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The field of geometrical optics features a broad knowledge base concerning conceptual learning difficulties and student conceptions. However, in contrast to other areas of physics, no widely used standard test instrument exists to assess middle school students' conceptual knowledge of geometrical optics. This is even more true for other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. For this reason, a concept test was developed for an intervention study to collect preconceptions about visible light as well as preconceptions about infrared radiation in the subject area of reflection and transmission. A pilot study with 108 middle school students preceded final revisions and implementation in the main study of 820 learners aged 12-16. The measurement model is presented for the developed concept test with the subscales 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in visible optics', 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in infrared optics' and 'applied knowledge on reflection and transmission in visible and infrared optics'. The results show that the concept test validly captures the development of preconceptions and knowledge regarding specific aspects of reflection and transmission of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 3 µm to 380 nm.

Purpose: Optical filters and tints manipulating short-wavelength light (sometimes called 'blue-blocking' or 'blue-attenuating' filters) are used in the management of a range of ocular, retinal, neurological and psychiatric disorders. In many cases, the only available quantification of the optical effects of a given optical filter is the spectral transmittance, which specifies the amount of light transmitted as a function of wavelength., Methods: We propose a novel physiologically relevant and retinally referenced framework for quantifying the visual and non-visual effects of these filters, incorporating the attenuation of luminance (luminous transmittance), the attenuation of melanopsin activation (melanopsin transmittance), the colour shift, and the reduction of the colour gamut (gamut reduction). Using these criteria, we examined a novel database of spectral transmittance functions of optical filters (n = 121) which were digitally extracted from a variety of sources., Results: We find a large diversity in the alteration of visual and non-visual properties. The spectral transmittance properties of the examined filters vary widely, in terms of shapes and cut-off wavelengths. All filters show relatively more melanopsin attenuation than luminance attenuation (lower melanopsin transmittance than luminous transmittance). Across the data set, we find that melanopsin transmittance and luminous transmittance are correlated., Conclusions: We suggest that future studies and examinations of the physiological effects of optical filters quantify the visual and non-visual effects of the filters beyond the spectral transmittance, which will eventually aid in developing a mechanistic understanding of how different filters affect physiology. We strongly discourage comparing the downstream effects of different filters on, e.g. sleep or circadian responses, without considering their effects on the retinal stimulus., (© 2019 The Authors. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists.)

To understand the processes behind seeing light, we need to integrate knowledge about the incoming optical structure, its perception, and how light interacts with material, shape, and space-objectively and subjectively. To that end, we need a novel approach to the science of light, namely, a transdisciplinary science of appearance, integrating optical, perceptual, and design knowledge and methods. In this article, I review existing literature as a basis for such a synthesis, which should discuss light in its full complexity, including its spatial properties and interactions with materials, shape, and space. I propose to investigate this by representing the endless variety of light, materials, shapes, and space as canonical modes and their combinations.

Laboratory activity is closely related and yet is essential in the process of science teaching-learning. The hands-on laboratory experiment is the one normally used in school. Particularly with the state of online schooling, it is quite challenging to perform a hands-on laboratory activity. The combination of inquiry-based learning with virtual lab activity can be an alternative to developing a more alluring yet meaningful learning process within online learning. This research aims to analyze virtual lab activity with inquiry-based learning on students' scientific literacy in light and optics topics. Participants were taken from junior high school students in the 8th-grade in Bandung, Indonesia. It includes 40 students with 14 males and 26 females with ages range 13-14 years old who have not yet studied light and optics. A pre-experimental research method with a one-group pre- the post-test design was used. The finding indicates that students' scientific literacy was significantly increased with a medium category (N-Gain score 0.441). Based on this research, virtual-lab activity with inquiry-based learning could be considered an alternative to conducting a meaningful online learning activity, especially in science education.

This article reports the development and validation of a test instrument to assess secondary school students' declarative quantum optics knowledge. With that, we respond to modern developments from physics education research: Numerous researchers propose quantum optics-based introductory courses in quantum physics, focusing on experiments with heralded photons. Our test instrument's development is based on test development standards from the literature, and we follow a contemporary conception of validity. We present results from three studies to test various assumptions that, taken together, justify a valid test score interpretation, and we provide a psychometric characterization of the instrument. The instrument is shown to enable a reliable ([alpha] = 0.78) and valid survey of declarative knowledge of quantum optics focusing on experiments with heralded photons with three empirically separable subscales.

