The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology is driving the transformation of physics education from traditional models to intelligent and data-driven approaches. To explore the evolution and cutting-edge hotspots in this field, this study conducted a systematic bibliometric analysis of 138 core literature published between 2021 and 2025 using VOSViewer and CiteSpace, based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. Research shows that the number of related publications will increase exponentially from 2023, with the United States, China, and Germany being the main research forces. The research focus has rapidly evolved from early machine learning assisted data analysis to the application of generative AI in teaching, the integration of physics information neural networks in computational physics courses, and the exploration of intelligent medical physics education. At present, this field is in the early stages of explosive growth and exhibits significant interdisciplinary characteristics. Future research should focus on building an adaptive learning ecosystem, reconstructing evaluation systems, and cultivating students' AI ethics and physical intuition.
In the vast expanse of academic publishing, researchers face a dual challenge of identifying legitimate avenues for dissemination while avoiding predatory journals. Predatory publishing, characterized by lax peer review, deceptive practices, and exorbitant fees, jeopardizes scholarly integrity and career progression. This paper explores the intricacies of predatory publishing, delineates its implications for researchers, and presents pragmatic strategies to navigate this landscape adeptly. Understanding the hallmarks of predatory journals, such as deficient peer review and misleading indexing claims, is paramount. Researchers risk reputational damage and hinder scientific progress by engaging with such venues. Moreover, the financial burden and ethical dilemmas associated with predatory publishing exacerbate the predicament. To combat this menace, researchers must employ vigilant vetting processes, consulting resources like Beall’s List and DOAJ, while critically evaluating journal metrics and practices. Trusted mentors and disciplinary societies can offer invaluable guidance in identifying reputable outlets. Scrutinizing submission guidelines, peer-review procedures, and indexing status, alongside adherence to ethical standards, helps discern predatory from legitimate journals. By prioritizing transparency, integrity, and collaboration, researchers can navigate the complex publishing landscape, contributing to the advancement of knowledge while safeguarding scholarly integrity.
Special aspects of education, Public aspects of medicine
Resumen: En este artículo presentamos algunas ideas para introducir en base a nuestra experiencia con el transcurrir del tiempo y con los fenómenos de cambio continuo, las estructuras y conceptos del cálculo diferencial para la descripción del movimiento continuo y las leyes que lo gobiernan. En particular, presentamos la estructura del Sistema de los números reales como un modelo matemático del tiempo con sus propiedades de orden y duración. Este enfoque, nos permite mostrar, el origen y significado de los conceptos fundamentales del cálculo como son los de función real de variable real, de límite y continuidad, de derivada etc. Consideramos que es importante para una mejor enseñanza y aprendizaje del cálculo, relacionar directamente sus conceptos y resultados con nuestras percepciones y vivencias de la realidad y sus manifestaciones.
Daniel Alejandro Valderrama, Marlon Damián Garzón Velasco, Lina Paola Alfonso Chaparro
Environmental Education (EE) is vital for shaping citizens who understand and value sustainability as an epistemological and practical alternative to mitigate current environmental issues. This research was prompted by the exploration of the relationship between EE and the physical sciences, connections that are often overlooked in curriculums and in the teaching processes of both this science and EE. It is essential to emphasize that physics provides conceptual frameworks and methodological tools that can enhance the understanding of environmental phenomena from a broad and multidimensional perspective. To delve into these connections, a study with a hermeneutic interpretative nuance was conducted. Through a questionnaire, the perceptions of prospective teachers in the natural sciences field regarding this topic were gathered. The findings revealed that a significant number of them recognize and value the correlation between physics and EE. From their perspective, this linkage is not only crucial for a comprehensive view of environmental dynamics but also to encourage students to develop critical, articulated, and well-founded thinking about environmental balance. The research also highlighted the didactic opportunities presented when intertwining physics with EE. By associating physical concepts with real environmental issues, learning can be reinforced, making it meaningful and enduring over time. This interdisciplinary fusion also holds the potential to increase students' motivation and interest, fostering a more active and engaged attitude in their educational journey
A. R. Pina, Shams El-Adawy, H. J. Lewandowski
et al.
Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) education and workforce development are top priorities at the national level in the US. This has included a push for academia to support the development of programs that will prepare students to enter the QISE workforce. As the field of QISE has grown rapidly in academia and industry, there is a need to better understand what quantum knowledge is needed for students to be ready for the workforce. We present preliminary findings on the level of quantum expertise and the specific quantum knowledge utilized across different roles, and in the execution of specific tasks in the QISE industry. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with industry professionals elucidates these aspects of the vital work functions related to the ongoing development of quantum technologies in industry. This work will provide insights into QISE curriculum development and changes needed to better support students transitioning into this growing industry.
Reem M Basuodan Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Reem M Basuodan, Email rmbasoudan@pnu.edu.saIntroduction: The learning methods employed in medical education have substantially transformed from traditional face-to-face (FTF) instruction to online learning modalities. This study sought to quantitatively compare the impact of three learning methods on the academic performance of first-year medical and health sciences students enrolled in a Medical Terminology (MT) course. The learning methods examined include the FTF method, the online-synchronized method, and a blended learning method that combines elements of both. The scope of the analysis encompasses the academic years 2019, 2020, and 2023.Methods: Academic performance was measured using overall scores and scores derived from the letter grades of 2446 first-year students assigned to the three learning methods that were compared.Results: A significant improvement in 2023 was observed in the blended learning method, which consisted of 30% FTF and 70% online synchronized lectures for overall scores (p < 0.0) and the scores based on the A grades (p < 0.0) of students in the MT course, compared to the FTF learning method in 2019 or the online synchronized learning method in 2020.Conclusion: The blended learning method, which combines FTF with online synchronized learning, appears to be a more effective method for enhancing the academic performance of first-year students compared to either the traditional FTF method or the solely online synchronized method.Keywords: academic outcomes, blended learning, e-learning, health sciences, medical education, traditional learning
Arianna Cortesi, Claudia Mignone, Alan Alves Brito
et al.
The way we look at the sky is connected to the cosmological paradigm embraced by the society we live in. On the other hand, several astronomical concepts reinforce the idea of a common humanity. Yet, scientific outreach is frequenty reaching out only to a specific part of the world population, often excluding people living in extreme social vulnerability, victims of violence and prejudice, fighting for their lives and for the right of living according to their traditions. We present two outreach projects, developed in Brazil, funded by the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), i.e. 'Under Other Skies' and 'OruMbya', which tackle the importance of ethno-astronomy, and the collaboration with leaders and cultural agents of marginalised communities. We also describe an educational project born in the favela of Cantagalo Pavão Pavaãzinho (PPG), in Rio de Janeiro, during the COVID19 pandemic, which started a collaboration with local educators and artists to offer classes of astronomy and English language to children in the favela
Students often begin physics courses with misconceptions rooted in everyday experience and intuition, which can be resistant to change. While research has identified strategies for addressing misconceptions across physics, it remains unclear whether different domains, like classical and quantum physics, require different approaches. On one hand, quantum concepts are further removed from daily experience, possibly requiring specialized strategies. On the other, all physics must be learned rather than innately understood, and classical physics already contains many counterintuitive ideas, suggesting the same strategies may be equally valid. To explore this question, we first develop a structure to organize the existing literature on addressing misconceptions in physics education. We identify 126 studies, which we group into six categories, three of which include further subcategories. Rather than offering a comprehensive literature review, this scheme provides a structural lens through which to compare how various strategies align. We then take an instructor-centered approach, using our framework to guide interviews with quantum physics instructors. We interview 12 instructors from the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing and the Perimeter Institute who have collectively taught over 100 quantum courses. Our findings suggest that quantum physics instructors find strategies similar to those used in classical physics effective for identifying and addressing misconceptions. This highlights the potential to adapt, rather than replace, existing instructional tools to better meet the conceptual challenges of quantum physics. Our work provides practical insights for educators and curriculum designers aiming to support deeper understanding in quantum mechanics.
Bayode Ogunleye, Kudirat Ibilola Zakariyyah, Oluwaseun Ajao
et al.
