of laboratories for 1st year 1st semester regular under graduate students at the University of Sydney. The data collected were 1) observational field notes 2) surveys 3) logbooks. Surveys were collected f rom 339 students\, 190 for the ‘intervention’ and 149 for the ‘contr ol’.\n\nResults\n\nOur preliminary results indicate that students were m ore emotionally engaged in the ‘intervention’ compared to the ‘contr ol’. Some quotes were:\n“fantastic! It affected me in a very positive way\, enlightening not only me but my fellow peers in the field of thermal physics”\n“excellent with description and picture”\n“very easy to follow\, fun and much clearer instruction”\nComprehensive data analysis will be presented at the conference.\n\nConclusion\n\nOur study shows tha t a simple change in the way experiments are presented to the students res ults in improved emotional engagement\; students reported that the experim ent was easier to understand and more enjoyable.\n\nReferences\n\nStinner\ , A. (1993) Conceptual change\, history\, and science stories\, Interchang e\, 24 (1/2)\, 87-103.\n\n\nPeixoto\, F.\, Mata\, L.\, Monteiro\, V.\, San ches\, C. & Pekrun\, R. (2015) The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire: Val idation for Pre- Adolescent Students\, European Journal of Developmental P sychology\, 12(4)\, 472-481.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contri butions/6803/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6803/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Exploring the connection between science and business: an approach from the Institute of Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6804@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Linsey Clark (Institute of Physics)\nPhysics and bus iness are renowned subjects in their own right\, but when combined have th e potential to achieve extraordinary things. This concept is something the Institute of Physics (IOP) believes in and has dedicated over a decade to programmes within this area\, including a series of entrepreneurship trai ning courses for hundreds of scientists and engineers around the world. \ n\nFor many years the training focused on university students who were stu dying a STEM subject\, and scientists and engineers with commercially viab le inventions or ideas. However\, upon reflection\, research and conversat ions with in-country partners\, we questioned what happened to students wh o did not attend university. Through that we came to the realisation that with our experience\, along with our partners and volunteers\, we could wo rk with students at a younger age and explore their interest in a STEM sub ject\, their plans for the future and how the two might be connected. With that in mind\, in 2017 the IOP\, in partnership with several other organi sations\, initiated the Future STEM Business Leaders programme. It is spec ifically for final year secondary school students in Tanzania\, who are st udying STEM subjects in some capacity\, and would like to explore what can be achieved when applying an education in science to business. \n\nThe s even month programme begins with a three day training course\, which is de dicated to practical physics\, how to conduct business in Tanzania and how the two are linked. This is all demonstrated through interactive workshop s\, sessions with business owners\, and a group activity which tasks stude nts with developing their own physics based business\, based on an example that we provide. Once the students have completed this training they are then given the opportunity to apply everything they have learnt to their o wn business ideas\, through support from business mentors and incubators i n Dar es Salaam. The programme ends with students pitching their business plans\, with the best plan receiving an internship with a science based bu siness in Tanzania. \n\nThis programme is an excellent example of developi ng physics education and demonstrating what can be achieved with an educat ion in a STEM subject\, in this case the creation of a business. The progr amme is currently completing year one and year two will begin in September 2018\, and as a result we will be in a good position to present the progr amme and findings at the conference. Our proposal is to run a 90 minute wo rkshop\; we will begin with an introduction to the programme\, including i ts history and impact and end with our future plans. The majority of the t ime will be spent taking attendees through examples of the three day progr amme\, i.e. a science communication workshop\, developing a business model canvass and/or pitching skills. We hope that those who attend the worksho p understand the essence of our programme but\, most importantly\, see the link between an education in physics and business.\n\nhttps://events.saip .org.za/event/93/contributions/6804/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6804/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:TRANSFER MATRIX METHOD FOR ELECTRON-IO-PHONON INTERACTION IN MULTI -INTERFACE HETEROSTRUCURE SYSTEMS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150100Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150200Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6806@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: ZUWEI YAN (College of Science\, Inner Mongolia Agric ultural University\, Hohhot 010018\, PR China)\nIn a conventional solid st ate physics teaching material\, the optical phonon mode and its interactio n with electrons is an important problem[1\, 2]. It is usually used to so lve the optical phonon model by using the Born-Huang equation[3] and obtai n the Hamiltonian of electron and phonon interaction for bulk material. Bu t multi-layer systems of polar semiconductors\, it is well known that the electron-optical-phonon interaction in heterostructures is strongly affect ed by the presence of heterointerfaces\, which give rise to new modes of o ptical phonons localized in the vicinities of interface and called the int erface optical (IO) phonon modes. A detail investigation for the IO phonon s and their coupling with electrons is more complicated in multi-layer sys tems\, and students have difficulty in learning. \nIn the present paper\, we study the electron-IO-phonon interaction in multi-layer systems of pola r semiconductors in solid state physics teaching. Within the framework of the dielectric continuum model we use a transfer-matrix method[4] to obtai n the electrostatic potentials\, dispersion relations of IO-phonon modes i n the systems and then derive the corresponding electron-phonon interactio n Hamiltonian. It is found that there are two branches of interface phonon modes in each interface\, and coupling with the electrons traveling in th e system besides the confined longitudinal optical (LO) phonon modes. The dispersion relation and the electron-IO-phonons coupling functions for sev eral typical systems are given and discussed. The advantage of transfer-ma trix method is discussed in solving the physical problems of multilayer he terogeneous materials\, It is clear seen that more complicated problem is easy to solve\, and the physical meaning is clear\, and convenient for the teaching. Such as semiconductor multi-barrier quantum tunneling can also be solved well.\n\nReference:\n1. Ch.Kittel (1996)\, Introduction to Solid State physics\, 7th Ed.\, J.Wiley and Sons\, New York.\n2. O.Madelung (19 78)\, Introduction to Solid State Theory\, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelbe rg\, New York.\n3. M.Born\, K.Huang(1954)\, Dynamical Theory of Crystal La ttices\, Oxford University Press\, Oxford.\n4. Y. Ando and T. Itoh(1987)\, J. Appl. Phys. 61\, 1497.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contribu tions/6806/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6806/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The use of Mathematics Linear Graphs and Functions in understandin g and interpretation of Kinematics Graphs in Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6807@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Itumeleng Phage (Honorary)\nStudents at tertiary lev el seem not to be able to relate their Mathematical understanding of graph s with graphs in Physics especially from Kinematics concepts. This has res ulted in most students being unable to understand and interpret Kinematics Graphs or present a clear graphical report from their Lab experiments and interpret them.\nMathematics is an essential tool in studying physics\, i .e.\, it will be difficult to study Physics without the sound basics of Ma thematics. It is even called the “language of physics” (Redish\, 2005) . Physicists blend conceptual physics with mathematical skills and use the m to solve and interpret equations and graphs. For instance\, in kinematic s\, different aspects from mathematics such as knowledge of functions and the solving of equations are combined with physics concepts. \nMany introd uctory physics students perform poorly on the use of mathematical skills a nd interpretations of graphs in physics. Two possible reasons may be:\n- S tudents lack the necessary mathematical skills needed to solve the physics problems. \n- Students do not know how to apply and relate their mathematical skills in the context of physi cs.\nThese possible reasons were investigated in a Masters Research projec t\, which probed first year university students’ interpretations of grap hs in kinematics and in mathematics. This paper will use the idea of Beich ner’s standardized questionnaire on kinematic graphs. From this question naire\, an equivalent questionnaire was devised in the context of Mathemat ical equations and graphs. The responses were analysed statistically. The results of the investigation tend to indicate the deficiencies in the stud ents’ mathematical conceptual knowledge as well as in their transfer of mathematical skills they possess to solve kinematic equations and graphs.\ n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6807/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6807/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Exploring Physics Student Graduate Preparedness vis-à-vis the 201 8 SAIP Benchmark Statement DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6808@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Bako Nyikun Audu (University of the Western Cape)\nT he 2018 SAIP Benchmark Statement (SAIP 2018\, 22-23) has many similar fund amental “graduate attributes” to the British (IOP 2014) and the Americ an (American Association of Physics Teachers 2011\; American Center for Ph ysics 2014\; Heron and McNeil 2016) benchmark statements. Some of these gr aduate attributes are extremely difficult to evaluate in terms of implemen tation practices (how these get written into module descriptors and how te achers implement these) and how student experience these SAIP intended att ributes. These are difficult to evaluate because they deal with human capa bilities as a function of physics knowledge and working practices both in physics and in society. Of particular relevance for this presentation are the recommended ethical\, communicative\, problem solving\, ICT\, analytic al\, investigative\, and personal skills (see p.22\, SAIP 2018).\n\nThe pr esentation will propose a novel methodological way of doing this that has empirical components that are built on substantive theorizing of Human Cap ability (Alkire and Black 1997\, 263-279\; Fraser and Greenhalgh 2001\, 79 9-803\; Hart 2012\, 275-282) rather than on rhetorical statements. This ap proach will be illustrated with case study data collected from one of Sout h Africa’s leading departments of physics\, and the implications of such research outcome will be discussed.\n\nKey words: SAIP Physics benchmark statement\, Human Capability\, graduate attributes\, novel methodology.\n\ n References\n\nAlkire\, Sabina and Rufus Black. 1997. "A Practical Reasoning Theory of Development Ethics: Furthering the Capabilities Approach." Journal of International Development 9 (2): 263-2 79. doi:AID-JID439>3.3.CO\;2-4.\n\nAmerican Association of Physics Teacher s. 2011. Making and Sustaining Changes in Undergraduate Physics Programs a t Research Universities. Maryland\, USA: AAPT.\n\nAmerican Center for Phys ics. 2014. Graduate Education in Physics: The Path Ahead. Maryland\, USA: APS & AAPT.\n\nFraser\, S. W. and T. Greenhalgh. 2001. "Coping with Comple xity: Educating for Capability." BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) 323 (7316): 7 99-803. doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7316.799. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1 1588088.\n\nHart\, Caroline Sarojini. 2012. "The Capability Approach and E ducation." Cambridge Journal of Education 42 (3): 275-282. doi:10.1080/030 5764X.2012.706393. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.201 2.706393.\n\nHeron\, Paula and Laurie McNeil. 2016. Phys21:Preparing Physi cs Students for 21st-Century Careers. MD\, USA: American Physical Society. \n\nIOP. 2014. The Physics Degree: Graduate Skills Base and the Core of Ph ysics. 1st Edition ed. London: Institute of Physics.\n\nSAIP. 2018. "SA Ph ysics Benchmark Statement." Physics Comments\, 22-23.\n\nhttps://events.sa ip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6808/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6808/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:WHO NEEDS 3D WHEN LEARNING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE – PERCEPTIONS OF 3D AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T095000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T101000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6809@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Urban Eriksson (National resource center for physics education\, physics departement\, Lund University\, Lund\, Sweden)\nWhen entering the discipline of physics\, and in particular astronomy\, student s are faced with many challenges. Not only do they need to learn to “rea d” and “write” the “language of the discipline”\, built by all t he semiotic systems and resources (tools\, representations\, and activitie s) used by the discipline\, but also to learn to think spatially\, or extr apolate three-dimensionality from 1D and 2D input (Eriksson et al.