K-12 students need to become familiar with engineering because 21st-century careers integrate engineering practices across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. While the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize learning real science and engineering practices, further work is needed to authenticate engineering for K-12 education. The NGSS are presented in a way that merges a single general practice with a core disciplinary idea and cross-cutting concept. Based on this framing and underlying epistemology, NGSS engineering practices are often implemented as overgeneralized, isolated, and largely context-neutral. Yet, in the STEM workplace, practices are rarely done in isolation from one another. Research is needed to better understand the integrated use of NGSS practices in STEM workplaces in order to make these practices more visible and accessible for use in K-12 classrooms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 entry-level employees and managers in STEM-intensive workplaces. Using emergent and a priori coding, we identified how NGSS practices and contextual features are situated and connected in the STEM workplace. Our findings suggest that by adding rich contextual features, practices become more interconnected and reflective of authentic engineering in the STEM workplace. This process will enable educators to interpret K-12 engineering standards in an authentic way that supports deep engagement in learning engineering.

Demonstration interviews with 27 high school students (18-19 years old) were conducted in Zagreb, Croatia, using several standard experiments on interference and diffraction of light. Students were asked for their predictions, observations, and explanations of the experiments. In this process, many student difficulties were identified, both regarding their understanding of interference and diffraction of light, but also regarding their skills of systematic observation and description of experimental patterns. The observed difficulties were analyzed in the resource-based model, suggesting the activation of some p prims, as well as other cognitive resources in the process of students' attempts to predict, describe, and explain the interference and diffraction patterns.

Diffuse reflectors have various applications in devices ranging from liquid crystal displays to light emitting diodes, to coatings. Herein, specular and diffuse reflectance from controlled phase separation of polymer blend films, a well-known self-organization process, are studied. Temperature-induced spinodal phase separation of polymer blend films in which one of the components is selectively extracted is shown to exhibit enhanced surface roughness as compared to unextracted films, leading to a notable increase of diffuse reflectance. Diffuse reflectance of UV-visible light from such selectively leached phase-separated blend films is determined by a synergy of varying lateral scale of phase separation (≈200 nm to 1 μm) and blend film surface roughness (0-40 nm). These critical parameters are controlled by tuning annealing time (0.5-3 h) and temperature (140, 150, 160 °C) of phase separation. Angle-resolved diffuse reflection studies show that the surface-roughened polymer films exhibit diffuse reflectance up to 40° from normal incident light in contrast to optically uniform as-cast films that exhibit largely specular reflectance. Furthermore, the intensity of the diffusively reflected light can be enhanced (300-700 nm) or reduced (220-300 nm) significantly by coating the leached phase-separated films with a thin silver over layer., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Physics is directly related to various professions since it is a fundamental science. Opticianry is one of such physics related professions. In this study, it was aimed to determine the conceptual understanding levels of opticians related to the concepts of light and optics which are directly related to their professions. In the study, which was conducted via mixed method, the participants were determined with the convenient sampling method. A total of 203 opticians attended the study. Data were collected with the help of Light and Optics Conceptual Evaluation Test in addition to the Open-Ended Questions and Concept Cartoons selected from the literature. As a result of the study, it was reached that the conceptual understanding levels of opticians were low with several misconceptions and insufficiencies related to the light and optics concepts. In the light of the findings, the importance of physics education for opticianry was implied.

In many introductory physics classes, diffraction of light is introduced first, then more advanced diffraction topics such as x-ray diffraction, Bragg's law, and crystallography are covered. Since using x-rays raises safety concerns and atomic spacing in a crystal is not easy to change, microwaves with macroscopic crystals have been used to study Bragg's law in the undergraduate laboratory. A number of scientific supply companies, including PASCO and 3B Scientific, sell 10-GHz microwave optics systems. However, using these systems within the parameters of the manufacturer's procedure for a Bragg diffraction lab poses some challenges. First, the receiver and transmitter must be manually positioned, making the data collection process slow. Second, the microwaves should be plane waves and the receiver should be located beyond the far-field limit. These 10-GHz microwave optics systems are low power, making them safe for lab use, but this limits the crystal size and working distance between the transmitter and receiver to under 1000 mm. The experimental setup suggested by the manufacturer separates the transmitter and receiver by about 10 wavelengths from the center of rotation. While the bells on the transmitter and receiver help with producing plane waves, it is expected that ideal conditions for Bragg's law are not completely fulfilled. Indeed, the experiment guide warns of errors up to 15% and unexplained peaks in the data.

The invariance of the speed of light is one of the foundational pillars of our current understanding of the universe. It implies a series of consequences related to our perception of simultaneity and, ultimately, of time itself. Whereas these consequences are experimentally well studied in the case of subluminal motion, the kinematics of superluminal motion lack direct evidence or even a clear experimental approach. We investigate kinematic effects associated with the superluminal motion of a light source. By using high-temporal-resolution imaging techniques, we directly demonstrate that if the source approaches an observer at superluminal speeds, the temporal ordering of events is inverted and its image appears to propagate backward. Moreover, for a source changing its speed and crossing the interface between subluminal and superluminal propagation regions, we observe image pair annihilation and creation, depending on the crossing direction. These results are very general and show that, regardless of the emitter speed, it is not possible to unambiguously determine the kinematics of an event from imaging and time-resolved measurements alone. This has implications not only for light, but also, for example, for sound and other wave phenomena.

