Papers by Athanasios Velentzas
European Journal of Physics, 2024
Several suggestions for the use of Mobile Phone (MP) sensors in science teaching are found in the... more Several suggestions for the use of Mobile Phone (MP) sensors in science teaching are found in the literature, and most of them focus on proposing physics experiments that can be conducted with the aid of the sensors that commonly exist in smartphones. The proposed experiments rely on the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) approach, that is, students are allowed to bring and use their own MPs in the classroom or school science lab. The present study investigates (a) the variations in the results of experiments, and (b) other possible "technical" difficulties which arise when students use their personal MPs to take measurements with acceleration, sound, and light sensors because of the fact that the devices may be technologically different. According to the findings, as regards the acceleration and sound sensors, the teacher who decides to use the students' MPs in classroom experiments will not encounter problems with statistically significant differences in the results of th...
Physics Education, 2021
The social distancing rules during the Covid-19 quarantine period posed new challenges in the tea... more The social distancing rules during the Covid-19 quarantine period posed new challenges in the teaching of physics especially for the laboratory sessions. One solution, that permitted students to carry on the experimental work during this period, was the ‘do it at home’ activities using simple materials for setting up the experiment and a smartphone as a measuring device. In this line of reasoning an educational intervention was designed and carried out in a junior high school of Athens. After discussing the criteria for selecting the ‘do it at home’ activities assigned to the students the chosen experiments are presented, and the distance education tools that were used for carrying out the intervention are described. The findings and the conclusions were drawn both by the papers submitted by pupils and from a questionnaire that students answered online a few days after the completion of the whole action. Students enjoyed the experimental work and they managed to carry out quite successfully all the required steps despite a few difficulties they had encountered. It is worth mentioning that such ‘do it at home’ experiments could also be possibly used at periods when there is a normal access to a school physics lab and not only in the context of a distance learning environment.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), 2021
This study seeks to answer the question of how effectively students can use their smartphones as ... more This study seeks to answer the question of how effectively students can use their smartphones as tools for measuring and processing data when they perform physics experiments. The research was conducted in a local secondary school in Athens, Greece. The sample consisted of fifty-two 16-year-old students (10th grade). The students formed 26 pairs, and were asked to perform an experiment using their smartphones for measuring, processing and saving data, and then to email the data file to the researchers. During the implementation, students of each pair completed the steps on a worksheet. Two researchers monitored each pair individually and recorded scores and comments on evaluation sheets. The worksheets, the evaluation sheets, and the experimental data emailed by each pair constituted the data of the present study. The findings of the study show that the integration of students' smart mobile devices in the performance of physics experiments in the classroom or in the school lab i...
International Journal of Science Education, 2017
ABSTRACT In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physi... more ABSTRACT In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the explanandum is a logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e. laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as consequences from other, more general laws, but they are formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have similar structures to the explanations in internationally known textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of science educators in other countries.
Research in Science & Technological Education, 2018
ABSTRACT Background: Research regarding students’ ideas about the nature of sound reveals a varie... more ABSTRACT Background: Research regarding students’ ideas about the nature of sound reveals a variety of conceptions about sound. In order to reconstruct these ideas and explain sound phenomena, researchers’ teaching interventions often make use of everyday-life contexts. However existing research on sound only partially addresses the correlation between the properties of sound and its perceptive characteristics. Purpose: To identify the evolution of students’ conceptions regarding the nature of sound and its properties (frequency, intensity and frequency spectrum) through a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) about sound phenomena in an authentic musical context. The described TLS consists of three activities aiming students to correlate the properties of sound waves (frequency, intensity and frequency spectrum) with its perceptive characteristics (pitch, loudness and timbre) via the use of smartphone applications. Sample: Eight students, in the second year of their studies in the Department of Primary Education of the XXX University. Design and methods: Students’ perspectives on sound and their progression are investigated through a teaching experiment design. Data are collected by recording students’ interviews. Due to the explorative nature of the research qualitative methods of content analysis are used. Results: The results show that the students’ perspectives on sound evolved, as students managed to consolidate links between their everyday experience of sounds and the underlying science concepts as frequency, intensity and frequency spectrum. The authentic environment and the use of the smartphone’s applications were key factors for the success of the teaching experiment. The interaction with the activities shifted student’s conceptualizations closer to the scientific ones, by communicating every day sound experiences with their scientific interpretation.
