Biblioteca Digital

A formação de professores está presente entre as questões mais atuais da pesquisa em educação e em muitos dos discursos que balizam as políticas públicas. Documentos oficiais, como as diretrizes para a formação de professores da Educação Básica, de 2002, sinalizam necessidades de mudanças na formação inicial, especialmente no que diz respeito à superação de fragmentações. Isso significa, no caso específico da física, que, por exemplo, a formação inicial não pode se reduzir à superposição do aprender física com o aprender a ser professor. Diante desse quadro, buscamos investigar qual é o papel dos saberes de física na formação do professor, que espaços e formas esse saber ocupa nos currículos dos cursos de licenciatura e quais relações se estabelecem entre esses e os outros saberes presentes na formação inicial. Para isso, utilizamos referenciais teóricos da área de formação de professores e de teorias de currículo. Delimitamos três âmbitos de investigação, ainda que interdependentes: (i) políticas públicas gerais, (ii) resultados de pesquisas em ensino de ciências, expressão da comunidade de pesquisa da área, além dos (iii) espaços de concretização das práticas, referente aos cursos de licenciatura propriamente ditos. Para tanto...

Este trabalho tem por objetivo estudar algumas relações transferenciais estabelecidas por sete professores de Física de Universidades públicas e particulares do Estado de São Paulo, em relação à escolha do curso, ao longo da sua trajetória e, por último, ao assumirem a Física como profissão. No levantamento inicial que realizei, identifiquei que é na graduação que as relações transferenciais se tornam estratégicas, uma vez que o curso de Física apresenta uma baixa terminalidade. A partir daí, algumas questões surgiram: qual a relação transferencial que o aluno estabelece com a Física, no momento em que decide cursá-la? Que relações transferenciais existem entre professores e alunos? O que leva muitos alunos a abandonarem o curso? Por que há tantas desistências e evasões? Quais laços um físico estabelece com a Física, a ponto de escolhê-la como profissão? Eu poderia partir de uma pesquisa direcionada aos alunos que abandonaram o curso. Saber o que falhou. No entanto são esses exatamente que apresentam uma relação transferencial mais frágil. Interessava-me o oposto: aqueles cujas relações transferenciais tinham permanecido e mais, aqueles que escolheram a Física como profissão. Por isso, direcionei este trabalho àqueles que permaneceram...

Neste trabalho procuramos compreender o imaginário de licenciandos em Física a respeito da inclusão da Física Moderna e Contemporânea no ensino médio. Acompanhamos uma turma de licenciandos em Física cursando a disciplina Prática de Ensino de Física e Estágio Supervisionado durante o primeiro semestre de 2005, no período diurno, na Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Dentro da temática Questão Nuclear os licenciandos prepararam episódios de ensino nos quais deveria estar presente uma das seguintes abordagens estudadas pela pesquisa em ensino de ciências: História da Ciência; Ciência, Tecnologia, Sociedade e Ambiente; Resolução de Problemas e Linguagens no Ensino de Ciências. Tendo como referencial teórico a Análise de Discurso, na vertente iniciada na França por Michel Pêcheux, com apoio principalmente em textos publicados no Brasil por Eni Puccinelli Orlandi, procuramos compreender os sentidos atribuídos pelos licenciandos para a inclusão da Física Nuclear no ensino médio. Para tal analisamos seus discursos escritos e falados nas atividades da disciplina. Pensamos o imaginário dos licenciandos como um dos aspectos condicionados pelas mediações possíveis em sala de aula e também condicionantes das mesmas. Observamos que algumas condições de produção se relacionaram com limites apontados pelos licenciandos para tal inclusão...

Junior Lab consists of two undergraduate courses in experimental physics. The courses are offered by the MIT Physics Department, and are usually taken by Juniors (hence the name). Officially, the courses are called Experimental Physics I and II and are numbered 8.13 for the first half, given in the fall semester, and 8.14 for the second half, given in the spring. The purposes of Junior Lab are to give students hands-on experience with some of the experimental basis of modern physics and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of the relations between experiment and theory, mostly in atomic and nuclear physics.