Circular dichroism and optical rotation are crucial for the characterization of chiral molecules and are of importance to the study of pharmaceutical drugs, proteins, DNA, and many others. These techniques are based on the different interactions of enantiomers with circularly polarized components of plane wave light that carries spin angular momentum (SAM). For light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), for example, twisted or helical light, the consensus is that it cannot engage with the chirality of a molecular system as previous studies failed to demonstrate an interaction between optical OAM and chiral molecules. Using unique nanoparticle aggregates, we prove that optical OAM can engage with materials' chirality and discriminate between enantiomers. Further, theoretical results show that compared to circular dichroism, mainly based on magnetic dipole contributions, the OAM analog helical dichroism (HD) is critically dependent on fundamentally different chiral electric quadrupole contributions. Our work opens new venues to study chirality and can find application in sensing and chiral spectroscopy.

We demonstrated that an optimally designed pinhole camera can be used as an astronomical tool to observe the libration and apparent diameter change of the Moon at night. The libration and apparent diameter change of the Moon were observed using a handmade pinhole camera with a diameter of 0.65 mm and a focal length of 400 mm. It was found that the lunar mare with its characteristic pattern can be observed using this pinhole camera with a resolution of 2.5 arcmin. It was also found that the apparent diameter change of the Moon of about 10% can be observed with this pinhole camera. The pinhole camera used in this experiment is very useful as a handmade scientific educational material for learning the principles of optics and the movement of the Moon.

Refraction is a foundational concept within introductory physics. Physics students need a deep understanding of refraction, including Snell's Law, in order to progress towards more complex optics topics such as lenses and images. Unfortunately, many physics students obtain only a superficial understanding of refraction. Although many students can use Snell's Law to perform basic calculations, the mathematical relationship is often divorced from students' conceptual knowledge, which often harbours misconceptions. In this article, we describe a sequence of instructional activities that we have used in an introductory optics course that aims to address common issues of students' learning of optics. Instead of leading with Snell's Law and emphasising calculations, the instructional sequence places conceptual understanding in the foreground. Mathematical representations are introduced only after students have developed a conceptual foundation; in this way, mathematics becomes integrated with students' conceptual understanding rather than existing apart from it. After describing the instructional sequence, we present the impacts of instruction on student thinking and also suggest potential applications of the instructional principles that guided our decision-making.

Diffraction refers to a kind of optical phenomena which occurs when light approaches an element (object or aperture) whose features are in the range of the illuminating wavelength (small apertures, sharp edges). It can be explained by means of the undulatory nature of light or also geometrically by using simple ray optics. Diffraction phenomena are impressive and not intuitive, so it makes them very interesting to bring examples to the classroom. The most popular diffraction experiments show effects in Fraunhofer regime, that is to be said, far from the diffractive object. Common examples are the single or double slit experiments. In this manuscript, we propose and show a less common diffractive effect that occurs in the Fresnel regime, near to the diffractive object. It is the Talbot effect or self-imaging phenomenon, which appears by illuminating a diffraction grating with a collimated monochromatic beam. It consists of the apparition of replicas (self-images) of the grating intensity pattern at periodic distances, multiples of the so-called Talbot distance. We show how this effect may be shown into the classroom with cheap and easy to find elements. In addition, we take advantage of its dependence on the coherence degree of the source to introduce the concept of optical coherence and show its effect on the contrast of the Talbot self-images. These experiments could be appropriate for undergraduate students or introductory physics courses.

It is often necessary to enrich the teaching environment in order for students to learn optics in depth and to interpret the real optical situations with the information they have learned. In this study, a virtual teaching environment was developed using by Algodoo, a 2D simulation software. An eye model was created in order to explain the formation of the image in the eye in the teaching environment. Also, a cactus type light source model has also been developed to demonstrate that the image can be created in optics by using rays other than special rays. In order to show the success of the virtual teaching environment in modelling, previously known situations that the students had difficulty in understanding were simulated. Finally, some suggestions were made about the use of the virtual teaching environment.

The Arduino board and its communication with several sensors are becoming more and more popular in the physical science community. They offer inspiring possibilities for learning different physical concepts. In this article, we focused on creating a very practical educational system for experimenting with diffraction of laser light and graphically visualizing the distribution of light intensity in space, which is impossible to perform it with the devices available in the educational laboratories of physics. The main elements of this configuration are the Arduino UNO microcontroller board, the BH1750 sensor and the NEMA17 motor and its A4990 driver. The results' graph is displayed in real time on the computer using the Data Streamer add-in. We see that the abbreviated curve corresponds well to the theory. In addition, feedback from the participants in the test activity of the device showed that they were satisfied with its operation and its contribution to the understanding of diffraction. Therefore, we believe that the device presented can play a very important role in the diffraction phenomenon learning because of its high precision and reliability in the measurements.