E-Proceedings IOSTE …, 2007
... (3 from 32 pictures 9.4 ... TEs are used to a greater extent (compared to the other studied t... more ... (3 from 32 pictures 9.4 ... TEs are used to a greater extent (compared to the other studied textbooks) in the ... Skordoulis 2005b, Reiner, Gilbert 2000) lead to the conclusion that TEs, apart from being important tools of scientists, also constitute effective tools for the teaching of science. ...
Science & Education, 2006
Informing citizens about scientific issues in our highly technological world is of major importan... more Informing citizens about scientific issues in our highly technological world is of major importance. Toward this end, a teaching/learning sequence (TLS) focused on the nanostructures of carbon was developed and implemented in a class of secondary school students. This topic was chosen because, on the one hand, fullerenes and nanotubes are already used in a wide range of applications, and there are impressive promises for their future uses. On the other hand, from an educational point of view, students could be introduced to the important idea that some of the interesting properties at the nanoscale level are related to the structure of matter. During the development of the TLS, the fact that students would be studying extremely small-sized particles invisible to the naked eye was taken into consideration. Because of this, models and analogies were chosen as the main teaching tools to be used. In the present work, the TLS and some findings from the first implementation in the classro...
Physics Education, 2021
The social distancing rules during the Covid-19 quarantine period posed new challenges in the tea... more The social distancing rules during the Covid-19 quarantine period posed new challenges in the teaching of physics especially for the laboratory sessions. One solution, that permitted students to carry on the experimental work during this period, was the ‘do it at home’ activities using simple materials for setting up the experiment and a smartphone as a measuring device. In this line of reasoning an educational intervention was designed and carried out in a junior high school of Athens. After discussing the criteria for selecting the ‘do it at home’ activities assigned to the students the chosen experiments are presented, and the distance education tools that were used for carrying out the intervention are described. The findings and the conclusions were drawn both by the papers submitted by pupils and from a questionnaire that students answered online a few days after the completion of the whole action. Students enjoyed the experimental work and they managed to carry out quite successfully all the required steps despite a few difficulties they had encountered. It is worth mentioning that such ‘do it at home’ experiments could also be possibly used at periods when there is a normal access to a school physics lab and not only in the context of a distance learning environment.
International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), 2021
This study seeks to answer the question of how effectively students can use their smartphones as ... more This study seeks to answer the question of how effectively students can use their smartphones as tools for measuring and processing data when they perform physics experiments. The research was conducted in a local secondary school in Athens, Greece. The sample consisted of fifty-two 16-yearold students (10th grade), who were divided into 26 pairs and asked to perform an experiment using their smartphones for measuring, processing and saving data, and then to email the data file to the researchers. During the implementation, each pair completed the steps on a worksheet. Two researchers monitored each pair individually, and recorded scores and comments on evaluation sheets. The worksheets, the evaluation sheets, and the experimental data emailed by each pair constituted the data of the present study. The findings of the study show that the integration of students' smart mobile devices in the performance of physics experiments in the classroom or in the school lab is possible without posing particular problems. However, this integration presupposes the proper planning by the teacher and the dedication of appropriate time both for the preparation of students for the activity, and for the installation of the necessary applications in the devices.
