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In search of the keys of deep understanding: Physics education research in Pavia
Get PDFIn this paper we present recent work of the physics education group at the University of Pavia, some of which in collaboration with other researchers. The unifying trait of research in Pavia, which the present paper aims to clarify, is its focus on conceptual understanding from a wide perspective, including the design of teaching-learning sequences, studies on teacher professional development, conceptual change research. We discuss three different examples of research directions, all concerning work performed in the past two years
An epistemological approach to align physics teaching with the society of acceleration and uncertainty
Get PDFIn this paper, we present an epistemological approach to physics education research that was progressively developed to build teaching modules aimed at aligning physics teaching with the society of acceleration and uncertainty. This
approach is characterised by the choice to exploit the epistemological richness of physics in order to regenerate disciplinary knowledge, and make the discipline a locus wherein to develop the personal identities and competences needed to navigate our current complex society. The approach combines different frameworks, from science education to learning sciences, including the model of educational reconstruction, coordination class theory for conceptual change, the meta-theory of boundary for interdisciplinarity, and the family resemblance approach (reconceptualised for the nature of science). We first describe the process that led us to outline the approach, before referring to some modules (in particular concerning special relativity, thermodynamics and climate change) to discuss our design principles. Specifically, we will argue how these principles represent a compass to make the epistemology of physics resonate with students’ personal processes of sense-making,
as well as grounding in the disciplines the development of sustainability competences such as embracing complexity, envisioning futures and enacting creative thinking
Bringing the Physics Laboratory at home: Tools and methodologies for distance learning at the University of Trento
Get PDFExperiments play an essential role in the scientific training of students. Therefore, a crucial challenge in distance learning is to offer students an authentic and meaningful, possibly collective, laboratory experience that requires rigorous data analysis and ensures an active learning environment. This challenge has become urgent in recent years, as the global education system has led to a
rapid shift to distance learning and training and social distancing measures have required universities and schools to readily adapt to remote education methods, an adjustment that is particularly difficult for scientific laboratory courses. As part of a project called COSID-20 (COllaborazioni per le Scienze In laboratorio Didattico- 2020), we followed different approaches and methods to design a remote physics laboratory: experiments using tools and materials from a specially designed home kit, created and sent to the participants, “kitchen experiments”, simulations, experiments pre-recorded by the teacher, remote access laboratories and virtual laboratories. With the aim of answering the crucial question of whether a physics laboratory course can be effectively delivered remotely, we will examine how students carried out the different activities and which of them are considered by students to be most effective and engaging. This will be done by discussing, for each methodology, whether the learning objectives for the physics laboratory indicated by the most
recent research in Physics Education have been achieved
School, Museum, University: A community for science education
Get PDFFor almost twenty years, the Physics History Group, the University History Museum and the Physics Museum of Pavia University have been elaborating, with schools of all levels, a year-long shared project, leading to the development of strong, long-lasting relationships between the participants and of a community of practice. Within it, new pathways are sought, to allow all participants to live
meaningful experiences, to bring school closer to cultural heritage and the local community, and to foster the development of a scientific identity in learners. A methodology including historical-scientific workshops and a focus on Nature of Science was developed. Students are led through educational paths customized according to teachers’ requests and produce science stories, which are shared with the community. Because of the pandemic, only upper secondary schools were involved in the last project, Show & Tell. New activities were introduced: a team of students were tasked with online and offline communication, old instruments in schools’ collections were put back into use and several final events were organized. Open interviews
with teachers highlighted several positive outcomes. Everyone worked alongside, sharing stories, experiences, competencies, intellectual pleasure, codified knowledge
and tacit knowledge, in a non-judging environment
Attività svolte dal gruppo di lavoro denominato “Gruppo di lavoro Procurement” periodo 2022/2023
Get PDFIl presente documento ha la finalità di descrivere i principali flussi procedurali predisposti nell’ambito delle attività svolte dal gruppo di lavoro Procurement PNRR richiamando l’attenzione su alcuni elementi, fasi e step procedurali nonché sugli obblighi e adempimenti posti in capo ai soggetti coinvolti a vario titolo nell’attuazione degli interventi PNRR.