Students are introduced to the term wavelength in optics at school level. In this paper, we present an inexpensive and simple method to measure the wavelength of the light of a light emitting diode using a light depending resistor. This experimental set-up is developed at Science Laboratory, Nehru Planetarium (Mumbai), India. It is useful as an experimental tool to teach the concepts of light in a simpler way.

In some school, teacher-centered is commonly found in the learning process. The learning process itself is still in the form of direct transfer of knowledge from teacher to students. Actually, students will learn better if they are engaged in a meaningful learning activity. STEM project-based learning is one of the alternative teaching strategies that engaged students in meaningful learning. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of STEM project-based learning on students' creativity in the topics of light and optics. The study used qualitative research with the narrative design. Data collection technique that used is observation. The population is eight grade students in one of Junior Secondary School that is located in Bandung, Indonesia. The sample consists of 25 students that chosen based on purposive sampling technique. The data is obtained through Creativity Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM). There are three creativity dimensions that used in this study which are resolution, elaboration and novelty dimension. Students' creativity is obtained as much 76% which categorized as good. Based on the result, STEM project-based learning give a good impact on students' creativity. STEM project-based learning can be used as alternative teaching strategies in Junior Secondary School.

In this work, we report the development of a low-cost Arduino-controlled device for didactic activities in light polarization. The main body of the prototype was designed and produced using laser-cut medium density fibreboard parts, including gears and pulleys. As a light source and detector, a 532 nm laser pointer and a light dependent resistor were used, respectively. The moving parts (light source and detector) are controlled using a stepper motor (28BYJ-48) with the ULN2003 driver. The apparatus was tested with glass and plastic (polystyrene) slides. The results show that the prototype can distinguish between parallel and perpendicular polarization (to the plane of incidence). In addition, it is demonstrated that the prototype can be satisfactorily applied to determine the Brewster's angle, even for solids with close refractive indexes.

The refractive index (RI) is probably the single most important parameter in optical systems. Chromatic dispersion, on the other hand, indicates how the RI depends on the wavelength and is central in, e.g., optical communication systems. Chromatic dispersion also plays an important role when teaching optics due to the captivating natural phenomenon of the rainbow and the white light decomposition with a prism. In this work, we propose and explore a method to characterize the refractive index of transparent liquids in the visible range without any dedicated equipment or device (such as prisms, goniometer, laser, detector, etc.).

In the early nineteenth century, the ideas of reform pedagogues gave rise to a didactic turn towards the visual that criticised an exclusive textual mediation of knowledge through books and lectures. To raise educational effectualness, teachers came under increasing pressure to incorporate high-profile media technologies into their lessons. Yet, top-down initiatives to implement new instructional technology often fell short of expectations when logistical and financial challenges and teachers' practices and preferences were not taken into account. However, most of the existing studies on the introduction and proliferation of high-profile educational technology in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western education have focused on industry-led promotional efforts or governmental initiatives to introduce commercially produced media into the classroom. As such, they lend insight into the normative discourse surrounding the construction of the ideal of the tech-savvy teacher, but have mostly overlooked teachers' agency, as well as the difficulties teachers met in the implementation. This paper investigates how, between 1900 and 1940, Belgian secondary school teachers dealt with the tension between professional pressures and expectations on the one hand, and their individual preferences and possibilities on the other hand. It does so by comparing the discourse of educational media advocates and governmental actors with teachers' accounts of their visual media practices as documented in teachers' pre-class preparations and notes.

Visual representation in school textbooks plays an important role for physics teaching and learning. The integration of graphics with text has drawn attention of physics educators in recent years due to the close relationship between graphics and relevant text. The purpose of this study is to examine visual representation of optical content in three physics textbooks commonly used in China and Singapore. Based on a revised version of graphical analysis protocol, this study focuses on two aspects of visual representation: (1) presentation of graphics; and (2) integration of graphics with corresponding text. The content analysis approach was adopted as the research methodology with 115 graphics taken from the three physics textbooks being the analysis target. The results show that the three textbooks had considerable differences in terms of graphical presentations and that they contained a small percentage of high systematical representations. On integration of graphics with text, each textbook was found to be unique. Based on the results of this study, some recommendations are provided for visual representation in physics textbooks so as to enhance the effectiveness of textbooks on teaching and learning, such as highlighting physical and semantic integration of text with graphics.

In this article, simple models of optical computing circuits (1 x 4 demultiplexer (DEMUX), 4 x 1 multiplexer (MUX), Boolean logic, and half-adder (HA)) are shown with mechanically controlled plane mirrors. Photographs of the proposed computational circuits are also shown. It is very useful for the school student to understand optical logic and Boolean algebra. It also shows that, computation can be possible with simple plane mirrors placed on the table. Here mirror movements are done with hand. The principle of operation of the circuits is based on reflection of light from plane mirrors. Optical devices which are used in this activity are all low-cost materials.