\, 2014) \, e.g. mathematics\, diagrams\, images\, etc. Although identified as very important (eg. Hegarty\, 2014\; Lindgren & Schwartz\, 2009\; NRC\, 2006\; Plummer\, 2014\; Uttal & Cohen\, 2012)\, extrapolating three-dimensionali ty is a severely overlooked competency in both physics and astronomy educa tion that poses a real challenge to novice students in their meaning-makin g\; they are often left by them self to try to imagine what an astronomica l object may look like in 3D. Furthermore\, from the physics and astronomy education research literature\, only very few other efforts have been ide ntified to address the challenges associated with extrapolating three-dime nsionality (eg. Heyer et al.\, 2013). Hence\, extrapolating three-dimensio nality becomes an important educational aspect to consider when teaching p hysics and astronomy. \n\nIn this paper we report on an international stud y where perception of the third dimension\, depth\, in astronomical 2D ima gery and psudo-3D simulations has been the main focus. We have chosen to f ocus on astronomical nebulae\, because these are very common in astronomy textbooks/teaching material and teaching situations. Astronomy students an d professors have been asked about their noticing of depth from astronomic al 2D images and psudo-3D simulations in order for us to map their compete ncy in extrapolating three-dimensionality in their minds. In analyzing the ir responds\, we use a standard qualitative research method\, and take as our point-of-departure Eriksson et al. (2014) hierarchical categories for multidimensionality discernment. Our preliminary results suggest that the competency to “read” depth in astronomical image/simulation is very li mited by new-to-the-discipline students but also that simulations\, where motion parallax is offered\, could help students in their meaning-making a nd extrapolation of three-dimensionality in their minds. Implications in r egards to our findings will be discussed. \n\nEriksson\, U.\, Linder\, C.\ , Airey\, J.\, & Redfors\, A. (2014). Who needs 3D when the Universe is fl at? Science Education\, 98(3)\, 31. \nHegarty\, M. (2014). Spatial Thinkin g in Undergraduate Science Education. Spatial Cognition and Computation. \ nHeyer\, I.\, Slater\, S.\, & Slater\, T. (2013). Establishing the empiric al relationship between non-science majoring undergraduate learners' spati al thinking skills and their conceptual astronomy knowledge. RELEA(16). \n Lindgren\, R.\, & Schwartz\, D. L. (2009). Spatial Learning and Computer S imulations in Science. International Journal of Science Education\, 31(3). \nNational Research Council. (2006). Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a Support System in the K-12 Curriculum: The National Academies Press.\nPl ummer\, J. D. (2014). Spatial thinking as the dimension of progress in an astronomy learning progression. Studies in Science Education.\nUttal\, D. H.\, & Cohen\, C. A. (2012). Spatial thinking and STEM education: When\, w hy and how. Psychology of learning and motivation\, 57.\n\nhttps://events. saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6809/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6809/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PHYSICS IN THE DISCIPLINE OF MEDICAL RADIATIONS IN AN AUSTRALIAN U NIVERSITY DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T095000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6810@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pradip Deb (School of Health and Biomedical Sciences \, RMIT University\, Australia)\nX-ray imaging has become fundamental dia gnostic tool in healthcare. More than four billion medical images are bein g captured globally in each year for clinical purpose by using ionizing ra diations. There is an increasing demand for delivery of additional diagnos tic and therapeutic services from medical radiations and imaging sectors w orldwide as the population is growing. For high-quality healthcare a susta inable medical radiations and imaging technology workforce is absolutely i mportant. Medical radiations and imaging are highly technologically driven professions. Adequate knowledge in physics is the basic requirement for a ny medical radiation technologists working in medical radiation centres wh ere ionizing radiations are used. The purpose of this paper is to discuss courses of physics we teach and the challenges we face in teaching physics to the undergraduate students in the discipline of medical radiations in an Australian University. Although laws of physics are applied in the deve lopment and use of diagnostic and therapeutic medical equipment\, the phys ics is not loved by the students as a subject as it should be. There are 1 3 medical radiations physics courses (including radiography\, nuclear medi cine\, radiotherapy\, CT\, MRI\, and Ultrasonography) are taught in underg raduate medical radiations program in our discipline. In this paper teachi ng methods of medical radiation physics will be discussed and students' ap proach to learn this subject in this department will be analysed. The teac hing techniques and initiatives will be discussed along with their success and failure. It is evident that students in medical radiations program lo ok at physics differently compared to the students in other physics progra ms. In medical radiations students are eager to see more direct applicatio ns of physics compared to the basic theory behind it. Some students believ e that it is possible to be a good radiological technologist without havin g proper understanding of physics. Some students have a general repelling attitude toward learning physics in this discipline. But this attitude can be changed with the modification of traditional method of physics teachin g by showing its application in the field of medicine.\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6810/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6810/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Good Vibrations: Sound Physics in Science Centres DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6811@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Derek Fish (University of Zululand)\nThis workshop e xplores effective physics teaching by evaluating an aspect of the work don e by interactive science centres in South Africa. The focus of the study w as grade 9 students from three different school groups: urban\, township a nd rural visiting the Unizulu Science Centre (in Richards Bay\, South Afri ca) and attending a science show “Good Vibrations” which presents conc epts in sound and waves through the medium of musical instruments. The pri ncipal author’s long experience at Unizulu Science Centre has indicated that the three groups above have very different experiences during a visit which relate to their prior experience and educational opportunities. The different groups were compared and contrasted in terms of: General attitu de\; conceptual and visual difficulties with respect to sound\; and prior knowledge and learning during the show. The implications of this study fo r the design and presentation of science shows (and for Physics teaching i n general) were then considered in the light of these findings.\n\nThe ini tial study of the show (conducted towards a Masters’ degree) used a comb ination of qualitative and quantitative probes to measure learning and oth er outcomes. Valuable lessons were learnt about how well these probes per formed in the evaluation of a science show\, which will be extremely valua ble to practitioners. The probes showed encouraging evidence of significan t learning taking place during the show\, and significant knowledge gains with two of the three groups doubling their pre-test score in the post-tes t. We found that the show worked well for urban and township students\, bu t not very well for rural students\, due to issues of language\, cultural background and prior knowledge. \n\nDesign Based Research (DBR) claims to provide solutions to real educational challenges by refining both the inte rventions offered by communicators and the instruments used to test their effectiveness. As an extension to the study mentioned above (conducted tow ards a doctoral degree) the author used the data from the initial study to refine the show and to attempt to boost learning achieved by the students – especially in the weaker rural group. The survey instruments used wer e simultaneously refined to try to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding of the questions. Students were presented with the “new improved” show a nd then tested using the refined instruments. Learning was contrasted with that previously achieved and significant gains were noted. While performe d in the context of science shows in science centres\, this study neverthe less has relevance to all Physics teaching. It offers a feedback instrumen t (using DBR) to assist teachers in refining their message (and the instru ments used to evaluate it) to suit the different groups they present to. \ n\nIn this interactive workshop session: some aspects of the show will be performed\, data and conclusions from the two studies will be presented an d discussed\, and participants will be guided through the effective creati on\, evaluation and improvement of a Physics show (or lesson).\n\nhttps:// events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6811/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6811/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:THE ALIGNMENT OF THE GRADE 12 PHYSICS EXAMINATION AND THE CAPS CUR RICULUM: (NOVEMBER 2014 – MARCH 2018) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6812@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nishaal Bhaw (Unisa)\nIn order for the South African education system to compete globally\, the best practices of the global e ducation leaders must be adopted to achieve success in STEM education. Pol icy changes in the education system and Government investment on STEM educ ation must be realised. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has associ ated the poor pass rate in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Physical Sciences to the learners’ lack of practical work and the inability to so lve problems by integrating their knowledge from different topics in Physi cal Sciences. The CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement) is cen tral to the planning\, organising and teaching of Physical Sciences. The NSC Physical Sciences Examination Diagnostic Report 2017\, refers to the C APS on only one occasion. The reference was made to the learners’ lack o f knowledge of Physical Sciences definitions. Considering that definitions in the NSC Physical Sciences: Physics (P1) November 2017 weighed only 11% \, and more than a third of the learners achieved below 30% in the examina tion there seems to be a lack of references to CAPS. It was also suspected that the poor performance could possibly be due to a disjointed alignment between the CAPS and the P1. There have been no previous studies investig ating the alignment between the CAPS and the P1\, this study aims to fill that gap. A case study research strategy was used in this study. A purposi ve sampling procedure included the CAPS Grades 10–12 Physical Sciences d ocument\; the Physical Sciences Examination Guidelines Grade 12 documents and the final and supplementary P1 examinations for the period starting No vember 2014 to March 2018. A summative content analysis research technique was conducted using the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) research meth od. The SEC method employed the use of the four topics of Physics and the four non-hierarchical levels of cognitive demand as described in the modif ied version of Bloom’s taxonomy. This study found that there was a 100% of categorical coherence\, a 67.3% balance of representation\, a 79.6% cog nitive complexity and a Porter’s alignment index of 0.76 between the CAP S and the P1. The overall inter-rater Kappa for all the documents analysed was 0.88. The results of this study indicated that the CAPS over-emphasiz ed the “Mechanics” topic content and the P1 over-utilised the “Appli cations and Analysis” cognitive demand based questions. The highest leve l of cognitive demand\, “Synthesis and Evaluation” was not used in the CAPS or the P1. An interpretation of this is the CAPS and the P1 foster a n environment of lower order thinking. In order to foster higher order thi nking and increase the alignment between the CAPS and the P1 it is a recom mendation of this study that firstly\, the CAPS decreases “Mechanics” content. Secondly\, the CAPS and the P1 increase the cognitive demand of “Synthesis and Evaluation” at the expense of” Recall”. Thirdly\, t he CAPS must include the concepts\, content and skills of the school based Physics practical assessments whilst decreasing the focus on Physics defi nitions.