Junior Lab consists of two undergraduate courses in experimental physics. The courses are offered by the MIT Physics Department, and are usually taken by Juniors (hence the name). Officially, the courses are called Experimental Physics I and II and are numbered 8.13 for the first half, given in the fall semester, and 8.14 for the second half, given in the spring. The purposes of Junior Lab are to give students hands-on experience with some of the experimental basis of modern physics and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of the relations between experiment and theory, mostly in atomic and nuclear physics. Each term, students choose 5 different experiments from a list of 21 total labs.

peer-reviewed; Physics Education Research (PER) has shown that students leave the physics classroom holding the same misconceptions about physics they had when they entered. PER has demonstrated that these misconceptions are often deeply held and are difficult to change. The literature indicates that Peer Learning has advantages compared with traditional methods in producing conceptual change and that there are a number of potential benefits for utilising undergraduates as Peer Leaders in Peer Learning programmes. Gartner, Kohler, and Riessman (1971) summarised a number of beneficial cognitive processes that occur when Peer Leaders prepare for Peer Learning sessions. It is believed that in reviewing, organising and teaching the material, they may gain a better understanding of the subject. However, little or no literature exists on the effect participation has on Peer Leaders or their experience of a Peer Learning programme. In particular, few studies determining the effect of participation on the Peer Leaders in physics at third level exist. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of becoming a Peer Leader, to investigate the experience of becoming a Peer Leader, and to illuminate the implications of using undergraduate Peer Leaders in physics tutorials at third level. A model of Peer Learning was designed and implemented in physics tutorials at the University of Limerick and the Peer Leaders selected for this study had direct experience of undergraduate introductory physics courses. This Peer Learning model involved students working in cooperative groups with an undergraduate Peer Leader as a facilitator of their learning. Training was provided to the Peer Leaders to ensure that they created an environment where the students were actively and productively engaged with the material and with each other. Action research was chosen as the central methodology of this thesis...

If the goal of teaching introductory physics is to help every student have successful learning experiences, then we need to answer at least two key questions to achieve this goal. First, what instructional strategies will promote equitable success for students? And second, how can we prepare instructors to use these teaching strategies effectively? Prior research demonstrates a persistent gender gap in introductory physics; however, we find that physics identity mediates the impact of gender on both conceptual understanding and retention in physics programs. Therefore, we apply Wenger's framework of identity development in communities of practice to hypothesize that collaborative, community-building instructional strategies can promote equity by enabling women's identification with physics. Through meta-analysis of results from 26 courses, we find trends in three different models of equity that support this hypothesis. To address our second question, we apply a similar community-based model to TA professional development. We find that teaching communities of practice can yield statistically significant improvements in TAs' identification as physics educators and make qualitative changes to TAs' teaching approaches.; Thesis (Master...

In the present work, an assessment of the Physics research capacity in Chile is presented. For this, the period between 2000 and June 2005 has been studied. In this period almost 200 physicists have contributed to scientific production in terms of ISI publications. Amongst these 200, ~160 correspond to theoretical physicists and only ~40 to experimental physicists; ~178 are men and only ~22 are women. A more detailed analysis shows that ~160 physicists have at least one appearance in ISI publications per year considering the last 3 years. Ten years ago, a similar criteria (at least one appearance per year in ISI articles, considering mobile three-year periods), the number of active physicists in the Chilean community was estimated at 70. Therefore, the Chilean active physicists’ community has doubled in 10 years. There exist 20 centres in which scientific research is developed: 18 university centres, a government institute and a private institute. As regards scientific productivity, both as related to disciplines or research areas, and well as in relation to research centres, it is found that, generally, scientific production, in a particular area in Physics or in a research centre, is directly related to the number of corresponding researchers; that is to say...

The amount of published research in Physics Education Research (PER) shows, on one hand, an increasing interest in the design and development of high performance physics teaching strategies, and, on the other hand, it tries to understand plausible ways on which the brain processes scientific information so that scientific thinking skills could be taught more effectively. As physics is a subject in which mathematical and conceptual reasoning can not be separated, instructors of physics face the problem of finding suitable advise on the most effective methods of teaching physics (i.e. how much time should be spent on intuitive conceptual reasoning and how much time in developing quantitative reasoning, and how to teach both in a unitary way). In spite the important efforts made by the PER community, the published results are overwhelming and confusing for the physics instructors in the sense that the conclusions that have arisen in those articles are in some instances controversial and far from being conclusive in pointing out a particular strategy to overcome the afore mentioned problem. Accordingly, based on the analysis of published PER work, we'll be arguing that one of the major difficulties to overcome in the teaching of physics could be associated to the lack of a consistent and coherent methodological framework for teaching which integrates both aspects...