Plant leaves are green because they contain the green photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls a and b. Popular science literature, and sometimes even textbooks, state that the greenness is caused by reflection of green light by chlorophyll. In the present study, we compared the reflectance spectra of green leaves to yellow or white leaves of the same species. Chlorophyll-deficient leaves reflected green light more efficiently than green leaves of the same species, which conclusively refutes the misconception. The data show that the green colour of leaves is caused by preferential absorption of blue and red light by chlorophyll, not by reflection of green light by chlorophyll. The data suggest that the cellulose of the cell walls is the main component that diffusely reflects visible light within plant leaves.

On April 14, 1912, the British passenger liner R.M.S. "Titanic" struck an iceberg. The ship sank in a fraction of the time designers had estimated following a worst case scenario. The purpose of this article is to examine the atmospheric refractive phenomena that might have played a significant role in obscuring the iceberg from "Titanic"'s two lookouts. We describe a way in which these phenomena can easily and inexpensively be brought to students in our introductory physics classrooms.

This article investigates the optics conceptions of 228 Thai high school students in grades 10-12 when they attempted to explain how an object can be seen both in general and in a completely dark room. To elicit students' conceptions precisely, their confidence in giving reasons for the final two diagnostic questions is also considered. The study indicates that these high school students still have beliefs and misconceptions about how an object can be seen and how the human eyes work. Only 6.57% (15 students) of all participants could use scientific principles and strong self-confidence to explain how an object can be seen and how human eyes work, answering all questions correctly and with appropriate reasons. The identified misconceptions are discussed and compared to the literature. The teaching implications for developing a conceptual understanding of how human eyes work under low light intensity levels are suggested and discussed.

We outline the basic theory behind white light interferometry and the workings of a typical light interferometer microscope. We study WLI images obtained for rough and smooth chrome steel spheres to illustrate the principle that curved rough surfaces can be imaged with such a device as long as the surface roughness is kept within certain limits.

In this experiment we have first determined the focal length of an equiconvex lens. We have observed that a real image can be formed by the lens on the same side of the source if the source is sufficiently strong. This is due to the reflection from the concave surface of the lens. We have measured these image distances for different object distances. From these measurements, we have determined the refractive index of the lens as well as its radii of curvature. The relationship between the object and image distances in the reflection from the concave surface of a lens as formulated here, is similar to the ordinary reflection from a concave mirror. However, the focal length, in this case, turns out to be smaller than that of a regular concave mirror of the same radius of curvature by a factor of two, for a lens of refractive index of 1.5.

The current pandemic era demands distance learning, including physics experiments on the topic of optics. One of the optical phenomena that needs to be explained in optic courses is fluorescence. This study offers a simple home experiment regarding the application of fluorescence, namely to identify the purity of olive oil using simple fluorescence imaging. This fluorescence imaging experiment used a 532 nm green laser as a beam source and a smartphone camera as an image capture detector. Olive oil samples were mixed with mineral oil to obtain various variations of olive oil purity. When the sample was induced with a laser, the laser beam path changed colour to orange due to fluorescence phenomena. This fluorescence effect was then captured in the form of images. Fluorescence intensity converted from the Grey value of the laser beam path image. The experimental results show a linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and olive oil purity with a determination coefficient R[superscript 2] = 0.98. This experiment can be an offer to explain the application of fluorescence with activities carried out independently by tertiary-level physics students in their respective homes. This fluorescent imaging procedure can also be related in terms of its application in olive oil quality control.

The purpose of this study was to explore how students interacted with guidance to conduct a scientific inquiry in a physics simulation by using the eye-tracking techniques. The participants were 51 7th graders, and an eye-tracking system was used to record their visual behaviors and log data while they were using the simulation. As for data analysis, we first checked each participant's log data to examine whether they completed the requirement of the guidance, and then checked the correctness of her/his answer to the inquiry task. The participants were thus divided into two groups (correct vs. wrong), and the patterns of their visual behaviors were examined by a set of eye-movement indices, normalized heat maps and lag sequential analyses. The results indicate that both spatial distributions and temporal sequences of the participants' visual attention were associated with their performances on the inquiry task. Regarding the spatial distribution, the correct group tended to allocate more visual attention to the regions presenting the target phenomenon than the wrong group. Concerning the temporal sequence, the correct group tended to make more visual transitions among the content of the guidance, the relevant control panels and the target phenomena than the wrong group.