Exploring fullerenes and nanotubes in the classroom
Athanasios Velentzas-Dimitris Stavrou
Inform... more Exploring fullerenes and nanotubes in the classroom
Athanasios Velentzas-Dimitris Stavrou
Informing citizens about scientific issues in our highly technological world is of major importance. Toward this end, a teaching/learning sequence (TLS) focused on the nanostructures of carbon was developed and implemented in a class of secondary school students. This topic was chosen because, on the one hand, fullerenes and nanotubes are already used in a wide range of applications, and there are impressive promises for their future uses. On the other hand, from an educational point of view, students could be introduced to the important idea that some of the interesting properties at the nanoscale level are related to the structure of matter. During the development of the TLS, the fact that students would be studying extremely small-sized particles invisible to the naked eye was taken into consideration. Because of this, models and analogies were chosen as the main teaching tools to be used. In the present work, the TLS and some findings from the first implementation in the classroom are presented and discussed.
Ahead of print: https:
https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cti/ahead-of-print/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003.xml
European Journal of Physics Education , 2020
Several suggestions for the use of Mobile Phone (MP) sensors in science teaching are found in the... more Several suggestions for the use of Mobile Phone (MP) sensors in science teaching are found in the literature,
and most of them focus on proposing physics experiments that can be conducted with the aid of the sensors
that commonly exist in smartphones. The proposed experiments rely on the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)
approach, that is, students are allowed to bring and use their own MPs in the classroom or school science lab.
The present study investigates (a) the variations in the results of experiments, and (b) other possible
"technical" difficulties which arise when students use their personal MPs to take measurements with
acceleration, sound, and light sensors because of the fact that the devices may be technologically different.
According to the findings, as regards the acceleration and sound sensors, the teacher who decides to use the
students' MPs in classroom experiments will not encounter problems with statistically significant differences
in the results of the same experiment conducted with different devices. In contrast, the use of light sensors
resulted in considerable difficulties, which made it possible to use only a small percentage of devices. Finally,
the illuminance indications vary significantly between the devices, making it impossible to use them as
reliable photometers.
Research regarding students' ideas about the nature of sound reveals a variety of conceptions abo... more Research regarding students' ideas about the nature of sound reveals a variety of conceptions about sound. In order to reconstruct these ideas and explain sound phenomena, researchers' teaching interventions often make use of everyday-life contexts. However existing research on sound only partially addresses the correlation between the properties of sound and its perceptive characteristics. Purpose: To identify the evolution of students' conceptions regarding the nature of sound and its properties (frequency, intensity and frequency spectrum) through a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) about sound phenomena in an authentic musical context. The described TLS consists of three activities aiming students to correlate the properties of sound waves (frequency, intensity and frequency spectrum) with its perceptive characteristics (pitch, loudness and timbre) via the use of smartphone applications. Sample: Eight students, in the second year of their studies in the Department of Primary Education of the University of Crete. Design and methods: Students' perspectives on sound and their progression are investigated through a teaching experiment design. Data are collected by recording students' interviews. Due to the explorative nature of the research qualitative methods of content analysis are used.
In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physics textbo... more In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the Explanandum is a logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e. laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as consequences from other, more general laws, but they are formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have similar structures to the explanations in internationally known textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of science educators in other countries.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, 2017
In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations
included in physics textb... more In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations
included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in
Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific
phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the explanandum is a
logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at
least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously
presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or
specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of
the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e.
laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or
principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and
principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as
consequences from other, more general laws, but they are
formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors
argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific
explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have
similar structures to the explanations in internationally known
textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not
only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of
science educators in other countries.
Everyone who clicks on the link will be taken to full article:
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/wMUC3AZtijBE5rNqzuVp/full
Στο εργαστήριο, που διοργανώθηκε στα πλαίσια του 9ου συνεδρίου ΕΝΕΦΕΤ στη Θεσσαλονίκη, παρουσιάζ... more Στο εργαστήριο, που διοργανώθηκε στα πλαίσια του 9ου συνεδρίου ΕΝΕΦΕΤ στη Θεσσαλονίκη, παρουσιάζονται προτάσεις για τη διδασκαλία νόμων και αρχών της Φυσικής με εμπλοκή των μαθητών σε πειραματισμό με παιχνίδια χαμηλού κόστους. Η χρήση των παιχνιδιών για πειραματισμό παρουσιάζει αρκετά πλεονεκτήματα, όπως το ότι είναι ελκυστικά και μπορεί να προκαλέσουν το ενδιαφέρον των μαθητών σχετικά με το αντικείμενο της διδασκαλίας ή το ότι είναι απλά στη χρήση και με κατάλληλο σχεδιασμό και καθοδήγηση είναι δυνατόν οι μαθητές να εμπλακούν σε διαδικασίες αυθεντικής διερεύνησης.
