Distanza tra docenti e studenti nella percezione dello studio della fisica: valutazione e proposte di didattica laboratoriale.

Physics teachers need to take into account that students’ approach Physics is often very different from theirs. This is why teachers should be involved in an effort to transform their teaching method from traditional transmissive lectures to more interactive activities, in which students can learn not only the notions but also the correct method to approach physics and look at the reality. Two are the leading ideas: first, students have their own background knowledge of reality, which, in many cases, is wrong from the point of view of scientist and teachers. It is important that these ideas come to light. Second, starting from students’ ideas, teachers should build a correct physical knowledge made at the same time of awareness and skills. The Thesis work is made of two parts. The first concerns a study about the perception and attitudes of students towards Physics performed by means of a questionnaire based on the CLASS (Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey) questionnaire developed by the Physics Education Research group of the University of Colorado, translated and slightly adapted for Italy. The second addresses the design and development of three different experimental laboratories for high school students, two concerning optics (“Dismantle rainbow” and “Holography”) and one related to fluids (“Physics under water, fluid pressure and Boyle's law”) for the PLS (Scientific Degree Plan) of the Physics Department of the University of Insubria.