The laser pointer has been widely used to demonstrate some simple optics phenomena, like reflection, refraction, total reflection, and diffraction. However, the rays of laser light cannot be seen in the air because the scattered light is too weak. Many physics teachers use milk or smoke to visualize rays of laser light in physics labs, but it is hard to demonstrate some experiments, such as diffraction. Recently, Velasco and del Mazo demonstrated an interesting experiment in which four optical phenomena could be visualized by using a rhodamine B solution. However, the color change of the laser beam (532 nm) is not easy to explain for students who have just learned optics. In this study, we developed a simple way of visualizing geometric optical experiments in water mixed with highlighter ink to eliminate the influence of color change. Our material list includes a green highlighter, a large transparent rectangular tank filled with water, a smaller transparent square container, a round acrylic plate, a prism, a concave acrylic plate, a beaker, and a CD grating.

This paper proposes a simple method to design experiments for drawing the light paths at a lens to find its effective focal length and principal planes. In the designed experiments, long-exposure photography was used to record the light scattered using a moving sheet of paper, thus revealing the light path. According to the proposed experimental method, (1) the effective focal length of a lens and (2) the principal planes of a lens can be measured. Moreover, the system is easy to build, inexpensive, and can promote students' understanding of geometric optics by providing an intuitive physical phenomenon. The work is also of pedagogic interest as it reveals a new simple experimental method to find the principal planes of a thick lens and its effective focal length.

In this study, it is aimed to develop practical teaching activities that can be used in optics teaching. For this purpose, a virtual laboratory environment was created in RayLab which is an application for design and simulation of optics on the iPad/iPhone. In this context, the dispersion of white light in the prism, the relationship between the refractive index and the wavelength of the light and the recombination of the dispersed white light were examined. It was seen that the virtual experiment results obtained in the activities are compatible with the theoretical results and the real experimental situations.

The integrated knowledge should be implemented to face the 21st-century era. Beside the integrated knowledge, mastery the concept and creativity also must be involved in order to enhance the quality of education. Thus, this research was aimed to investigate the effect of STEAM-Based Learning on Students' Concept Mastery and Creativity in learning Light and Optics. The method that used was a mixed method with convergent parallel design. The population in this research was 8th-grade students in private junior high school in West Bandung and the sample was one class of 8th grade. The school implemented Indonesian Curriculum 2013 in the teaching-learning process. The sampling techniques were convenience sampling. The number of participants in this research was 27 students. The quantitative data in this research was obtained through an objective test. The objective test was made based on Bloom's Taxonomy revision by Anderson. The qualitative data was obtained through the creativity rubric adopted from Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS) developed by O'Quinn and Bessemer. The dimension that was in creativity is novelty, resolution, and elaboration and synthesis. According to the research, students' concept mastery improved as much as 0.78 with category high improvement after the implementation of STEAM-Based Learning. For students' creativity achievement, in every dimension gained different result: 1) Novelty is categorized into good with 75.6%, 2) Resolution is categorized into good with 77.8%, and 3) Elaboration and synthesis are categorized into enough with 65.3 %. Overall, students' concept mastery and creativity in the implementation of STEAM-Based Learning in learning light and optic is categorized as good.

The wave nature of light has been widely demonstrated in a double-slit experiment, which has played a special role in physics teaching. When monochromatic light passes through the double-slit sheet, the diffraction and interference fringes can be observed in the far-field regime. The interference of light causes the beams passing through the two slits to interact with each other, but each slit still retains the diffraction characteristics of a single slit, so the result is a combination of diffraction and interference patterns.

Using polymerizable cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) paints, we prepare circularly polarized freestanding films that enable students to acquire a basic understanding of circular polarization and molecular chirality. The polymerized helical structures of CLC films can exhibit brilliant structural colors by selective reflection of visible light corresponding to their helical pitch. For the fabrication of freestanding and circularly polarizing films of various colors and shapes, students control helical pitch with the amount of chiral dopants and stabilize them by photopolymerization. On the basis of an understanding of the circularly polarized reflection of CLC paints, students can encode secret letters that are visible only with a specific circular polarizer.

Contribution: A do-it-yourself (DIY) light wave sensing (LWS) and communication project was developed to generate interest and clarify basic electromagnetic (EM) and wireless sensing/communication concepts among students at different education levels from middle school to undergraduate. This article demonstrates the nature of the project and its preliminary effectiveness. Background: Concepts in wireless sensing and communication are generally considered hard to comprehend being underpinned only by theoretical coursework and occasional simulations. Further, K-12 schools and small academic institutions may not have the resources necessary to produce tangible demonstrations for clarification. The consequent lack of affordable hands-on experiences fails to motivate and engage students. Intended Outcomes: The DIY-LWS is intended to make wireless concepts more understandable and less esoteric by linking fundamental concepts with student-relevant technologies, such as solar cells, visible lights, and smartphones. It is also intended to pique student interest by allowing them to personally assemble, operate, and explore a light-based wireless communication system. Students complete assessments before and after the project to quantify its effectiveness. Application Design: A preliminary assessment is used to determine the student base knowledge level and enthusiasm for wireless and related core topics. Students are instructed to assemble and test their own DIY-LWS hardware to provide a hands-on experience and stimulate further exploration. Short lectures are given to link conceptual ideas to the real-world phenomena students personally observed. Finally, students are reassessed to quantify any change in conceptual understanding. Findings: The DIY-LWS kits have been used in multiple events with students at different levels from secondary to high schools to college. As part of a triangulated assessment methodology, pre- and post-assessments revealed pronounced improvements (the number of correct answers doubled) in student understanding of EM concepts. Instructors observed tremendous interest and excitement among the students during and after the experiments.