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6812/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6812/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXAM (ENEM) LIKE A FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PH YSICS EDUCATION IN BRAZIL DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T071000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T073000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6813@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Guilherme S. Marcom (UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE CAMPIN AS - UNICAMP)\nBrazil has some large-scale assessments\, for instance\, st ate or national exams to evaluate basic education\, higher education admis sion process\, and the national high school exam (ENEM) which is for sure the most important. It is possible to do ENEM as many times as Brazilian s tudents want\, but it is only possible to access higher education if one h as finished high school. ENEM consists of two-days test\, there are 180 mu ltiple-choice issues plus an essay\, divided 4 academic discipline: math\, languages (Portuguese and Spanish or English)\, natural sciences\, and hu manities. For the admission process\, the score for each area is treated b ased on the Item Response Theory (IRT)\, which tries to minimize the effec t of random guesses. We use the researches on problem-solving strategies\, because they provide a number of difficulties associated with the resolut ion of questions of physics. As seen\, know the difficulties presented in their solution strategies of a problem can suggest ways to understand what are the reasons signal a wrong alternative. We believe these possibilitie s can be returned to schools as a way to assist teachers in improving the teaching quality\, especially publics\, approximate this exam to a formati ve assessment (TARAS\, 2010). We analyze the physics issues in 2015. These were classified and compared independently by two physics experts\, total izing 15 issues. For the year analyzed\, around 1.4 million of candidates realized ENEM of public school. Statistical analysis\, to rating alternati ves\, was conducted using SAS 9.4 software. Wrong alternatives with higher rate\, could be used to identify the strategies to solve the proposed que stions. All of issues where solved by the authors\, carefully searching po ssible alternative tracks to the issues solutions. Alternative tracks\, we re compared with the rates item\, searching to explain the students’ phy sics knowledge used in the issues solutions. The issues represented a larg e spectrum of physics knowledge. We can seem a low value in the issues cor rect (0.30)\, this reflect a hard difficult of the students in physics. Th e best performances in issues were when the context is closer to everyday life and the worst performance are in issues when necessary a mathematicia n approach. The strategies analyze results in the following inferences: a not correct use of units of measurement\, the presence of symbolic forms\, intuitive reasoning in solving problems and not scientific concepts. With the results we can construction of a reference matrix indicating which th e mistakes made by students and the possible reasons that led to commit su ch errors. At the time that this array was returned to school and interest ed owed would be considered as a feedback element that essential to the de velopment of a formative assessment (TARAS\, 2010). If the results returne d for the schools teaches can be used to promote learning\, and we expecte d that physics teachers\, use that information to improve the students’ knowledge\, in physic area on public schools.\nM. Taras. (2010) De Volta a o Básico: definições e processos de avaliação. Práx. Educ. 5\, 123.\ n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6813/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6813/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An assessment of students’ understanding of Newtonian Mechanics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155400Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6814@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kevin Goldstein (University of the Witwatersrand)\nT he Force Concept Inventory (FCI) pretest [1] comprising of 30 multiple cho ice questions was administered at the commencement of the academic year to ~950 First-Year Engineering students registered for a full-year Mechanics course. The purpose of the diagnostic assessment was to acquire informati on on students’ prior knowledge of their understanding of basics concept s of Newtonian Mechanics. In addition\, this instrument has been utilized to ascertain areas of weakness in students’ understanding which could be targeted during the academic year and to evaluate the possibility of appl ying the test to assess the effectiveness of instruction. The class attain ed a weak average mark of 33% which is similar to results reported in [2]. The collective responses for individual questions have been evaluated and will be discussed in terms of students’ misconceptions. \n\nIn order t o ascertain whether the FCI data gives evidence of any correlation to inte ractive classroom activities\, the results of the first class test based o n dimensional analysis\, force vectors and vector operations in vector geo metry and vector algebra formulation were compared with the FCI responses. We found a roughly linear correspondence with R2~0.16. The classroom acti vities included the use of “clickers” in the majority of lectures coup led with more focused co-operative group work in tutorial sessions. The cl ass average was for the test was ~53% and the pass rate in the region of 5 6%. Although the test coverage was limited to a very small basic component of Mechanics\, a refined analysis shows that students who performed well in the FCI test also produced good class test results – amongst students who got 60% or more for the FCI\, the pass rate for the class test was ~8 8% and of the students who failed the class test\, only ~3% attained 60% o r more for the FCI. Conversely\, competence in the class test was not stro ngly correlated with the FCI test – of the students who passed the class test\, only ~16% achieved 60% or more for the FCI while the class test pa ss rate amongst students who obtained less than 60% for the FCI was 52%. I t should be noted that students in general performed much better in the cl ass test. In order to validate these preliminary findings\, upcoming class tests and examinations scores will be compared with the FCI test results. The impact of teaching and learning will be re-evaluated by conducting a FCI post-test after the completion of the syllabus on statics and dynamics . \n\nReferences\n\n[1] D. Hestenes and M. Wells (1992). Mechanics Ba seline Test. \n The Physics Teacher 30\, 159-166.\n[2] D. Hestenes\, M. Wells\, and G. Swackhamer (1992). Force \n Concept Inventory. The Ph ysics Teacher 30\, March 1992\, 141-\n 158.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org. za/event/93/contributions/6814/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6814/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Active learning\, student numbers\, and formal session attendance in Statistical Physics III at the University of the Witwatersrand DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6815@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jonathan Keartland (University of the Witwatersrand) \nActive learning techniques have been employed in teaching the Statistica l Physics III module (final year undergraduate level) at the University of the Witwatersrand since 2009\, and have proved very effective. This is e videnced by the excellent pass rates\, increased class averages\, and obvi ous retention of the core knowledge presented in the course. More recentl y (since 2015)\, enrolment for the module has doubled from approximately 2 5 students to approximately 50 students\, leading to a statistically signi ficant drop in the class average for the module. A re-examination of some of the active learning strategies employed has been ongoing following the increase in student numbers. It has become evident is that the percentag e attendance at formal lectures has decreased visibly. This can be seen i n both 2nd Year and 3rd Year modules in the Physics major stream\, and the literature indicates that this is by no means limited to Physics\, or to South African Universities. This paper will report on the core active tea ching strategies employed in the module\, the changes that have been made to the implementation of these strategies to accommodate the increased num bers\, and the measures introduced to combat the tendency to for students to miss formal teaching sessions.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/c ontributions/6815/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6815/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Teaching and Learning Approach - Concepts and Quantitative Tools DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T103000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T105000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6816@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alan Cornell (NITheP)\nOver a number of decades\, di fferent versions of the textbook: Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday and Resnick with built-in concepts was utilised for the Physics I Major introd uctory calculus course. Since 2016\, a new textbook: Principles and Practi se of Physics by Eric Mazur [1] centred on conceptual understanding and qu antitative skills was implemented as a new teaching and learning approach for lecturers and also to students whom have been exposed to conventional methods and structured curricula in particular at first year level. The or ganization of the contents in the text-book by Mazur uses a range of resea rch-based instructional techniques different from other textbooks. The sup plementary features include Mastering Physics and an Interactive eText wit h an integrated\, conceptual understanding of physics with problem solving activities ranging from on-line tutorial exercises with hints and feedbac k\, assignments and quizzes.\n\nIn order to probe the effectiveness of the textbook\, the teaching approach and students experiences\, and a course evaluation was administered to ~200 students comprising of the following s urvey questions: \n\n• The course was extensive in its coverage of su bject matter.\n• The course is well structured.\n• The course wa s pitched at the correct level.\n• Problem solving exercises reinforc e the material presented.\n• The textbook is easy to read and underst and.\n• I found that the pace of the work is appropriate.\n• Stu dent participation during lectures should be increased.\n\n\nThe data obta ined from this survey will be presented and discussed to provide insights into the new approach of teaching and learning adopted for the above menti oned course. In addition\, selected examples of concepts and quantitative tools will be highlighted. \n\n\nReferences\n\n[1] https://www.pearson .com/us/higher-education/program/Mazur-Principles-Practice-of-Physics-Plus -Mastering-Physics-with-e-Text-Access-Card-Package/PGM198896.html.\n\nhttp s://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6816/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6816/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:South African science students’ perceptions of physics as a fund amental discipline DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155600Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6817@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Leelakrishna Reddy (University of Johannesburg)\nMea ningful development of scientific literacy is underpinned by coherent acqu isition of scientific skills. The development of physics knowledge in part icular hinges to a large degree on cognitive and affective factors. In lig ht of this key imperative\, students’ perceptions of physics as a fundam ental discipline were established through the administration of Physics An xiety Questionnaire with first year science students at a South African un iversity. The questionnaire provided a meaningful platform to identify st udents’ perceptions in relation to various aspects such as physics exper imental work\, mathematical knowledge required to navigate physics studies \, physics problem-solving\, application of physics general knowledge in d aily life as well as the concomitant integrated assessment of physics skil ls and knowledge in various instructional settings. Key findings of the st udy strongly suggest that the acquisition of physics skills is crucially d ependent on a conflation of cognitive and affective factors forming an int egral part of the learning process. Theoretical implications for meaningf ul development of scientific literacy are discussed.\n\nhttps://events.sai p.org.za/event/93/contributions/6817/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6817/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Adapting RealTime Physics for Distance Learning with IOLab - A Fin al Report DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T080000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T090000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6818@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: David Sokoloff (University of Oregon)\, Erik Bodegom (Portland State University)\, Erik Jensen (Chemeketa Community College)\n The IOLab is a versatile\, relatively inexpensive data acquisition device developed by Mats Selen and his colleagues at University of Illinois (1). It is self-contained in a cart that can roll on its own wheels\, and it in cludes an optical encoder that measures motion quantities and a force sens or. It also contains sensors to measure a variety of other physical quanti ties. With a current cost of around $100\, students can purchase their own individual device (like a clicker) and can-in theory-use it to do hands-o n laboratory\, pre-lecture (flipped classroom) and homework activities at home. We report on the results of a project (2) to develop distance-learni ng (DL) laboratories using the IOLab. We have adapted RealTime Physics Mec hanics (3\,4) labs for use with the IOLab and tested them in supervised la boratory environments and in distance learning mode at Portland State Univ ersity and Chemeketa Community College. We will describe the labs and lab environments\, and the significant FMCE (5) conceptual learning gains.\n  \nReferences\n(1) See http://www.iolab.science/.\n(2) Funded under U.S. N ational Science Foundation grant DUE – 1505086\, July 1\, 2015-June 30\, 2017.\n(3) David R. Sokoloff\, Ronald K. Thornton and Priscilla W. Laws\, “RealTime Physics: Active Learning Labs Transforming the Introductory L aboratory\,” Eur. J. of Phys.: 28 (2007)\, S83- S94.\n(4) David R. Sokol off\, Ronald K. Thornton and Priscilla W. Laws\, RealTime Physics: Active Learning Laboratories\, Module 1: Mechanics\, 3rd Edition (Hoboken\, NJ\, John Wiley and Sons\, 2011).\n(5) Ronald K. Thornton and David R. Sokolof f\, "Assessing student learning of Newton's laws:\nThe Force and Motion Co nceptual Evaluation and the Evaluation of Active Learning Laboratory and L ecture Curricula"\, Am. J. Phys.: 66\, 338-352 (1998).\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6818/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6818/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Educational technology for physics: what’s useful?  And how do we generate it? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T080000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T090000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6819@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Wilkin Nicola (University of Birmingham\, UK)\nMy th eoretical physics research is in ultracold gases\, where the phenomena ar e predominantly quantum mechanical. My novel results have been discovered and analysed via computer algebra. This understanding of the power of comp uter algebra has transferred to my education practice - where it enables m y team and I to design mathematically based questions that can be automati cally marked. These questions better probe the depth of understanding tha n normal multiple choice\, by enabling free form mathematics to be entered as the answer. But which questions? The choice and implementation is unde rtaken by summer student interns\, and I will discuss how one harnesses th eir imagination and understanding of their peers’ needs\nwhilst ensuring that materials they generate are properly quality assured to be released to whole classes. \n\nAnd finally\, how about equality? If the questions are to be inclusive and relevant to all we need to ensure we have an incl usive team writing them. Hence\, I will discuss the importance of the stud ent recruitment process.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributi ons/6819/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6819/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:If Physics Education for Development is the Question\, Black women are the answer! DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T130000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6820@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Katemari Rosa (Federal University of Bahia)\nDrawing from the conference theme\, Physics Education for Development: a focus on context\, I propose for this talk that we look at the role of women\, par ticularly women of color\, for the sustainable development of communities. There are several experiences of socioeconomic development programs aroun d the world that focus on women for the programs’ success. Similarly\, b usinesses companies have found that profits increase when they invest in a n inclusive and diverse workforce. Thus\, scientific endeavor\, and physic s education\, in particular\, should consider the role of women and histor ically underserved or underrepresented populations when the goal is develo pment. I will argue Physics lacks diversity and this could be hindering ou r progress. In general\, we teach a physics that is usually disconnected f rom people’s experiences\, lacking role models that look like our studen ts\, and that is made somewhere far away - either geographically or in tim e. Increasing diversity in physics through women and underrepresented grou ps can be one way to help us creating and promoting a new and more inclusi ve Physics. I hope to share some ideas that support us to get there!\n\nht tps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6820/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6820/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Physics education for 21 st century graduates DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181003T080000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181003T090000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6821@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Diane Grayson (University of the Witwatersrand)\nThe century in which today’s students are growing up is different in a numb er of important ways from last century. This includes ubiquitous and incre asingly sophisticated technology\, climate change\, globalisation\, and th e concentration of the bulk of the world’s wealth in the hands of an eve r-decreasing percentage of its population. And then there was the great re cession of 2008. Taken together\, these things impact on students’ think ing patterns\, behaviours\, expectations\, constraints and opportunities. Broad global developments\, such as the fourth industrial revolution\, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals\, as well as the recent rise of so-called fake news and popular rejection of evidence-based thinking\, frame the context for what we can and must do in educating our students.\ n\nSo what are the implications for Physics and Physics teaching? Physicis ts have always taken pride in the fact that we acquire ways of thinking an d solving problems that have broad applicability. While that may be true\, no human endeavour can ever be divorced from context. How is the teaching of Physics being affected by the global context\, and how can Physics tea ching contribute to addressing global challenges? In this presentation\, I will make some suggestions\, in broad terms\, of what we ought to be teac hing\, what the key characteristics are of who we are teaching\, and how w e should teach\nin order to equip our students to be successful 21 st grad uates. That means being able to navigate the complexities and uncertaintie s of a turbulent world\, today and tomorrow\, and\, we hope\, contribute t o making it a better place for all of its inhabitants.\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6821/ LOCATION: ORIGINS CENTRE\, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6821/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Co-Creating Inclusion in Physics: Learning from What Helps Women o f Color Thrive DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T130000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6822@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Apriel K Hodari (Eureka Scientific\, Inc. Oakland\, USA)\nCentering marginalized voices has long been a tool for critiquing ma instream institutions and individual practices by feminist theorists and c ritical race scholars. In this paper\, I will present findings from Center ing Women of Color in STEM: Identifying and Scaling Up What Helps Women of Color Thrive (CWCS). The project studies predominantly white physics depa rtments in which women of color thrive. Our ultimate goal is to provide in sights into how physics spaces that were not created for women of color ca n become more welcoming of them\, and thereby increase the success of all students.\nIn doing this work\, our team considers broader notions of race and gender intersectionality via explicit engagement with ideas of family and identity beyond those traditionally considered. We use the Athena SWA N and Race Charter criteria to address inclusion in higher education throu gh a robust engagement with the broad spectrum of gender and race expressi on. We apply Patricia Hill Collins’ Domains of Power to situate our find ings\, and point to opportunities for intervention (Collins\, 2009\; Johns on\, 2018). Findings from CWCS challenge us to co-create learning environm ents where excellence and inclusion work together\, evidence of what inclu sive environments look like. I invite audience members to consider how the y can contribute to increased inclusion in their home institutions based o n what they learn here.\n\nREFERENCES\nPatricia Hill Collins. 2009. Anothe r Kind of Public Education: Race\, Schools\, the Media\, and Democratic Po ssibilities: Beacon Press.\nAngela C Johnson. 2018. Intersectional physics identity framework. Physics Education Research Conference\, Washington\, DC.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6822/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6822/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The practical teaching of undergraduate quantum mechanics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T160000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T162000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6823@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nithaya Chetty (University of Pretoria)\nIt is more than a hundred years since some of the most basic notions of quantum mecha nics were founded\, but the subject still remains largely a mystery and co nceptually a difficulty for many first time students. Some treatments of t he introductory material tend to lean more toward the formalism and the th eoretical underpinnings of the subject. Yet\, today\, quantum mechanics is a very practical tool that has been applied successfully to a wide range of research areas in physics\, such as in condensed matter physics\, solid state physics\, nuclear physics\, etc.\, and increasingly now in areas ou tside physics such as in chemistry\, biology\, etc. And so\, the question must be asked whether our teaching of the subject has kept up with develop ments at the high end of research. The author has endeavored to bring more excitement to the subject by focusing on practical applications\, includi ng computational examples. Drawing close parallels with the classical worl d\, which undergraduate physics students are usually more accustomed to\, has proven to be invaluable in making the teaching of quantum mechanics mo re tangible\, practical\, and understandable to first time students. For e xample\, the classical particle in a 1-D box corresponds to the particle s imply bouncing back and forth at constant speed. The classical probability density p(x)=1/a where a=width of the box. It is useful in this example t o discuss the meaning of this probability density from a classical standpo int which is related to the time-averaged motion of the particle. The quan tum mechanical probability for this system\, namely p(x)=|phi(x)|^2\, has some useful similarities and differences. The interpretation of the quant um mechanical probability density is related to an ensemble average and no t a time average. Furthermore\, it is useful to see how the classical resu lt for p(x) emerges from the quantum mechanical result for high quantum nu mber. The same approach is useful for the harmonic oscillator\, and other simple systems.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6823 / LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6823/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A comparative analysis of school physics curriculum content in sel ected countries DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155200Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155300Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6834@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sam Ramaila (University of Johannesburg)\nMeaningful curriculum reform is central to the provision and acquisition of globally relevant scientific skills. A globally competitive curriculum fosters the cultivation of skills required for sustainable economic growth and develo pment. In addition\, it is imperative to harness the affordances associate d with the provision of intellectually stimulating school physics curricul um content in order to foster the development of cognitive and reflective skills. In response to this key imperative\, a comparative analysis of sch ool physics curriculum content in selected countries was carried out with a view to identify levels of commonalities and the depth up to which each curriculum extends. Comparative analysis of school physics curriculum cont ent in selected countries revealed striking inherent characteristic featur es that serve to provide the structural differentiation between these curr icula. The level of economic growth and development in selected countries appeared to be a function of the quality and depth of the school physics c urriculum content. Theoretical implications for meaningful curriculum refo rm are discussed.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/683 4/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6834/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Education for development - “being transformed to transform” DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181001T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6824@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Benjamin Lawson (l'Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo)\nDespite vast natural resources and foreign investment\, the Dem ocratic Republic of Congo is among the world’s least developed countries . Physics education has a crucial role to play in developing Congo in orde r to cultivate expertise in the hard sciences and engineering\, which is p aramount for creating value-adding industries\, a domestic technical workf orce\, and the general problem solving skills and creativity that are natu ral by-products of the physics classroom.\nHowever\, even with a high qual ity physics classroom\, Congo is faced with the problem of brain-drain whe re the best and brightest of the young Congolese talentpool leave for more promising work in the west and elsewhere in more developed parts of Afric a. Therefore\, the challenge is twofold - how do you develop a high qualit y STEM program in Congo that does more than just empowering an elite few t o escape their situation without changing it?\nIn our university physics c lassroom\, we are aiming to implement pedagogy based on the philosophy “ being transformed to transform”. In this manner\, our program aims to cr eate strong ties between the students and the local community\, so that th e students learn content and thinking skills by solving real problems in t he community and by imagining ways they can change their situation. In add ition\, by cultivating a love for problem solving\, students will be motiv ated to stay where there are many difficult problems to be solved. Through contextualizing the classroom experience and the overall university exper ience\, we are seeing alumni remaining engaged in their local community an d even returning to it after achieving post-graduate degrees outside of Co ngo.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6824/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6824/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Experimental and General Solution of Buquoy's Problem DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152600Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152700Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6825@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jan Riha (Palacky University in Olomouc\, Faculty of Science)\, Lukas Richterek (Palacky University in Olomouc\, Faculty of Sc ience)\nThe Buquoy problem represents an interesting example of a one-dime nsional motion of a uniform thin fibre which is pulled upwards from a hori zontal plane by a constant vertical force exerted against the homogeneous gravitational field. The solution of the problem includes several interest ing concepts that are often developed within the introductory university p hysics course – a motion with a variable mass\, utilization of the effec tive potential and a solution of a non-linear ODE of the second order\, wh ich provides an opportunity for some kind of numerical modelling of the mo tion. In this sense it is an appealing and rich problem\, which represents a specific example of damped oscillations and according to our experience it can be discussed e.g. in a classical mechanics course. \nOur contr ibution concentrates on the correspondence between a theoretical model and an experimental realization of this problem which can be demonstrated in a standard classroom. In our set\, the upward force is represented by a bu oyancy acting on a helium filled balloon. We briefly discuss a suitable ma terial for the fibre and the determination of the fibre linear density. Th e experiment helps to support some other competences of the students – a video analysis of the motion with a Tracker video analysis and modelling tool and the fitting of the theoretical model parameters to match with the video analysis data. The experiment also naturally leads to a little more general theoretical model and an equation for this kind of oscillatory mo tion that counts in the constant mass of the used helium ball. \nIn thi s way we would like to draw attention to an interesting physical problem t he solution of which is more complicated than standard damped linear harmo nic oscillator\, but still accessible for undergraduate physics majors and provides an opportunity to discuss some aspects in a wider context.