Physical Review Physics Education Research

A case study using the Physics Measurement Questionnaire reveals that while preceding a closed-response question with an open-response prompt does not alter students’ final selections, the two formats measure fundamentally different aspects of student reasoning.

By analyzing the dialogues of preservice physics teachers, the researchers identified the use of one classical ontology and four distinct quantum ontologies.

This study demonstrates that physics students interacting with a prompt-engineered, student-centered AI agent achieve higher learning performance, experience greater flow, and report lower extraneous cognitive load compared to those using a traditional teacher-centered agent.

Students grappling with the enigma of quantum mechanics actively employ three distinct epistemological frames: reasoning about scale, reasoning about connections to math, and reasoning about connections to classical mechanics.

Path models for Self Efficacy and Sense of Belonging reveal complex relations amongst diverse variables.

A social network analysis of LGBTQ+ and/or women PhD physicists reveals the role of affinity groups in identity-based support, more personal friends in industry, and lower support in government and academia.

A systematic analysis of high school physics textbooks reveals that while analogies effectively bridge concrete and abstract concepts in topics like electricity, they frequently omit critical limitations, increasing the risk of student misconceptions.

A switch from lab equipment to a household object made a resonance demo more engaging, more relevant, and just as clear for students.

Enrolling in a history of physics course significantly improves students’ understanding of the nature of science, with an explicit instruction and group reflection approach proving most effective.

Using a ‘commognitive’ approach - where participants become members of a discourse community - the authors created a professional development program and used the commognitive framework to analyze it.