The higher education (HE) sector benefits every nation's economy and society at large. However, their contributions are challenged by advanced technologies like generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive assessment of GenAI tools towards assessment and pedagogic practice and, subsequently, discuss the potential impacts. This study experimented using three assessment instruments from data science, data analytics, and construction management disciplines. Our findings are two-fold: first, the findings revealed that GenAI tools exhibit subject knowledge, problem-solving, analytical, critical thinking, and presentation skills and thus can limit learning when used unethically. Secondly, the design of the assessment of certain disciplines revealed the limitations of the GenAI tools. Based on our findings, we made recommendations on how AI tools can be utilised for teaching and learning in HE.
Joyce structures were introduced by T. Bridgeland in the context of the space of stability conditions of a three-dimensional Calabi-Yau category and its associated Donaldson-Thomas invariants. In subsequent work, T. Bridgeland and I. Strachan showed that Joyce structures satisfying a certain non-degeneracy condition encode a complex hyperkähler structure on the tangent bundle of the base of the Joyce structure. In this work we give a definition of an analogous structure over an affine special Kähler (ASK) manifold, which we call a special Joyce structure. Furthermore, we show that it encodes a real hyperkähler (HK) structure on the tangent bundle of the ASK manifold, possibly of indefinite signature. Particular examples include the semi-flat HK metric associated to an ASK manifold (also known as the rigid c-map metric) and the HK metrics associated to certain uncoupled variations of BPS structures over the ASK manifold. Finally, we relate the HK metrics coming from special Joyce structures to HK metrics on the total space of algebraic integrable systems.
The dynamic light scattering method was successfully applied to determine the molar mass of nitrocellulose. The methodology of nitrocellulose fractionation in acetonic solutions is described in detail; six polymer fractions with monomodal distribution were obtained. It was shown that the unfractionated colloxylin with polymodal molar mass distribution had mass average molecular mass values of 87.3 ± 14.1, 28.3 ± 7.3, and 0.54 ± 0.17 kDa when investigated by the dynamic light scattering method. The viscometric method only provided integral viscosity average molar mass equal to 56.7 ± 5.8 kDa.
Gehua Tong, Rishi Ananth, John Thomas Vaughan,
et al.
Background: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique that combines principles of physics, math, and engineering to look inside humans and animals, hence delivering a lifesaving technology. However, resource-poor regions aiming to expand access to MRI suffer from a lack of imaging expertise. Education of a new generation of MRI technicians and researchers in these regions is needed to make this technology more equitable and sustainable around the world. Results: We developed Virtual Scanner Games, an open-source web application that allows students to explore fundamental concepts in MRI. Four modules illustrated imaging basics, imaging biology, imaging physics, and imaging design. Feedback was collected from high school and early college students along with faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students working in the field of MRI. Conclusions: We have shown a collection of games that can be used independently by high school students and people with no imaging background; they could also be used as demonstration tools in formal courses. Further assessment of their educational value through longer term usage is needed.
Demétrio Delizoicov, Antonio Fernando Gouvêa da Silva
This paper presents a systematic literature review on the several initiatives that consider prior knowledge of students. These initiatives are based on distinct educational, epistemological, psychological and axiological presumptions that steer both didactic options for approaching scientific concepts and the selection of concepts to compose educational programs. Our objective is to address specificities in Paulo Freire’s concept of education, as well as contributions by philosopher Enrique Dussel to the axiological dimension of curriculum, considering the realm of school education – in an effort to answer the following question: what is the axiological perspective that supports alterity in the implementation of Freirean concepts in school education? We analyze the principles of educational programs from several public-school networks, based on Freire’s concepts related to ontological, gnoseological and axiological aspects that support his concept of alterity in the essential relation with educational processes. His concepts are then compared with Dussel’s suggestions for an ethical-critical education, so that we organize an ethical-critical pedagogical practice for science education that is committed to alterity.
Special aspects of education, Theory and practice of education
We encounter variables with little variation often in educational data mining (EDM) due to the demographics of higher education and the questions we ask. Yet, little work has examined how to analyze such data. Therefore, we conducted a simulation study using logistic regression, penalized regression, and random forest. We systematically varied the fraction of positive outcomes, feature imbalances, and odds ratios. We find the algorithms treat features with the same odds ratios differently based on the features' imbalance and the outcome imbalance. While none of the algorithms fully solved how to handle imbalanced data, penalized approaches such as Firth and Log-F reduced the difference between the built-in odds ratio and value determined by the algorithm. Our results suggest that EDM studies might contain false negatives when determining which variables are related to an outcome. We then apply our findings to a graduate admissions data set. We end by proposing recommendations that researchers should consider penalized regression for data sets on the order of hundreds of cases and should include more context about their data in publications such as the outcome and feature imbalances.
Coulomb gases are special probability distributions, related to potential theory, that appear at many places in pure and applied mathematics and physics. In these short expository notes, we focus on some models, ideas, and structures. We present briefly selected mathematical aspects, mostly related to exact solvability, and to first and second order global asymptotics. A particular attention is devoted to two-dimensional exactly solvable models of random matrix theory such as the Ginibre model. Thematically, these notes lie between probability theory, mathematical analysis, and statistical physics, and aim to be very accessible. They form a contribution to a volume of the "Panoramas et Synthèses" series around the workshop "États de la recherche en mécanique statistique", organized by Société Mathématique de France, held at Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris, in the fall of 2018 (http://statmech2018.sciencesconf.org).
QUE TRAGÉDIA É ESSA?
Contextualizando Tragédias Gregas no Ensino de Teatro na EJA
RESUMO
O presente artigo traz reflexões sobre práticas do ensino de teatro na modalidade EJA - Educação de Jovens e Adultos, tendo como base dramaturgias de Sófocles e as teorias de Augusto Boal, Paulo Freire, Eric Bentley e Martin Esslin. As práticas em sala de aula foram desenvolvidas durante dois trimestres com discentes de uma escola pública do Vale dos Sinos, no Rio Grande do Sul, cuja ênfase se deu na contextualização de tragédias gregas, por meio das atividades de leitura, produção de escrita e encenações teatrais.
Palavras-chave: Educação de Jovens e Adultos; Ensino de teatro; Tragédias.
WHAT TRAGEDY IS THAT?
Contextualizing Greek Tragedies in Theater Teaching at EJA
ABSTRACT
This article brings reflections on theater teaching practices in the EJA - Youth and Adult Education modality, based on Sophocles' dramaturgies and the theories of Augusto Boal, Paulo Freire, Eric Bentley and Martin Esslin. The classroom practices were developed during two quarters with students from a public school in Vale dos Sinos, Rio Grande do Sul, whose emphasis was on the contextualization of Greek tragedies through reading activities, writing production and staging theatrical.
Keywords: Youth and Adult Education; Theater teaching; Tragedies.
Abstract Background Every person who seeks health care should be affirmed, respected, understood, and not judged. However, trans and gender diverse people have experienced significant marginalization and discrimination in health care settings. Health professionals are generally not adequately prepared by current curricula to provide appropriate healthcare to trans and gender diverse people. This strongly implies that health care students would benefit from curricula which facilitate learning about gender-affirming health care. Main body Trans and gender diverse people have been pathologized by the medical profession, through classifications of mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Disease (ICD). Although this is changing in the new ICD-11, tension remains between depathologization discourses and access to gender-affirming health care. Trans and gender diverse people experience significant health disparities and an increased burden of disease, specifically in the areas of mental health, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, violence and victimisation. Many of these health disparities originate from discrimination and systemic biases that decrease access to care, as well as from health professional ignorance. This paper will outline gaps in health science curricula that have been described in different contexts, and specific educational interventions that have attempted to improve awareness, knowledge and skills related to gender-affirming health care. The education of primary care providers is critical, as in much of the world, specialist services for gender-affirming health care are not widely available. The ethics of the gatekeeping model, where service providers decide who can access care, will be discussed and contrasted with the informed-consent model that upholds autonomy by empowering patients to make their own health care decisions. Conclusion There is an ethical imperative for health professionals to reduce health care disparities of trans and gender diverse people and practice within the health care values of social justice and cultural humility. As health science educators, we have an ethical duty to include gender-affirming health in health science curricula in order to prevent harm to the trans and gender diverse patients that our students will provide care for in the future.