\n\nht tps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6825/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6825/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The African School for Electronic Structure Methods and Applicatio ns (ASESMA) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T103000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T105000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6826@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nithaya Chetty (University of Pretoria)\nSolid State Physics/Materials science is arguably the most important discipline in th e physical sciences that should be developed in Africa given its rich reso urces of minerals\, energy and biological diversity. Developing materials science should therefore be an important goal for Africa with important o pportunities for economic benefits and quality people development. There a re already many successful materials science activities that are underway in Africa. This needs to gain wider international attention and should bec ome contact points for international collaborations. The African School fo r Electronic Structure Methods and Applications (ASESMA) is one such succe ssful initiative that has been in existence for the past decade. ASESMA ha s shown that it is possible to build a network across sub-Saharan Africa w ith world-class research with a relatively low budget. The greatest asset is the commitment of the lecturers and mentors\, the team-work of the loca l organisers and the idealism of the participants who rank amongst the bri ghtest of young minds from Africa\, many of whom come from impoverished ba ckgrounds but still dare to reach for the stars. The author is one of the principal organisers of the ASESMA.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93 /contributions/6826/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6826/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Perceptions of physics - Are we placing too much emphasis on techn ical skills? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T150600Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T152600Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6827@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Amy Bray (Rhodes University)\nThe South African Inst itute of Physics and the Council on Higher Education\nidentified that ther e are many challenges associated with physics teaching and learning. We re port on the results of a pilot study that attempted to identify the percep tions of first-year students studying physics at Rhodes University in 2017 . Academics were interviewed\, a questionnaire was created and a survey of first-year students was conducted. Focus groups were run with the second- and third-year students to acquire qualitative data to help understand th e quantitative data received from the first-years. Emotional issues were i dentified as the largest contributing factor to students’ perceptions of physics. A high correlation between study skills and students’ understa nding and problem-solving abilities was also observed. Under-preparedness was recognised as an important issue that needs further investigation.\n\n https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6827/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6827/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Thai pre-service physics teachers’ understanding about seeing an object DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6828@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kreetha Kaewkhong (Department of Curriculum\, Teachi ng and Learning\, Faculty of Education\, Chiang Mai University\, Thailand and Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics\, Commission on Higher Educat ion\, 328 Si Ayutthaya Road\, Bangkok 10400\, Thailand)\nThe purpose of th is study is to investigate understanding of 50 Thai pre-service physics te achers\, Faculty of Education\, Chiang Mai University about seeing an obje ct. The samples in this study were collected by asking for volunteers. The y were asked to answer the 4 tasks about seeing in various situations by i nterview\, 1) seeing an object which can illuminate light by itself\, 2) s eeing an object reflecting light from around a light source 3) seeing an o bject in a dark room (light cannot pass through) and 4) seeing a beam of L ASER. Their responses\, in each task\, are determined and classified into groups related to their understanding. The results revealed that they were confused about scientific models used for explanation of what light is. B esides\, most of them still have some misconceptions about the eyes and sc attering of light. All results are determined for designing an instruction that helps Thai pre-service physics teachers to have a better understandi ng in the topic of seeing for the future work.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org. za/event/93/contributions/6828/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6828/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES IN DIGITAL ERA TO HANDLE UG PHYSICS (MECHAN ICS) LABORATORY: A CASE STUDY OF MOMENT OF INERTIA OF A FLYWHEEL EXPERIMEN T DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6829@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: P.K. Ahluwalia (Himachal Pradesh University)\, SAPNA SHARMA (St. Bede's College Shimla India)\nWith the invasión of Digital E ra on all activities of life\, alternative approaches are emerging to expl ore a single situation in a variety of ways offering new opportunities and insights about learning behavior of the student. It is expected that this is going to impact traditional laboratory practices in a variety of ways. The moot question is can these alternative explorations be used for enhan cing learning experiences of the learners\, make laboratory a more engagin g place and tuning learners alternative conceptions with the conceptions o f an expert. In this case study we present three ways to perform an experi ment to calculate the moment of inertia of a flywheel in a typical underg raduate Mechanics (Physics) laboratory: (i) the traditional way using a s topwatch and a meter rod as basic measuring tools\, (ii) by using a video analyser of a typical setup of the experiment and (iii) a modelling softwa re available in a web-based virtual laboratory. The Physics education res earch strategies are applied to observe the pedagogical value of performin g the same experiment in three ways together. To go ahead with this approa ch\, implemented through pre-post test methodology\, a concept inventory h as been devised to identify the alternative conceptions around the moment of inertia\, theorems of the moment of inertia and flywheel as a mechanica l device to control rotational motion in a day to day life. An effort has been made to address the alternative conceptions during the performance of the same experiment in three distinct ways. Finally\, a perception survey was also carried out to know about this multi-representational approach ’s (a) pedagogical effectiveness\, (b) effect on laboratory climate\, (c ) expectations of students\, (d) laboratory engagement and (e) instructor- student relationship.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions /6829/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6829/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Death of an outcome - the role of stigmergy in our examination sys tem DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T142000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6830@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Douglas Clerk (School of Physics\, University of the Witwatersrand)\nThis presentation reports the results of a study inspired by perceived shortcomings in the ‘problem-solving’ abilities of under graduate physics students. Evidence in support of this perception is found in both the relevant literature (Gil-Perez\, Dumas-Carré\, Caillot\, & M artinez-Torregrosa\, 1990) (Mayer\, 1998) (Tuminaro & Redish\, 2003) and i n analysis of student performance in relation to the type of question bein g answered. \nAn analysis of examination papers at both matriculation and first-year level was carried out over several years and reveals evidence o f a bias: there is a favoured question-type that can explicitly be taught and relatively easily mastered - and which typically makes up a sufficient ly large fraction of an examination that candidates can pass without havin g to demonstrate any real problem-solving ability. What examination candi dates are required to demonstrate instead is a well-developed ability to e xpedite routine operations (at various levels of complexity) – which doe s not fit our espoused definition of problem-solving. (Martinez\, 1998)\nI t is argued that this bias has over the years become established stigmergi cally\, (Heylighen\, 2011) via a feedback process - sometimes called ‘ba ckwash’\, to which candidates\, examiners and instructors have all been party. Candidates learn what kind of questions to expect\, examiners learn what kind of questions candidates can be expected to answer\, and instruc tors learn what kind of questions need to be taught\, by traces left in th e system’s environment by those who function in it. \nThese findings cou ld perhaps go some way toward explaining the shortcomings in student probl em solving abilities.\n\nReferences:\nGil-Perez\, D.\, Dumas-Carré\, a.\ , Caillot\, M.\, & Martinez-Torregrosa\, J. (1990). Paper and Pencil Probl em Solving in the Physical Sciences as a Research Activity. Studies in Sci ence Education\, 18(1)\, 137–151. http://doi.org/10.1080/030572690085599 85.\nHeylighen\, F. (2011). Stigmergy as a generic mechanism for coordinat ion : definition \, varieties and aspects. Cognition\, 1–23.\nMartinez \, M. E. (1998). What Is Problem Solving ? The Phi Delta Kappan\, 79(8)\ , 605–609.\nMayer\, R. E. (1998). Cognitive\, metacognitive\, and motiva tional aspects of problem solving. Instructional Science\, 26\, 49–63. h ttp://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003088013286.\nTuminaro\, J.\, & Redish\, E. F. ( 2003). Understanding Students’ Poor Performance on Mathematical Problem Solving In Physics. Physics Education Research Conference\, 720\, 113–11 6. http://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1807267.\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6830/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6830/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWER CODES AND THE INTEGRATION OF MATHEMATICS CONC EPTS WHEN CONDUCTING PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T154000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T160000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6831@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kwanele Booi (Cape Peninsula University of Technolog y)\, Toliwe Chehore (Cape Peninsula University of Technology)\, Vannessa V an Staden (Cape Peninsula University of Technology)\, Zena Scholtz (Cape P eninsula University of Technology)\nLack of mathematical knowledge has oft en been considered responsible for high failure and drop-out rates in Phys ics\, both at school and higher education levels. Failure in problem solv ing has frequently been used as evidence for inadequate mathematical knowl edge\, since mathematical concepts are used as a tool for physics problem solving. Physics knowledge is underpinned by physical theories that origin ate from observed phenomena\, but are explained using mathematical languag e\, such that mathematical concepts are incorporated into the physics know ledge structure. In addition\, experiments are an integral component for knowledge formation and conceptualization.. The problem is that the struct ural role of mathematical concepts\, together with experimentation are ign ored during teaching and learning of physics. The purpose of this study wa s to identify how mathematical concepts are integrated into the knowledge building process using experimentation in the understanding of mass densi ty at introductory physics level. \nThe investigation was carried out usi ng pre-services teachers being trained to teach Natural Sciences. The pre - service teachers were then interviewed in terms of their attitude toward s physics\, and how it should be taught and who should learn it\, which re vealed their dispositions to the subject. Generally\, those who scored low marks in the experiment had a negative attitude towards the subject\, fel t that they naturally\, physics was not their subject and were studying it because it was a compulsory module. Those who scored higher marks answere d the questions from a physics perspective and understood the mathematical nature of the concept of density. The research used the Legitimation Code theory as a theoretical framework. The analysis of the results suggested that the mathematization stage could be the most difficult because it req uires visualization skills and understanding a phenomenon from a physics p erspective. \nThe investigation was important in that it highlighted the i mportance of not only experimentation\, but understanding that mathematica l concepts\, in physics but are an integral part of the structure\, have p hysical meaning and are used within the constraints of the physical situat ion they represent.