Lo scopo del lavoro svolto dal GDL è stato quello di fornire alla rete scientifica e all’intera struttura CNR, linee di indirizzo, nonché indicazioni di massima e, per quanto possibile, suggerimenti operativi su elementi attuativi di particolare rilievo che caratterizzano le principali fasi amministrative degli interventi PNRR
“Lessons Learned” Eni Rewind on remediation projects in the presence of NORM and TENORM matrices: ISAF Gela decommissioning project
Get PDFThe case study of a dismissed petrochemical plant located in Southern Italy (Gela, CL) is presented, wherein phosphoric acid production residues - containing NORM and TENORM - have to be transformed through a series of on-site treatment procedures into non-reactive stabilised wastes, which can be accepted for disposal in a non-hazardous solid waste landfill (designed, authorized and built in ISAF’s area for this specific purpose) according to the Italian regulations in force. The most relevant solutions to high complexity of technical and regulations constraints imposed by environmental consolidated text (TUA, D. Lgs. 152/2006)
and radiation protection consolidated text (TUR, D. Lgs. 101/2020) both for the treatment plant and the final disposal plant are shown together with the key factors which lead Eni Rewind to start in 2022 the beginning of disposal of wastes “out of exemption” in the first authorized Italian’s landfill compliance with D. Lgs.
101/2020. Objective of the Study —which has the style of a lesson learned by Eni and Eni Rewind— was to share experiences acquired during the activities carried out for the set of the first waste landfill authorised in conformity of the art. 26 of D. Lgs. 101/2020 (Authorization of waste management plants containing NORM/TENORM materials, for the purpose of disposal in the environment) and to define Guidelines with operative criteria to be adopted in similar situation all over the national and international sites managed by Eni
Chemical and NORM management in the Contaminated Sites of the Italian National Priority List
Get PDFContaminated Sites of the Italian National Priority List, being the legacy of industrial development, have different types of contamination to be managed with different approaches, different legislative procedures, and different control authorities; in particular between chemical and radiological contamination. This may lead to a bottleneck and to a delay in the operations needed for remediation. A synergistic approach involving all affected stakeholders certainly could reduce the time and cost of interventions measures
Characterization of sensor modules for the CMS Barrel Timing Layer at HL-LHC
Get PDFThe CMS detector is undergoing an extensive upgrade program
to prepare for the challenging conditions of the High-Luminosity LHC starting in 2029. In particular, a new timing detector will measure minimum ionizing particles
with a time resolution of 30–60 ps. The technology selected for the central part of the detector, the Barrel Timing Layer, consists of scintillating crystals of lutetium
yttrium oxyorthosilicate doped with cerium (LYSO:Ce) read out with silicon photomultipliers. A detailed characterization of several sensor modules, consisting of
sixteen-channel crystal arrays coupled to a pair of Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays, will be presented. The results represent the first thorough investigation of
the performance of modules made with crystals and SiPMs of different geometries characterized with radioactive sources
The upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory: AugerPrime
Get PDFOver the last 15 years the Pierre Auger Observatory has accumulated the world’s largest exposure to ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and the analysis of this dataset led to major advances in our understanding of the nature of
UHECRs. The new perspectives opened by the current results call for an upgrade of the Observatory (dubbed AugerPrime), whose main aim is the collection of new information about the primary mass of UHECRs, mandatory to interpret all the
observations into a unified picture. The upgrade program includes: the installation of a plastic scintillator detector on top of each water-Cherenkov detector (WCD)
of the surface array; the addition of a small photomultiplier tube in each WCD to extend the dynamic range of measurement; an array of underground scintillator
detectors to measure the muonic component of extensive air showers; the deployment of a radio antenna atop each WCD; and new electronics to process the signals from all the detectors. An overview of the upgrade is provided, together with the expected performances and the improved physics sensitivity
Superconducting transition-edge sensors in tomorrow physics
Get PDFTransition-edge sensors (TESs) are outstanding calorimeters based on the steep superconductive transition of a metallic film. Among photon detectors, they belong to the top-tier positions for the high-energy resolutions and the low
dark count rates. They are usually applied to detect electromagnetic energy from gamma-ray to visible and submillimetre wavelengths, but their use goes further.
INRiM is presently involved in the development of TESs that pertain to different fields. In fact, TES capability of revealing massless or massive particles, while measuring their energies, can be applied in the quantum technologies, metrology and telecommunications, resolving photon signals from noise and counting them, as well as in the astrophysical and particle frameworks, from neutrino mass to multimessenger astronomy measurements. For all these reasons, TESs are constantly under development in order to fulfil the more severe experimental requirements. The latest results obtained at INRiM on TESs performances and applications will be presented