This paper demonstrates the use of a smartphone as a low-cost multi-channel optical fibre spectrophotometer suitable for physics laboratory classes. A custom-designed cradle and structure support were fabricated using 3D printing. The plastic optical fibres were arranged and inserted into the hole of the cradle to guide the light to the rear camera of the smartphone. Here, we describe the multi-channel optical fibre-based smartphone spectrophotometer for measuring the spectra of different LED colours.

Fermat's principle states that a light ray refracted across different media will traverse the fastest path as the physics for Snell's law. A geometric proof of Fermat's principle will be demonstrated as an intuitive approach to learn high school geometry and physical optics. It will be proved explicitly by showing that all alternative paths need more traversal time to complete their journey.

This research aimed to design an instructional module to teach light diffraction by a grating to secondary students applying a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-integrated approach. Based on this approach, instructional management integrated the disciplines of physics and mathematics with engineering design process principles, while information searches, assessment, and evaluation drew on technology. The module involved working out a solution to the real-world scientific problem of constructing a spectroscope in the environment of cooperative learning. Upon completion of the module, the students were expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of light diffraction by the grating as well as problem-solving skills. To evaluate its effectiveness, the module was trialed on thirty 11th grade students in a Thai school in Pathum Thani, Thailand. The findings revealed that the implementation of the module enabled the students to achieve a statistically higher post-test score than that for the pre-test at the significance level of 0.05. As a result of the module, the students also exhibited a high level of academic development, as indicated by the class normalized gain of 0.82. Finally, the module was perceived by the students as being suitable for their level, offering them a chance to apply classroom knowledge to authentic problems and hence accumulating their hands-on experience, enhancing their problem-solving skills through the application of the engineering design process, and improving their team-working ability.

In the vicinity of a critical point, the impact of a substance's chemical identity is superseded by universal critical behavior for a number of physical properties, such as visible light scattering. In this classroom demonstration, students observe a single-phase critical mixture of partially miscible isobutyric acid + water (IAW) as the liquid-liquid sample cools down to its critical temperature. Students see the sample change from colorless and transparent, to pale blue, to white and turbid. This optical behavior is called critical opalescence. No pressure control is necessary for the demonstration since the system is a condensed phase, so the sample can be large (100 mL here) and suitable for classroom visualization. The experiment is easy to set up and highly repeatable because the critical temperature of the IAW system is just above room temperature. The demonstration can be used to show the difference in angular dependence for light scattering from a single-phase sample versus a two-phase sample containing a suspension of droplets, and also to segue to a conversation on why the sky is blue. Furthermore, the critical IAW sample may be incorporated into a quantitative classroom demonstration or laboratory project in which laser light scattering measured at 90° of incidence is used to calculate the correlation length amplitude [xi][subscript 0] of the IAW system and the universal critical exponent ?.

Single slit diffraction is part of many high-school physics curricula throughout the world. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether high-school physics teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia are adequately prepared to discuss with their students about various aspects of the single slit diffraction pattern, particularly about vertical length of diffraction fringes. To that end we conducted a written survey which included 57 high-school physics teachers. Besides asking teachers about students' difficulties in learning about single slit diffraction, we also asked them to specify their own difficulties with this topic and required them to solve a conceptual task. Almost every second teacher believed that vertical length of diffraction fringes can be increased by changing shape or width of the slit and only 1 out of 57 teachers managed to correctly answer why diffraction fringes become shorter when we move away from the central maximum. We concluded that physics teacher education programmes should be changed to develop understanding of both, horizontal and vertical aspects of the diffraction pattern. To that end it is useful to provide learning opportunities which encourage combining ray and wave model of light.