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6 831/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6831/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN’S SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT: POSSIBLE APPLICATI ONS IN MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS TEACHING DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153600Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6832@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Lucas de Abreu Kasprik (Universidade Tecnológica Fe deral do Paraná - UTFPR)\nThe study of the ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement and the mathematics involved in it provides several components that could be used for physics\, mathematics and history of science teach ing. Studying the known clay tablets it is possible to learn their mathema tics\, how the art of teaching started\, how the first numbers were repres ented and what were their purposes\, as the ancient calculus of area\, vol ume\, weight\, time and others and learn the origin of other mathematics a nd science concepts. The circle with 360 degrees\, watches with 12 divisio ns and the year made of 12 months are some examples of the influence of t he Mesopotamian’smathematics and system of measurement in our culture\, what can be very interesting for students that have no interest in math an d physics classes and even more to who have interest in those matters\, th is paper have the purpose of showing some knowledge in that area and some possible uses of that for teaching.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93 /contributions/6832/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6832/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Game Development for Teaching Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T095000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6833@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Gerd Kortemeyer (Michigan State University)\nThe tal k describes two computer games developed using the Unity 3D platform: "A S lower Speed of Light\," designed to teach Special Relativity\, and "Kirchh off's Revenge\," designed to teach circuit laws. The talk includes a short demo of both games\, a discussion of the effort required to develop immer sive game and learning environments\, experiences and research results usi ng these games in physics lessons at both college and high school level\, as well as information informally gathered from "Let's Play" videos on You Tube.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6833/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6833/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:THE INSTRUMENTATION FOR TEACHING PHYSICS AT INITIAL TEACHER TRAINI NG: ASSUMING AUTHORITY IN THE PHYSICS TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T152000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6835@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: André Ary Leonel (UFSC)\nThis work investigates a d idactic sequence developed in the discipline of Instrumentation for Teachi ng Physics (B)\, the didactic-methodological strategies adopted and its in novative character towards critical and reflexive formation. The context o f the research focuses on the Licentiate course in Physics\, Nighttime\, i n the ofter of the discipline during the second semester of 2016\, at the Federal University of Santa Maria(UFSM). The discipline's main objective i s to understand the importance of the laboratory for the development of Ph ysics and for the teaching of Physics\, as well as to elaborate and defend in class\, teaching structured and unstructured scripts for high school t hat integrate theory and practice in Mechanics and Thermodynamics. From th is point\, it was thought of in a dynamics job that allowed a study spoken about the physical contents involved\, selection and construction of the experimental activity and socialization during two meetings a week. Featur es such as MOODLE\, WhatsApp\, and shared documents in Google Drive were u sed in the course of activities. Based on the results obtained\, it is acc epted that the didactic sequence adopted in the discipline promoted the un derstanding of academics about the importance of planning and use of the e xperimentation in their future activities as teachers.\n\nhttps://events.s aip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6835/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6835/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Overview of Modern Physics Learning Objects in Brazilian Governmen t Repositories DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155100Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155200Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6836@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ary Leonel André (Federal University of Santa Catar ina)\nFrom the potential of the virtual education to a powerful ally in th e teaching-learning process: digital technologies\, which despite its pote ntial brings with it great challenges\, due to the plurality of resources and innovations provided by it. Students and teachers are surrounded by te chnologies that cause interest and\, consequently\, the use of these novel ties begins to intensify\, then emerges the need for a favorable use of th ese technologies to education. At the same time\, it is consensual among p hysicists\, at an international level\, the need to introduce contents of Modern and Contemporary Physics in the curricula of Physics of High School . For many\, the absence of the subject is unacceptable\, since it was the century in which revolutionary ideas totally changed science and can arou se students' curiosity and help them recognize physics as a human endeavor \, to make contact with the exciting world of science\, current research i n physics and still help to understand the world and the current digital c ulture. Many researches have been based on the understanding and the propo rtion of use of Digital Technologies of Information and Communication as r esources for the teaching-learning. Among the difficulties it's to the plu rality of resources found in the Internet and the time spent to find quali ty resources. Therefore\, it was sought to identify which resources of mod ern physics are available in the repositories subordinated to the Brazilia n federal government that can actually assist teachers in the teaching-lea rning process. Among the research questions that this paper seeks to answe r are: what modern physics resources were developed and publicized? What a re the main themes? What were developed in Brazil? Have they been funded i n what way? Developed by whom? In this sense\, we resorted to the reposito ries of educational resources linked to the Brazilian government\, they ar e: Teacher Portal (Portal do Professor)\, International Bank of Learning O bjects (Banco Internacional de Objetos de Aprendizagem - BIOE) e National Infrastructure of Learning Object Repositories (Infraestrutura Nacional de Repositórios de Objetos de Aprendizagem - INROA). Among the results\, it is possible to point to the great amount of Brazilian resources that have auxiliary didactic guide to the teacher\, elaborated from an edital finan ced by the Brazilian government and that the majority of the foreign resou rces are simulations\, elaborated by the groups of the Phet Colorado and W olfram.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6836/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6836/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:What is your favourite particle and why? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155100Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6837@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jeff Wiener (CERN)\nWhen introducing the Standard Mo del of particle physics at secondary level\, high-school teachers and stud ents are faced with various abstract concepts and lots of novel terms. Amo ng the many challenging terms is the infamous “particle zoo”\, which s tems from the early days of particle physics\, when every newly discovered hadron was believed to be a distinct elementary particle. Since then\, th e Standard Model of particle physics has been colloquially compared with t he variety of species in a zoo on a regular basis.\nHere\, it is assumed t hat such a representation of the Standard Model of particle physics can ha ve a negative impact on students’ understanding of the fundamental conce pts underpinning particle physics. Indeed\, a careful educational reconstr uction of the subject matter is key when introducing particle physics in t he classroom. Specifically\, within the framework of constructivism it is indispensable to take students’ conceptions into account and to focus in structional strategies on already existing conceptions.\nTherefore\, we ha ve conducted a large-scale international study with high-school teachers ( n=532) and high-school students (n=1003) from all around the world to inve stigate and document what they consider as their favourite particles. We w ill present the findings and discuss potential implications for teachers\, educational researchers\, and policy makers.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.z a/event/93/contributions/6837/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6837/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:PHYSICS AND HUMANITY DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T065000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T071000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6838@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Irvy (Igle) Gledhill (U. Witwatersrand)\nThe physics community of practice has been active at all levels in promoting the adva ncement of women. However\, the percentages of women in university departm ents remain generally lower in physics than in the life sciences. Argument s relating to teaching and research loads and work-life balance are compar able in these disciplines.\n\nThe Global Survey of Physicists carried out in 2010 by IUPAP (R. Ivie and C. Tesafaye (2012) Physics Today 65 47) show ed both similarities and contrasts in the work experiences of women and me n\, in less developed countries and more highly developed countries. The S urvey was carried out in 8 languages\, across 130 countries\, and had 1493 2 respondents. It reported that women had significantly less access to mos t resources for career advancement. \n\nThis paper will address these ques tions: why is the advancement of women relatively slow in physics? What co ncepts are useful to physicists in understanding gender in science? When a successful initiative is concluded\, why do numbers and workplace practic es snap back towards the status quo before the intervention? It will be a rgued that these questions are closely linked. Different dominant factors in the choice of physics have been suggested\, including perceived gender bias in the field (C.M. Ganley et al (2018) Am. Ed. Res. J. 55 453)\, and the belief that innate talent is a prerequisite\, combined with the stere otype that women do not possess this talent (S.J. Leslie et al (2015) Scie nce 47 262). \n\nMuch has changed in the environment for women since 2010. Observable trends include factors such as the many initiatives to attract and retain women\, and vocal anti-harassment campaigns. Geopolitical fact ors include a rise in the "abandonment of the liberal order"\, reductions in science funding\, and changing threats of conflict affecting even the u niversity environment. In this altering context\, it is vital to obtain da ta on trends and on disciplinary contrasts. \n\nThe International Science Council has funded the project "A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mat hematical\, Computing\, and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It\, How to R educe It?". This project is led by the International Mathematical Union\, partnered by 10 scientific Unions and organisations. The project includes a survey in which two of the aims are to provide contrasts across discipli nes\, and to identify trends based on data from the 2010 Survey. A Joint D ata-backed Study on Publication Patterns builds on the study by the Intern ational Mathematical Union (Mihaljević-Brandt et al (2016) PLoS ONE 11 e0 165367). A Database of Good Practices is being designed\, with reference t o the structure suggested through the UNESCO SAGA project. These works wil l contribute evidence to support decisions on the best deployment of our r esources in initiatives aimed\, in part\, at improving the university envi ronment for women\, noting that knowledge of science is universal\, but is shaped by local culture (M.T. Lin (2017) Int. Conf. on Women in Physics). \n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6838/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6838/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Poster presentations as an approach to implementing a ‘flipped l earning’ pedagogy in introductory physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T154900Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6839@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Lynndle Square (University of the Western Cape)\n'Fl ipped learning’ or ‘flipped classroom’ pedagogies are gaining promin ence in undergraduate science learning [1]. With the growing access to inf ormation through the internet\, the traditional model of the teacher as th e only facilitator of knowledge has become inadequate [2]. Lage et al [3] considers the key purpose of the flipped classroom to be to shift the focu s from rote learning to the students’ application of conceptual understa nding. \n\nThis presentation reports on a class group activity using poste r presentations as a flipped classroom teaching medium. Poster presentatio ns\, a popular technique of displaying research at conferences\, are being used increasingly as a teaching method [4]. In their teaching of mathemat ics\, Denson [5] suggests that poster sessions are beneficial in that the preparation thereof promotes learning\, it is an excellent alternative med ium for developing communication skills\, it encourages students to invest igate a topic thoroughly\, it provide opportunities for peer-learning and promotes a positive attitude in students. \n\nIn this work\, prior to maki ng the posters each student would submit a chapter summary before the topi c was discussed in class. For the execution of the poster presentations st udents were placed in smaller groups of three to four students to make a g roup posters. When they presented their poster it was in a smaller venue w ith another group of three to four students who would serve as their audie nce and a facilitator who would record the presentation. Hereafter the aud ience would presents their poster and the previous group who had presented would become the audience. The video recordings of the presentations were then placed onto the University online learning facility with the restric tion that only those six to eight students were allowed to view\, and revi ew for peer assessment. Nichols et al [6] in their paper on using video in nursing education says that\, depending upon the use intended by the inst ructor\, a video may be able to tap all three domains of learning: cogniti ve\, affective\, and psychomotor. Barry et al [7] looked at how to develop a protocol for video recording student group oral presentations\, for lat er viewing and self-assessment by student group members. Their investigati ons revealed that watching the video of their group presentation was an ef fective method of feedback and could improve both group and individual per formance in the future [7]. The purpose of the video recording of the pres entation in this work is to provide the students opportunity to reflect on their presentation skills and to possibly use the video recording as a us eful study aid.