The present issue of the series <> represents the Proceedings of the Students Training Contest Olympiad in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics and includes the statements and the solutions of the problems offered to the participants. The contest Olympiad was held on May 21st-24th, 2010 by Scientific Research Laboratory of Mathematical Physics of Samara State University, Steklov Mathematical Institute of Russia's Academy of Sciences, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) in cooperation. The present Proceedings is intended to be used by the students of physical and mechanical-mathematical departments of the universities, who are interested in acquiring a deeper knowledge of the methods of mathematical and theoretical physics, and could be also useful for the persons involved in teaching mathematical and theoretical physics.; Comment: 68 pages, Proceedings of the statements and solutions of the problems of the Students Training Contest Olympiad in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics. The subjects covered by the problems include classical mechanics, integrable nonlinear systems, probability, integral equations, PDE, quantum and particle physics, cosmology...

The "High school class for students with special abilities in physics" was founded in Nis, Serbia (http://tesla.pmf.ni.ac.rs/f_odeljenje/) in 2003. The basic aim of this project has been introducing a broadened curriculum of physics, mathematics, computer science, as well as chemistry and biology. Now, eight years after establishing of this specialized class, we present analyses of the pupils' skills in solving rather problem oriented test, as PISA test, and compare their results with the results of pupils who study under standard curricula. Also, an external evaluation conducted more recently, shows that Special physics class students performed higher on science knowledge test in comparison with students from control groups (grammar school and special math class students). Establishing of the Special physics class as an interesting educational experiment and its development has been connected, in a sense, with activities of the Southeastern European Network in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics. We present the main achievements of the Network and their possible impact to the students. We make conclusions and remarks that may be useful for the future work that aims to increase pupils' intrinsic and instrumental motivation for physics and sciences...

The physics that is traditionally formulated in one--time-physics (1T-physics) can also be formulated in two-time-physics (2T-physics). The physical phenomena in 1T or 2T physics are not different, but the spacetime formalism used to describe them is. The 2T description involves two extra dimensions (one time and one space), is more symmetric, and makes manifest many hidden features of 1T-physics. One such hidden feature is that families of apparently different 1T-dynamical systems in d dimensions holographically describe the same 2T system in d+2 dimensions. In 2T-physics there are two timelike dimensions, but there is also a crucial gauge symmetry that thins out spacetime, thus making 2T-physics effectively equivalent to 1T-physics. The gauge symmetry is also responsible for ensuring causality and unitarity in a spacetime with two timelike dimensions. What is gained through 2T-physics is a unification of diverse 1T dynamics by making manifest hidden symmetries and relationships among them. Such symmetries and relationships is the evidence for the presence of the underlying higher dimensional spacetime structure. 2T-physics could be viewed as a device for gaining a better understanding of 1T-physics, but beyond this, 2T-physics offers new vistas in the search of the unified theory while raising deep questions about the meaning of spacetime. In these lectures...

Space-based experiments today can uniquely address important questions related to the fundamental laws of Nature. In particular, high-accuracy physics experiments in space can test relativistic gravity and probe the physics beyond the Standard Model; they can perform direct detection of gravitational waves and are naturally suited for precision investigations in cosmology and astroparticle physics. In addition, atomic physics has recently shown substantial progress in the development of optical clocks and atom interferometers. If placed in space, these instruments could turn into powerful high-resolution quantum sensors greatly benefiting fundamental physics. We discuss the current status of space-based research in fundamental physics, its discovery potential, and its importance for modern science. We offer a set of recommendations to be considered by the upcoming National Academy of Sciences' Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. In our opinion, the Decadal Survey should include space-based research in fundamental physics as one of its focus areas. We recommend establishing an Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee's interagency ``Fundamental Physics Task Force'' to assess the status of both ground- and space-based efforts in the field...

The dissertation brings together approaches across the fields of physics, critical theory, literary studies, philosophy of physics, sociology of science, and history of science to synthesize a hybrid approach for instigating more rigorous and intense cross-disciplinary interrogations between the sciences and the humanities. There are two levels of conversations going on in the dissertation; at the first level, the discussion is centered on a critical historiography and philosophical implications of the discovery Higgs boson in relation to its position at the intersection of old (current) and the potential for new possibilities in quantum physics; I then position my findings on the Higgs boson in connection to the double-slit experiment that represents foundational inquiries into quantum physics, to demonstrate the bridge between fundamental physics and high energy particle physics. The conceptualization of the variants of the double-slit experiment informs the aforementioned critical comparisons. At the second level of the conversation, theories are produced from a close study of the physics objects as speculative engine for new knowledge generation that are then reconceptualized and re-articulated for extrapolation into the speculative ontology of hard science fiction...