International Journal of Science Education, May 8, 2012
The present study focuses on the way thought experiments (TEs) can be used as didactical tools in... more The present study focuses on the way thought experiments (TEs) can be used as didactical tools in teaching physics to upper secondary-level students. A qualitative study was designed to investigate to what extent the TEs called ‘Einstein's elevator’ and ‘Einstein's train’ can function as tools in teaching basic concepts of the theory of relativity to upper secondary-level students. The above TEs were used in the form they are presented by Einstein himself and by Landau and Rumer in books that popularize theories of physics. The research sample consisted of 40 Greek students, divided into 11 groups of three to four students each. The findings of this study reveal that the use of TEs in teaching the theory of relativity can help students realize situations which refer to a world beyond their everyday experience and develop syllogisms according to the theory. In this way, students can grasp physics laws and principles which demand a high degree of abstract thinking, such as the principle of equivalence and the consequences of the constancy of the speed of light to concepts of time and space.
Science & Education, Jan 1, 2007
The Physics Teacher, 2014
ABSTRACT Diffraction and interference are phenomena that demonstrate the wave nature of light and... more ABSTRACT Diffraction and interference are phenomena that demonstrate the wave nature of light and of particles. Experiments relating to the diffraction/interference of light can easily be carried out in an educational lab, but it may be impossible to perform experiments involving electrons because of the lack of specialized equipment needed for such experiments. It would, however, be possible for students to analyze data from scientific experiments by analogy to experiments they themselves had performed. Based on this rationale, this paper describes two pairs of experiments that may be of interest to teachers aiming to teach the wave nature of light and of particles to upper secondary school (or to college) students. Specifically, students are asked to (i) carry out a double-slit experiment by using monochromatic light, thus repeating in a way the historical experiment of Young, and then analyze real data from Jönsson’s scientific double-slit experiment with electrons, and (ii) perform an experiment involving diffraction of monochromatic light using a compact disc (CD) as a reflection grating, and then by analogy analyze data from the experiment of Davisson and Germer. The proposed real experiments are not original, and different versions of them have been widely described in the literature. The educational value of the present work lies in the use of the analogy between experiments carried out in the school lab and experiments performed in the scientific lab.
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Papers by Athanasios Velentzas
Athanasios Velentzas-Dimitris Stavrou
Informing citizens about scientific issues in our highly technological world is of major importance. Toward this end, a teaching/learning sequence (TLS) focused on the nanostructures of carbon was developed and implemented in a class of secondary school students. This topic was chosen because, on the one hand, fullerenes and nanotubes are already used in a wide range of applications, and there are impressive promises for their future uses. On the other hand, from an educational point of view, students could be introduced to the important idea that some of the interesting properties at the nanoscale level are related to the structure of matter. During the development of the TLS, the fact that students would be studying extremely small-sized particles invisible to the naked eye was taken into consideration. Because of this, models and analogies were chosen as the main teaching tools to be used. In the present work, the TLS and some findings from the first implementation in the classroom are presented and discussed.
Ahead of print: https:
https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cti/ahead-of-print/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003.xml
and most of them focus on proposing physics experiments that can be conducted with the aid of the sensors
that commonly exist in smartphones. The proposed experiments rely on the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)
approach, that is, students are allowed to bring and use their own MPs in the classroom or school science lab.
The present study investigates (a) the variations in the results of experiments, and (b) other possible
"technical" difficulties which arise when students use their personal MPs to take measurements with
acceleration, sound, and light sensors because of the fact that the devices may be technologically different.