\n\nThis presentation will discuss the extent to which this poster presentation intervention served as a means to assist students in improving their presentation skills\, understanding the course content and to become better\, skilled communicators of course-related material/physi cs concepts.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6839/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6839/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The meeting place: Physics for development (C13) and Physics educa tion (C14) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T073000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T075000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6841@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mmantsae Moche Diale (University of Pretoria)\nIUPAP is the host of two related commissions in physics\, all working towards m aking physics possible in developing world while teaching it better everyw here else. These commissions\, C13 and C14\, are expected to continually i nteract with each other so that physics remains the centre of all sciences . In this presentation\, C13 commission will present their activities in t he past three to five years\, to highlight the actions taken to move the d evelopment of physics in poor countries of the world\, some of which are n ot even members of IUPAP. In addition\, we will discuss the plans in the I UPAP centenary celebrations in 2022\, where these twins are expected to le ad together and make physics fun afresh\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/even t/93/contributions/6841/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6841/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Physics teaching and learning: A case for Indigenous Knowledge in Physics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155300Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T155400Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6842@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Femi Otulaja (University of the Witwatersrand)\nmThe goal of this conceptualization is to explore how physics educators can in tegrate indigenous knowledge into their teaching of physics concepts in th e science classroom whether at the secondary or tertiary level of educatio n. The facts remains that African history has constantly affirmed the exis tence of the knowledge of physical sciences among indigenous people of Afr ican origin wherever they found themselves. This knowledge\, indigenous kn owledge\, has sustained African indigenous people for centuries\, even bef ore the adventure of Europeans on the African soil. Evident in history of recent past are the use of physics concepts by indigenous people of Africa \; such concepts as the use of levers to move heavy object\, the smelting of ores\, the understanding of the cosmos\, the stars\, the phases of the moon\, the sun\, the solstices and the seasons and the interconnectedness of the heavenly bodies and natural phenomena and the concept of time. The question is why has Eurocentric science ignored and continue to ignore the roles of indigenous knowledge in the field of physics and its education? Why has indigenous physics and physics concepts not been part of the physi cs curriculum\, especially\, in Africa schools? Why have physics teachers continually neglect to include indigenous knowledge in their teaching of p hysics? In this conference\, physics teachers and academic staff members w ill be challenged and engaged in articulating how indigenous knowledge can be used in the teaching and learning of physics concepts in the science c lassroom. The post-apartheid school curriculum (NCS\, 2005 and CAPS\, 2011 ) have mandated that in teaching the science\, (including physics)\, teach ers must incorporate indigenous knowledge so that the 300 years of such kn owledge existing within the indigenous community\, in South Africa\, and b y extension\, Africa be not lost\, despite the marginalization of indigeno us knowledge by westernized science. Also\, in the wake of the clarion ca lls to decolonize the university curriculum including the teaching and lea rning of sciences\, physics included\, in the midst of the often hostile c ulture of science\, it is imperative that the teaching of the sciences\, i ncluding physics must as of necessity must be transformed. Without that\, the success/pass rates of learners will continue to be low. It has been es tablished in the literature that students’ cultural beliefs affect the w ays they learn.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6842/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6842/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A new spin on an introductory quantum mechanics course: flipping t he class DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T134000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6843@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kevin Goldstein (University of the Witwatersrand)\nF aced with a low pass rate\, poorly prepared and disengaged students\, we t ried a so called “flipped” approach to teaching a 3rd year quantum mec hanics course. Rather than having traditional lectures\, the students wher e given online reading assignments on the Perusall platform. The students\ , could annotated the notes\, pose questions and discuss the material with peers on the platform. To encourage student participation\, they where as signed a grade (calculated by AI) based on the assessed quality of their a nnotations. The students where also assigned exercises which filled in so me of the details of the notes as well as more difficult problems. During class time\, we discussed questions students posed online\, went over the exercises and students where asked to present solutions to some problems o n a randomised roster. While there was a large increase in the pass rate o ver the previous year\, a significant fraction of students expressed rathe r negative sentiments after the course. We’ll present the good\, the bad and the ugly results of this teaching “experiment”.\n\nhttps://events .saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6843/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6843/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:An active interdisciplinary learning path on measure in a vocation al school DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153200Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153300Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6844@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vera Montalbano (Department of Physical Sciences\, Earth and Environment\, University of Siena)\nA learning path in an initi al class of a vocational school in wellness is presented. The challenge wa s to engage students\, whose interests were very far from science\, in an active exploration on how a body can be measured. Students discovered the existence of uncertainties linked to the process of measurement and explor ed how they could be minimized.\nDespite selected physics topics are essen tial for understanding many professional subjects and practices\, their r elevance in everyday situations\, in which students will ultimately wor k\, often remains hidden. Current practice is very different from one scho ol to another. Sometimes laboratory is not properly equipped and usually p hysics and vocational teachers do not interact in their educational action . Thus\, physics is usually perceived as a boring set of laws very far fro m professional experience.\nTheories and empirical research about the inte rrelation of motivation and learning have a long tradition in education [ 1]. From an educational point of view\, it is essential to understand why and how students become interested in new content and subject areas [2]. I nterest and motivation are seen as basic concepts to describe students' le arning in a physics classroom. Empirical findings suggest that an interest -based motivation to learn positively influences both how learners realize and organize a given learning task (e.g.\, the kind of learning strategie s used) and the quantity and quality of learning outcomes [3]. Exploring and understanding how transfer of knowledge can be made more effective in vocational education is an unavoidable step for improving the learning pro cess in this context [4].\nA learning path on measurement was designed wit hin a regional project aimed at developing the teaching/learning process in science through innovative laboratory activities. The learning path was realized in the context of the Hygiene and anatomy initial classroom (age 15) of a professional school in wellness (beautician). \nThe initial acti vities were an individual reflection on what measures to carry out to eval uate the physical form and a collective discussion on the usefulness of t he proposed measures\,. Measurement were realized in practice: students p roceeded by trial and error\, gradually highlighting the problems that led to an autonomous method of measuring.\nSince the laboratory was performed in classroom with an everyday life tool\, the approach was very effecti ve in the vocational school context.\n\nReferences \n\n[1] M. K. Alderm an\, Motivation for achievement: Possibilities for teaching and learning\ , 2nd ed.\, Routledge\, New York\, 2008.\n[2] R. Trumper(2006)\, Factor s Affecting Junior High School Students’ Interest in Physics\, Journal o f Sc. Edu. and Technology 15 47.\n[3] J. Baumert and O. Köller\, Inte rest research in secondary level 1: An overview. In L. Hoffmann\, A. Krapp \, K. A. Renninger\, & J. Baumert (Eds.)\, Interest and learning: Proceedi ngs of the Seeon Conference on Interest and Gender\, IPN\, Kiel\, 1998\, 2 41.\n[4] D. Guile and M. Young\, Transfer and transition in vocational education: Some theoretical considerations. In Tuomi-Gröhn T. and Engertr öm Y. (Eds.)\, Between school and work. New perspectives on transfer and boundary-crossing\, Elsevier Science\, Oxford\, 2003\,63\n\nhttps://events .saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6844/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6844/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Putting the “Science” back in Science Education in South Afric a DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6845@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Deepak Kar (University of Witwatersrand)\nDue to his torical reasons\, the interest in science education and research in South Africa is lower compared to other developing countries. However\, in a rec ent discussion meeting it appeared that this problem is exacerbated by lac k of understanding of what science means. To many\, science is too western \, and incompatible with every day experiences. That in turns leads to a f eeling that science is an imposed set of rules to be memorised\, rather th an something that is application based. That means we lack the person powe r to drive science research and innovation in the country\, which is an ai m of NRF/DST. In fact South Africa now is collaborating with big internati onal science projects such as CERN and SKA\, so this is more critical than ever. We will discuss our approach to investigate how this problem can be addressed in classroom situations\, especially tying science with indigen ous knowledge systems to make science more accessible and interesting.\n\n https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6845/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6845/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:TRAINING FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE TEACHERS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T154000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T160000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6846@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: David Wolfe (UK Institute of Physics)\nThe key to th e advancement of society has always been an educated population. Thus the goal of every civilised government is the education of their people. There are\, however\, not enough countries for whom this is a sufficiently high priority. But the government of democratic South Africa seems keen to get this done. \n As such\, a collaboration has been created between the U K Institute of Physics and the South African Institute of Physics to estab lish teacher training workshops for secondary school teachers in physics. In this country\, physical science is taught\, a combination of both physi cs and chemistry and we include\, wherever possible\, chemistry instructio n for the teachers as well. \n We began in 2013 with workshops in Sowet o\, anywhere from two days to a week long. These had between 50 and 150 te achers. We have since started workshops in Eastern Cape and Limpopo provin ces and would hope to expand to all 9 provinces in the country.