Physics Dept

Two sections of introductory non-calculus general physics lecture courses, with a total enrolment of 120 students, were used to investigate the impact of explicit problem solving instruction on students' problem solving ability and conceptual understanding. The comparison group was instructed in textbook style problem solving strategy. Students' conceptual understanding was assessed by adminstering the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) at the

There were two objectives. The first was to determine if a real time graphing activity will influence the interpretation of the subject of kinematic graphs, as measured by the TUGK. The second was to determine if attitude, as measured by CLASS, has a connection with graphical interpretation. The graphing activity did not affect graphical interpretation; this might be due to the short time spent on the treatment. However, there was a connection between attitude and graphical interpretation. The subjects of this study were non science majors attending a medium sized state owned university.

Physics is a fundamental science course and can be valuable to all students, however, enrollment at the high school level is low. This study tries to identify factors that influence high school student enrollment and achievement. Raw data was obtained from the New York State Education Department on magnetic tapes with over 300,000 records containing information about individual classes. From the data sets, variables determined to be appropriate for the model were selected, the latent variables identified, and their relationships explored. There are six major points identified in the study: (1) there has been little change in enrollment in the past 20 years; (2) school level variables, including size of school, instructional facilities, and teacher experience have the strongest relationship to physics enrollment; (3) variables external to the school have the biggest impact on physics achievement; (4) larger schools have disproportionately fewer students enrolled in physics; (5) schoo...

Abstract:
The physical processes that drive the circulation and the thermal regime in the bay largely control the duration and persistence of hypoxic conditions in Green Bay. A review of previous studies, existing field data, our own measurements, hydrodynamic modeling and spectral analyses were used to investigate the effects on circulation and thermal regime of the bay by the momentum flux generated by wind, the heat flux across the water surface, the Earth’s rotation, thermal stratification and the topography of the basin. Stratification and circulation are intimately coupled during the summer. Continuous stratification developed at regions deeper that 15-20 m between late June and September. Results indicate that surface heat flux is the main driver of stratification in Green Bay. Summertime conditions are initiated by a transition in the dominant wind field shifting from NE to SW in late June, and remains in a relatively stable state until mixing in the early September. It is during this stable period that conditions conducive to hypoxia are present. Wind parallel to the axis of the bay induces greater water exchange than wind blowing across the bay. During the stratified season flows in the bottom layers bring cold water from Lake Michigan to Green Bay and surface flows carry warmer water from the bay to Lake Michigan. The general patterns of the circulation and thermal structure and their variability will be essential in producing longer term projections of future water quality in response to system scale changes.