Physics is introduced as a basic matter in the curricula of professional schools (i.e. schools for agriculture, electronic or chemistry experts). Students meet physics in the early years of their training and then continue in vocational subjects where many physics' topics can be useful. Rarely, however, the connection between physics and professional matters is quite explicit. Students often feel physics as boring and useless, i.e. very far from their interests. In these schools it is almost always required the physics lab, but it does not always exist. The physics teachers of a local Agricultural Technical Institute asked us to realize a learning path in laboratory for their students, since in their school the physics lab was missing. This institute is the only public school in the Chianti area specializing in Viticulture and Enology, and attending a further year post diploma, allows the achievement of the qualification of Enologist. We report a learning path realized starting from thermal equilibrium to a full understanding of the measures made with the Malligand's ebulliometer, used for determining the alcoholic strength (alcohol concentration by volume) of an alcoholic beverage and water/alcohol solutions in general. The aim was to make interesting measures of physical quantities...

Physics community is generally concerned about the decrease in Physics enrollment. Due to the deficiency of specially qualified Physics teachers, high school Physics is sometimes taught by general science teachers who may not be trained to motivate students to study Physics. These students will neither be inclined to register into Physics courses nor plan to teach Physics. They will be unable to find out the relevance of Physics with daily life, its application in different disciplines and even the job market. In this situation, we have to carefully make the existing Physics programs more attractive, instead of closing them down. We discuss teaching methodology and course requirements that will help to make Physics programs more attractive and preferable for incoming students. However, we emphasize to set our goals and plan to increase enrollment in parallel steps such as proper information about the program, help in developing a required mathematics background, offering scholarships, teaching assistantship or internships and involving them in research. Also we need to make Physics programs more interesting with the interdisciplinary courses and other electives which students may like. We will have to work on the retention rate to maintain enrollment without compromising on standards. However...

We present outcomes from curricular changes made to an introductory calculus-based physics course whose audience is primarily life science majors, the majority of whom plan to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in medical and scientific fields. During the 2011-12 academic year, we implemented a "Physics of the life sciences" curriculum centered on a draft textbook that takes a novel approach to teaching physics to life science majors. In addition, substantial revisions were made to the homework and hands-on components of the course to emphasize the relationship between physics and the life sciences and to help the students to learn to apply physical intuition to life science-oriented problems. Student learning and attitudinal outcomes were assessed both quantitatively, using standard physics education research instruments, and qualitatively, using student surveys and a series of post-semester interviews. Students experienced high conceptual learning gains, comparable to other active learning-based physics courses. Qualitatively, a substantial fraction of interviewed students reported an increased interest in physics relative to the beginning of the semester. Furthermore, more than half of students self-reported that they could now relate physics topics to their majors and future careers...

Part 2 of "Project X: Accelerator Reference Design, Physics Opportunities, Broader Impacts". In this Part, we outline the particle-physics program that can be achieved with Project X, a staged superconducting linac for intensity-frontier particle physics. Topics include neutrino physics, kaon physics, muon physics, electric dipole moments, neutron-antineutron oscillations, new light particles, hadron structure, hadron spectroscopy, and lattice-QCD calculations. Part 1 is available as arXiv:1306.5022 [physics.acc-ph] and Part 3 is available as arXiv:1306.5024 [physics.acc-ph].; Comment: 209 pp. with many figures; prepared in part for the DPF Community Summer Study; v2 corrects typos (including one author surname), adds an author, and conforms with the version being printed

In this lecture, the physics potential for the e+e- linear collider experiments ILC and CLIC is reviewed. The experimental conditions are compared to those at hadron colliders and their intrinsic value for precision experiments, complementary to the hadron colliders, is discussed. The detector concepts for ILC and CLIC are outlined in their most important aspects related to the precision physics. Highlights from the physics program and from the benchmark studies are given. It is shown that linear colliders are a promising tool, complementing the LHC in essential ways to test the Standard Model and to search for new physics.; Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, presented at the 12th International School-Seminar "The Actual Problems of Microworld Physics" in Gomel, Belarus, July 22 - August 2, 2013

This thesis describes a series of studies related to searches for new phenomena, beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, in high energy hadron collisions. In such searches, it becomes crucial to identify the Standard Model backgrounds in order to resolve a potential new signal. The thesis presents a method that uses photon events to determine one of such backgrounds, caused by the production of Z boson events. The studies performed to validate the method, both theoretically and experimentally, are presented and the method was shown to be successful as well as to provide reliable results. Theoretically, the method is found to be robust up to a ~10% uncertainty. Experimentally, the method is implemented to estimate the Z(vv) + jets background for the SUSY 0l + E_T^miss + jets search in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, where this background is one of the most important components for the final sensitivity and is impossible to measure directly. The main experimental results presented are the latest from ATLAS at the time of writing, corresponding to the full dataset of proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC in 2011 (4.7 fb^-1) at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. Given that this method has been mainstream since 2010...