\n Some of us are old enough to have studied physics under the old chalk and talk lecture system. We want to take advantage of much of the research done in physics education and use more effective techniques such as developed by p eople such as Redish1\, Mazur2\, and many others. We emphasise multiple ch oice questions and divide the teachers into groups of 2 or 3 and give them sheets with A B C D for them to answer. This has proven popular with the teachers and we are trying to determine how many are using this in their c lassrooms. In addition\, we have introduced many PhET videos to help them illustrate many physics principles when they lack the relevant demonstrati on equipment.\n A very important part of our work is to train local peo ple who have science backgrounds\, to adopt these newer teaching methods\, and to take over the training of school teachers in their areas. This is ongoing and there are local people now in these three areas who can do thi s work. This has been on a volunteer basis to the present but we are seeki ng funding to provide some support for local people who can do this traini ng.\n\n\n\n1. E F Redish\, A theoretical framework on physics education re search: Modeling student thinking\nPROCEEDINGS - INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF P HYSICS ENRICO FERMI\, Varenna Italy\, 2003\, IOS Press 2004 (pages 1 - 64) \n\n2. E Mazur\, Peer Instruction\, Harlow\, United Kingdom Pearson 2013\n \nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6846/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6846/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CONCEPTS IN CONTEXT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181005T065000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6847@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Philip Southey (Stellenbosch University)\nThis talk will critique the notions of “concept”\, “context” and “transfer ”\; presenting both experimental data and theoretical argument which com prised the core of my PhD research. These notions are fundamental in educa tional discourse\, yet they are often taken for granted. A common implicit metaphor is that a concept sits in a context\, like a solid object in a s urrounding environment. I will argue that this metaphor is both indispensa ble and problematic. Student understanding of the concepts of “subtracti on”\, “vector addition” and “density” will be discussed\, includ ing experimental data from my PhD. The theoretical perspectives of “Know ledge in Pieces” and “Cognitive Resources” will be suggested as exce llent tools for the explication of the observed sensitivity to context. “Embodied cognition” will also be briefly introduced as a useful inter pretative tool for particular data. In sum\, I will argue that robust educ ational research requires a thorough interrogation of the question: “Whe n I speak of a particular concept\, what exactly it this “thing” I am referring to?”\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6847 / LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6847/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE “OPEN DIS COVERY OF STEM LABORATORIES” PROJECT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153100Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T153200Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6848@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Dominique Persano Adorno (Dipartimento di Fisica e C himica\, Università degli Studi di Palermo)\nThe “Open Discovery of STE M Laboratories” (ODL) project\, funded by the European Erasmus+ KA2 prog ram (Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices - Strat egic Partnerships for school education) for 30 months\, starting from Nove mber 2015\, was aimed at introducing the use of MOOCs in school curricula. In particular\, it fostered teacher collaboration in creating and using m icroMOOCs (very short version of MOOCs with an overall educational activit y of about 30 up to 45 min in the classroom) for the inclusion of STEM (Sc ience\, Technology\, Engineering and Mathematics) online remote/virtual la boratories in the everyday teaching practices (http://opendiscoverylabs.eu ). The project focused on teachers\, educators and curriculum designers w ith the aim to strengthen their profile by supporting them to deliver high quality teaching practices and to adopt new methods and tools. Thanks to the project\, in service and pre-service teachers had the opportunity to e xtend their knowledge about the inquiry-based science teaching approach\, improve both digital skills and pedagogical competences\, experience inter national collaborative work\, explore attractive open education resources helpful to design creative lessons on STEM topics. During the project\, th e ODL team educators created more than 100 multidisciplinary microMOOCs an d organized several multiplier events\, national meetings and an internati onal teacher summer school\, where they trained about 500 European teacher s to design their own microMOOCs and implement them in their classes. In p articular\, the ODL partners organized two rounds of Multiplier Events in each country: "MOOC in the school sector" and "MicroMOOC in your class"\, whose activities were aimed at making teachers familiar with the microMOOC scenarios and the edX-based ODL platform. During the workshops\, the micr oMOOCs were presented as good examples of resources to be used in teaching practice. Teachers had the opportunity to learn how to convert their scen arios into educational resources and received useful suggestions on how to incorporate their microMOOCs into school curricula. The ODL training stim ulated teachers to: (1) explore\, collect and organize new open educationa l resources on Physics remote and virtual laboratories\; (2) build microMO OCs on interdisciplinary STEM topics\; (3) manage inquiry-based lesson pla ns\, designing highly engaging student-centred learning activities\, as la boratory and practical work.\nThe relationship between our training interv ention and the teacher affective development and motivation to adopt new m ethods and tools has been quantified by means of a questionnaire suitably designed to assess the experience acquired by the participants in relation to a specific activity. The questionnaire was administered to the teacher s at the end of the training activity and the collected answers provided u s a general overview of the teacher satisfaction on a five-point Likert sc ale. At the ICPE-SAIP-WITS Conference\, we will show and discuss the resul ts from the ODL teacher training in Italy\, showing the valuable feedback collected by teachers on the impact of the ODL pedagogical approach on Phy sics education at secondary school\, highlighting strengths and possible w eaknesses of the proposed methodology. The outcomes from the first pilot s tudies in classroom will be also presented and discussed.\n\nhttps://event s.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6848/ LOCATION: URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6848/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:THE “OPEN DISCOVERY OF STEM LABORATORIES” WORKSHOP: AN INQUIRY -DRIVEN MOOC APPROACH IN TEACHING PHYSICS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181002T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6849@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Dominique Persano Adorno (Dipartimento di Fisica e C himica\, Università degli Studi di Palermo)\, Nicola Pizzolato (Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Pio La Torre"\, Palermo\, Italy)\nThe “Open Dis covery of STEM Laboratories” (ODL) has been an Erasmus+KA2 project aimed to implement teacher collaboration in creating and using micro-MOOCs (ver y short version of Massive Open Online Courses\, MOOCs) for the insertion of STEM remote/virtual laboratories in the everyday teaching practices (ht tp://opendiscoverylabs.eu). In order to support educators on creating inno vative STEM school curricula by employing new technological teaching/learn ing tools\, the ODL consortium offered to the teachers the opportunity of acquiring both technological and pedagogical skills for assembling separat e educational materials within coherent learning paths. The consortium def ined a methodology for the micro-MOOC design by adopting the well-known 5E model of instruction within an inquiry-based approach of science educatio n. The most innovative aspects of the project include the use of online re mote and/or virtual laboratories\, the development and re-use of open educ ation resources (OERs)\, the sharing of teaching/learning good practices. From November 2015 to April 2018\, the project educators created more than 100 multidisciplinary micro-MOOCs and\, during the multiplier events\, th ey trained about 500 European teachers to design their own micro-MOOCs and implement them in their classrooms.\nStarting from the guiding idea of sh aring expertize\, two educators from the ODL project team will introduce t he participants attending this workshop to the main pedagogical aspects of the ODL project and will engage them into a practical BYOD-based working session. The ODL team will briefly report the outcomes from the pilot stud ies on the classroom experimentation of those micro-MOOCs focused on Physi cs topics. The feedback from both teachers and students highlighted that t he use of micro-MOOCs enriches the lessons and raises student interest in the subject\, encouraging and motivating these latter to learn. The studen ts appreciated very much the exploration phase by the use of online virtua l/remote laboratories. Globally\, they enjoyed very much the micro-MOOC-ba sed class\, wishing to attend similar lessons in the future. The most part of the workshop will be devoted to a fruitful interaction with the audien ce\, supporting participants working in small groups aimed at designing an d implementing their own inquiry-based micro-MOOC. At the workshop\, the p articipants will have the chance to make them familiar with the edX-based ODL platform and to convert their scenarios into educational resources. Th e method on how to incorporate their micro-MOOCs into STEM curricula will be also addressed. At the end of the workshop\, all groups will present th eir micro-MOOCs and an overall discussion will support the sharing of part icipant experiences.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/ 6849/ LOCATION: PELINDABA 1 URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6849/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Methods of evaluation in natural science education verified by the practice of lower level at grammar school DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6850@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Martin Konecny (Department of Physics Education \, F aculty of Mathematics and Physics\, Charles University\, Prague)\nThe cont ribution deals with autors experiences with evaluation of their own physic s and chemistry teaching. Autor of contribution obtain experiences during teaching at Mensa grammar school\, especially in lower lever of school edu cation system (Mensa grammar school is focus on gifted students). The meth ods of evaluation can be apply in normal schools too. Autor of contributio n deals with methods of work in physics and chemistry lessons and with eva luation of this methods by methods\, which was verified during science tea ching practice at Mensa grammar school. One part of contribution deals wit h authors own methods\, for example notice list for subject\, evaluation o f teachers work\, special questions in tests or phasing and drawing pictur es of experiments. The system of work with final evaluation is introduce\, and autor deals with ideas for own personal development in teaching abili ties.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6850/ LOCATION: SPRINGBOK URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6850/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:EFFECTIVENESS OF VIDEO - BASED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS IN PRACTICAL PHYSICS IN LAGOS ST ATE\, NIGERIA DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T134000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20181004T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260609T112254Z UID:indico-contribution-93-6851@events.saip.org.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Veronica Babajide (University of Lagos)\nThe dominan t system of instruction in teaching practical Physics is the conventional method of demonstrating experiments in Nigeria senior secondary schools\, which had promoted teacher-centered instruction. Thus\, this study is init iated to solve the prolonged persistent problem of teacher-centered instru ction to student centered instruction. Therefore\, this study was designed and conducted to determine the effectiveness of Video - Based Instruction al Strategies on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievements in Pract ical Physics in Lagos state\, Nigeria. A non-randomized pre-test\, post-te st control group quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the st udy. A sample of 315 Senior Secondary Two (SSII) physics students\, drawn by both purposive and simple random sampling techniques from six co-educat ional schools in Educational district III was used for the study. Three va lidated research instruments: Practical Physics Achievement Test (PPAT) (r = 0.71 using KR – 20)\; Practical Skill Rating Scale (PSRS) (r = 0.89 u sing Scott Pi) were used to collect data for the study. Students in the ex perimental group followed the demonstration of the experiment using Video- based method while those in the control group followed the demonstration of the experiment using the conventional method. The data collected were a nalyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Estimated Marginal Means at 0.05 level of significance. The students in the experimental group (Vi deo based) instructional strategies had a higher mean in both the achievem ent and acquisition of practical skills than their counterparts did in the control group (Conventional) instructional strategy. Hence\, this study r ecommend the use of video – based instructional strategies in teaching p hysics practical for better achievement for secondary school physics stude nts.\n\nhttps://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6851/ LOCATION: IMPALA URL:https://events.saip.org.za/event/93/contributions/6851/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR