The Journal on Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Experimental Physics, including Related Themes from Mathematics

This open access report explores the nature and extent of students’ misconceptions and misunderstandings related to core concepts in physics and mathematics and physics across grades four, eight and 12. Twenty years of data from the IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and TIMSS Advanced assessments are analyzed, specifically for five countries (Italy, Norway, Russian Federation, Slovenia, and the United States) who participated in all or almost all TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced assessments between 1995 and 2015. The report focuses on students’ understandings related to gravitational force in physics and linear equations in mathematics. It identifies some specific misconceptions, errors, and misunderstandings demonstrated by the TIMSS Advanced grade 12 students for these core concepts, and shows how these can be traced back to poor foundational development of these concepts in earlier grades. Patterns in misconceptions and misunderstandings are reported by grade, country, and gender. In addition, specific misconceptions and misunderstandings are tracked over time, using trend items administered in multiple assessment cycles. The study and associated methodology may enable education systems to help identify specific needs in the curriculum, improve inform instruction across grades and also raise possibilities for future TIMSS assessment design and reporting that may provide more diagnostic outcomes.

An essential resource for scientists designing new energy materials for the vast landscape of solar energy conversion as well as materials processing and characterization Based on the new and fundamental research on novel energy materials with tailor-made photonic properties, the role of materials engineering has been to provide much needed support in the development of photovoltaic devices. Advanced Energy Materials offers a unique, state-of-the-art look at the new world of novel energy materials science, shedding light on the subject’s vast multi-disciplinary approach The book focuses particularly on photovoltaics, efficient light sources, fuel cells, energy-saving technologies, energy storage technologies, nanostructured materials as well as innovating materials and techniques for future nanoscale electronics. Pathways to future development are also discussed. Critical, cutting-edge subjects are addressed, including: Non-imaging focusing heliostat; state-of-the-art of nanostructures Metal oxide semiconductors and their nanocomposites Superionic solids; polymer nanocomposites; solid electrolytes; advanced electronics Electronic and optical properties of lead sulfide High-electron mobility transistors and light-emitting diodes Anti-ferroelectric liquid crystals; PEEK membrane for fuel cells Advanced phosphors for energy-efficient lighting Molecular computation photovoltaics and photocatalysts Photovoltaic device technology and non-conventional energy applications Readership The book is written for a large and broad readership including researchers and university graduate students from diverse backgrounds such as chemistry, materials science, physics, and engineering working in the fields of nanotechnology, photovoltaic device technology, and non-conventional energy.

Building on the foundation set in Volume I—a landmark synthesis of research in the field—Volume II is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art new volume highlighting new and emerging research perspectives. The contributors, all experts in their research areas, represent the international and gender diversity in the science education research community. The volume is organized around six themes: theory and methods of science education research; science learning; culture, gender, and society and science learning; science teaching; curriculum and assessment in science; science teacher education. Each chapter presents an integrative review of the research on the topic it addresses—pulling together the existing research, working to understand the historical trends and patterns in that body of scholarship, describing how the issue is conceptualized within the literature, how methods and theories have shaped the outcomes of the research, and where the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps are in the literature. Providing guidance to science education faculty and graduate students and leading to new insights and directions for future research, the Handbook of Research on Science Education, Volume II is an essential resource for the entire science education community.

Bringing together international research on nature of science (NOS) representations in science textbooks, the unique analyses presented in this volume provides a global perspective on NOS from elementary to college level and discusses the practical implications in various regions across the globe. Contributing authors highlight the similarities and differences in NOS representations and provide recommendations for future science textbooks. This comprehensive analysis is a definitive reference work for the field of science education.

This fifth edition of the highly regarded family of titles that first published in 1965 is now a three-volume set and over 3,000 pages. All chapters have been revised and expanded, either by the fourth edition authors alone or jointly with new co-authors. Chapters have been added on the physical metallurgy of light alloys, the physical metallurgy of titanium alloys, atom probe field ion microscopy, computational metallurgy, and orientational imaging microscopy. The books incorporate the latest experimental research results and theoretical insights. Several thousand citations to the research and review literature are included. - Exhaustively synthesizes the pertinent, contemporary developments within physical metallurgy so scientists have authoritative information at their fingertips - Replaces existing articles and monographs with a single, complete solution - Enables metallurgists to predict changes and create novel alloys and processes