Very often, secondary school teachers do not feel qualified to introduce new topics and tools in their Physics lessons. We report some activities suggested to teachers attending a training course jointly organized by the Physics Department of Turin University, the Regional Education Office (USR) in Piedmont, and the Territorial Training Team (EFT) of Piedmont. We briefly discuss the part of...
One of the issues that need to be addressed if we want to improve modern physics teaching in secondary school is the fact that often teachers do not feel qualified for this purpose. We report here the results of a questionnaire administered to teachers attending a training course jointly organized by the Physics Department of Turin University, the Regional Education Office (USR) in Piedmont,...
Astronomy is an exciting and engaging topic for students to learn about, and the field's interdisciplinary nature makes it well suited for adapting to suit a wide variety of STEM subjects. The aim of this research project is to develop and assess teaching materials based on cutting-edge astrophysics research topics. The research topics in question have been drawn from the CHAMELEON Network, a...
The most famous equation in physics, E=mc2, is rarely introduced in middle school physics curricula. This talk will present the analysis of an Einsteinian energy teaching module for Year 8 students (13-14-year-old), which encompasses the two fundamental energy formulas in modern physics, E=mc2 and E=hf. In the context of activity-based learning, the Einsteinian-Energy module relates to all...
Time dilation lies at the heart of Einstein’s special relativity theory. Learning about time dilation requires students to imagine light propagation in different inertial frames of reference. For numerous reasons, students find this very difficult, especially in secondary education.
We hypothesize that this obstacle may be overcome through simulation-based inquiry learning. In this...
Gravitational Wave Astronomy has produced groundbreaking discoveries that helped open a new observational window to the Cosmos. Despite its novelty and impact in Science, GW Astronomy remains way beyond the reach of school curricula in Greece. In this talk, we discuss the piloting of a dedicated 3hr long workshop on Gravitational Wave Astronomy with 14-year-old students in Greece, organized in...
Several research-based suggestions have been made on how concepts from particle physics can be taught to high school students. A frequently used subject-related representation within particle physics is the so-called Feynman diagram. However, very little is known about how this form of representation is perceived by students.
This project aims to design learning materials for 16-19-year-olds...
Given the central importance of increasing students’ interest as a goal of physics education, empirical support for the theoretical description of interest is essential. Our research project investigates which aspects of physics students are interested in and whether they can be categorised into different types of interest based on their interest profiles and their physics-related...
This year, CERN is opening a new education and outreach facility, Science Gateway, which will host daily science shows alongside the exhibitions and lab-based workshops. The available literature suggests that science shows can lead to many positive outcomes, such as increasing knowledge of a topic and helping to create positive attitudes towards science. However, as the key aims of science...
Following the global pandemic, our research group at CERN has developed a new virtual learning format called a Digital Learning Module (DLM), which consists of a series of pre-recorded explanatory and experiment videos, interactive elements (e.g., quizzes, shortcuts), interactive screen experiments, and expert interviews, all integrated in a module that is openly available online. So far, a...
