The author criticises the way teachers typically construct and employ tasks in physics instruction. Germany teachers prefer tasks that only have one correct solutions. In classroom discussions the teacher narrowly guides his o her students towards this specific answer. […]
This article describes an experiment on Malus’ Law for polarized light, using a LED as light source, two polaroid sheets as polarizers and a phototransistor as receiver. […]
Small low intensity doses con be produced by some watches made in the period 1950-1960 by the presence of Ra-226 in the hands and some parts of the dials. The exent of the possible effects on the wearer of such watches is evaluated in this article, […]
A fronte della necessità di un maggiore sforzo per sviluppare le attitudini critiche negli alunni e negli studenti, questa nota si concentra su uno dei pregiudizi cognitivi che spesso sono di ostacolo in questa materia. Nella sua forma più tipica, questo pregiudizio consiste nella propensione a validare un᾽argomentazione perché si presume che la sua conclusione sia corretta. […]
The discovery and the theoretical explanation of the fission of uranium were published at the beginning of 1939: the same year that saw the start of World War 2. Many physicists who had emigrated to the US to escape the horrors of nazism felt the duty to participate in the construction of the first nuclear weapon. […]