According to the findings, as regards the acceleration and sound sensors, the teacher who decides to use the
students' MPs in classroom experiments will not encounter problems with statistically significant differences
in the results of the same experiment conducted with different devices. In contrast, the use of light sensors
resulted in considerable difficulties, which made it possible to use only a small percentage of devices. Finally,
the illuminance indications vary significantly between the devices, making it impossible to use them as
reliable photometers.
included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in
Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific
phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the explanandum is a
logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at
least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously
presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or
specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of
the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e.
laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or
principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and
principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as
consequences from other, more general laws, but they are
formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors
argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific
explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have
similar structures to the explanations in internationally known
textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not
only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of
science educators in other countries.
Everyone who clicks on the link will be taken to full article:
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/wMUC3AZtijBE5rNqzuVp/full
Athanasios Velentzas-Dimitris Stavrou
Informing citizens about scientific issues in our highly technological world is of major importance. Toward this end, a teaching/learning sequence (TLS) focused on the nanostructures of carbon was developed and implemented in a class of secondary school students. This topic was chosen because, on the one hand, fullerenes and nanotubes are already used in a wide range of applications, and there are impressive promises for their future uses. On the other hand, from an educational point of view, students could be introduced to the important idea that some of the interesting properties at the nanoscale level are related to the structure of matter. During the development of the TLS, the fact that students would be studying extremely small-sized particles invisible to the naked eye was taken into consideration. Because of this, models and analogies were chosen as the main teaching tools to be used. In the present work, the TLS and some findings from the first implementation in the classroom are presented and discussed.
Ahead of print: https:
https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cti/ahead-of-print/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003/article-10.1515-cti-2020-0003.xml
and most of them focus on proposing physics experiments that can be conducted with the aid of the sensors
that commonly exist in smartphones. The proposed experiments rely on the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)
approach, that is, students are allowed to bring and use their own MPs in the classroom or school science lab.
The present study investigates (a) the variations in the results of experiments, and (b) other possible
"technical" difficulties which arise when students use their personal MPs to take measurements with
acceleration, sound, and light sensors because of the fact that the devices may be technologically different.
According to the findings, as regards the acceleration and sound sensors, the teacher who decides to use the
students' MPs in classroom experiments will not encounter problems with statistically significant differences
in the results of the same experiment conducted with different devices. In contrast, the use of light sensors
resulted in considerable difficulties, which made it possible to use only a small percentage of devices. Finally,
the illuminance indications vary significantly between the devices, making it impossible to use them as
reliable photometers.
included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in
Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific
phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the explanandum is a
logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at
least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously
presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or
specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of
the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e.
laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or
principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and
principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as
consequences from other, more general laws, but they are
formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors
argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific
explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have
similar structures to the explanations in internationally known
textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not
only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of
science educators in other countries.
Everyone who clicks on the link will be taken to full article:
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/wMUC3AZtijBE5rNqzuVp/full
combination with the phyphox application for taking the needed measurements of time. The findings that emerged from the evaluation of the intervention and the difficulties observed and reported during its implementation are presented in the paper. The opinions and the stances of the students, about the intervention, as they were revealed through an online questionnaire are also discussed. The findings contribute to the conclusion that the described proposal is a good practice for individual experimentation of students and can be used not only in an environment of distance education but also as a model for assigning individual tasks to students during normal periods of teaching in the classroom.
Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν ότι οι διαφορές που προκύπτουν δεν είναι στατιστικά σημαντικές στο πλαίσιο του πειραματισμού στο σχολικό εργαστήριο και σε καμία περίπτωση δεν θα μπορούσε να δράσουν αποτρεπτικά στην απόφαση ενός εκπαιδευτικού που διδάσκει Φυσική να αξιοποιήσει τις ΕΚΣ των μαθητών στη διδακτική πράξη.