Dark matter is one of the most intriguing scientific mysteries of our time and offers exciting instructional opportunities for physics education in high schools. The topic is likely to engage and motivate students in the classroom and allows addressing open questions of the Standard Model of particle physics. Although the empirical evidence of dark matter links nicely to many standard topics of physics curricula, teachers may find it challenging to introduce the topic in their classrooms. In this article, we present a fun new approach to teach about dark matter using jelly lenses as an instructional analogy of gravitational lenses. We provide a brief overview of the history of dark matter to contextualise our presentation and discuss the instructional potential as well as limitations of the jelly lens analogy.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inquiry-based laboratory activities on the students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in learning lights and optics topic. The method used in this research is quasi experiment. Sampling technique using random sampling to class and the samples were taken from grade 8 in one of junior high school in Bandung. The sample was 45 students, consisting of the experimental class (n = 24 students) and the control class (n=21 students). The experimental class is taught by inquiry-based laboratory activities, while the control class is taught by non-inquiry laboratory activities. The result of this research shows that the experimental class got N-Gain of 0.60, while the control class got N-Gain of 0.44, and both classes proven to have statistically significant different improvement.

This paper analyzes the introduction of fundamental physics in design education as a pedagogical method that trains designers to create with the un-known. It studies how three workshops offered design students to work on: superconductivity in 2011, quantum physics in 2013 and light and optics in 2014. The authors observe that introducing physics in a design curriculum was thought in terms of an "a fortiori" education program that would help practitioners to come up with pertinent questions and responses even if they cannot comprehend all aspects of the problem. The authors looked at how the workshops were handled and suggest that the educational framework had five goals that correspond to a model of design: affective (how to cope with uncertainty), reflexive learning (how to cope with processes rather than contents), cognitive (how to cope with non knowledge), economic (how to cope with the industrial society of innovation), and political (how to cope with the equality of disciplines and "indiscipline").

Although it originates from the ancient Greeks, optics still arouses a lot of scientific interest, mainly due to the technological innovation associated with it. One of its most interesting applications is related to optical metrology and the characterization of materials through optical techniques. While some of these processes can be explained in a simplified way using a few of the fundamental principles of physics, there are hardly any proposals whose objective is to discuss this topic at a basic level. Accordingly, we present a low-cost experiment that allows the characterization of surface roughness using the fractal dimension of the speckle pattern associated with the light scattered by a surface. For simplicity, the entire activity is adaptable to the most diverse school situations. Moreover, it allows the discussion of many fundamental physics concepts and provides students with an experience similar to that experienced by scientists.

Recognition of interference and diffraction patterns is a difficult task for both high-school and university students. Many students fail to observe important features of particular patterns and identify the differences among similar patterns. In this study, we investigated if performing students' investigative experiments can help high-school students in recognition of typical interference and diffraction patterns. Students in the experimental group were exposed to a teaching intervention that included five students' investigative hands-on experiments on wave optics whereas the control group had the standard lecture-based physics teaching. We measured eye movements of students from both the experimental and control groups while they were identifying patterns produced by monochromatic light on a double slit, single slit, and diffraction grating, and by white light on a diffraction grating. Students from the experimental group had a higher percentage of correct answers than students in the control group that indicated that students' investigative experiments had a positive effect on their recognition of interference and diffraction patterns. However, the low percentage of correct answers, even in the experimental group, confirms that distinguishing of the typical interference and diffraction patterns remains a difficult task for high-school students even if they had performed investigative hands-on experiments. Eye-tracking data showed that students from the experimental group had a shorter dwell on multiple-choice patterns, possibly because they were more familiar with interference and diffraction patterns and felt more confident in choosing the correct pattern. All students attended more to those patterns which they chose as the correct answer and that corroborates the previous findings. Overall, the results indicate that students' recognition of interference and diffraction patterns can be improved by introducing hands-on investigative experiments in the classroom.

There is a growing interest in the value of teachers guiding students to generate their own representations to support conceptual learning in science and across complementary subjects such as mathematics. However, this approach to an interdisciplinary focus poses challenges for programme design and learning assessment. In this paper, we report on a 10-week study with a class of Year 5 students designed to (a) facilitate learning of key concepts in the topic of optics (e.g. reflection), and (b) make meaningful links between these concepts and relevant mathematical ones (e.g. symmetry and angles). Students were expected to construct, evaluate and refine representations to explain various experienced phenomena. We report on an assessment framework developed and applied to student work. Our findings indicate (a) some subject and interdisciplinary learning gains, and (b) specific challenges around designing this kind of programme, student learning assessment and teacher understanding to support this learning.

We conducted a quasiexperimental study in order to investigate the effect of a teaching concept on quantum physics based on coincidence and correlation experiments with heralded photons on preuniversity students' conceptions of quantum physics (experimental group, N = 150). We compare the results with the traditional curriculum's effect (control group, N = 130) at German secondary schools using a questionnaire to assess students' conceptions of quantum physics adapted from the literature. The results show that students introduced to quantum physics using the quantum optics concept acquire conceptions of quantum physics that are significantly less influenced by classical mechanistic and deterministic conceptions than those of the control group. In more detail, correlation and principal component analysis results indicate that the conceptions acquired by experimental group students are more consistent than those of the control group students.