Physics Education for Students: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Maria Teresa Caccamo, Salvatore Magazù

• Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9789814998512
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Science & Technology

Physics Education for Students: An Interdisciplinary Approach is a compilation of reviews that highlight new approaches and trends in teaching and learning specific topics on physics to high school and university students. The reviews cover different areas of physics education (laboratory activities, mathematics, philosophy and history) and the ways that learning outcomes can be improved. These distinguished areas can generate complexities and difficulties for students in learning some concepts since the same topics are often presented while following approaches that do not highlight the existing correlations among the involved disciplines. The reviewers discuss an integrated framework for readers with the objective to promote the inclusion of specific laboratory activities and mathematics contents for physics courses addressed to university students, with evidence of the importance of combining a historical and philosophical approach as well. Specific topics in this book include the benefits of active learning in physics education, dialogic best practices in science education, research-based proposals on optical spectroscopy in secondary schools, didactic principles and e-learning in physics and expansive framing in physics laboratories. Physics Education for Students: An Interdisciplinary Approach, with its selection of expert reviews is an interesting read for academics and researchers involved in STEM education, at the school or college level.

Normal Mode Investigation of a System of Coupled Oscillators: a Physics Lecture

Maria Teresa Caccamo^{1, *}, Salvatore Magazù¹

¹ Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università di Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres n°31, S. Agata,98166, Messina, Italy

Abstract

In this work the contents of an academic lecture addressed to first year Physics students on a system of coupled oscillators is presented. More specifically, the physical system dealt is constituted by two oscillating masses interacting through a connecting spring. At first, the theory describing the system dynamics is presented by putting into evidence how the diagonalization process allows to reduce the coupled oscillation equations to formally simpler, but physically equivalent, expressions which make reference to uncoupled oscillations and how the new chosen coordinates do not refer to the positions of the real masses but describe collective properties of the system, namely its normal modes. To facilitate the comprehension of the analytical procedure, an experiment addressed to characterize the system normal mode frequencies is proposed. On this purpose, for analysing the oscillation amplitude as a function of time, a comparison between Fourier Transform and Wavelet Transform is presented. What it emerges is that, differently from what occurs for Fourier Transform which provides a value of the motion average frequency, the Wavelet Transform allows to simultaneously execute a time–frequency analysis.

Keywords: Coupled oscillators, Fourier Transform, Wavelet Transform.

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^* Corresponding author Maria Teresa Caccamo: Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università di Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D'Alcontres n°31, S. Agata,98166, Messina, Italy; Tel: [phone]; E-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

As a rule, to improve the understanding of a Physics topic, it is important to integrate theory with experiments [1^-3]. Indeed, the process of planning and executing an experiment, which also includes the elaboration and interpretation of data, the formulation of empirical laws (i.e. primary model), and the comparison with a theory’s outputs, is extremely formative, because it forces the student to be no longer a spectator, more or less passive, but the protagonist of a creative and significant work [4^-9]. Therefore, the empirical dimension of Physics is a fundamental element of the teaching endeavour and experiments assume relevant

importance [10^-15]. For this purpose, one can assert that a scientific theory can only have the scope it has if it is in contact with the real world that proves its validity and significance. Moreover, the scientific construction consists of an incessant, mutual and oscillating connection between the theoretical moment and the experimental moment. A scientific experiment is a procedure that makes a certain effect investigable and analysable in circumstances prepared according to a severed plan and according to certain hypotheses relating to the possible effects [16^-21].

Therefore, the main purpose of a Physics experiment is specifically to trace a significant didactic itinerary that allows reaching the law of a physical phenomenon starting from a series of measures of physical quantities, detected experimentally during a physical laboratory activity. In other words, the aim is to experimentally research the physical-mathematical correlation existing between some characteristic variables of the phenomenon under examination through inductive procedures that highlight, in a clear and significant way, the empirical nature of Physics [22^-25]. The experiment is nothing more than a physical study of a phenomenon, obtained by analysing the phenomenon itself in terms of quantitative investigation (Fig. 1).

Fig. (1))
A sketch of the joint employment of Theory, Experiment and Model.

Within this framework, with the aim of planning a Physics lecture addressed to first year academic students, in the present work...