Molasses or Crowds: Making Sense of the Higgs Boson with Two Popular Analogies
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| Title: | Molasses or Crowds: Making Sense of the Higgs Boson with Two Popular Analogies |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Alsop, S., Beale, S. |
| Source: | Physics Education. Sep 2013 48(5):670-676. |
| Availability: | Institute of Physics Publishing. The Public Ledger Building Suite 929, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: info@ioppubusa.com; Web site: http://journals.iop.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 7 |
| Publication Date: | 2013 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, Physics, Logical Thinking, Concept Formation, Nuclear Physics, Teaching Methods |
| DOI: | 10.1088/0031-9120/48/5/670 |
| ISSN: | 0031-9120 |
| Abstract: | The recent discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has contributed to a surge of interest in particle physics and science education in general. Given the conceptual difficulty of the phenomenon in question, it is inevitable that teachers and science communicators rely on analogies to explain the Higgs physics and its meaning. Here, we review two popular analogies for explaining the Higgs boson, field and mechanism and their complex relationships. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these analogies and their pedagogical implications. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Number of References: | 24 |
| Entry Date: | 2014 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1030306 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The recent discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has contributed to a surge of interest in particle physics and science education in general. Given the conceptual difficulty of the phenomenon in question, it is inevitable that teachers and science communicators rely on analogies to explain the Higgs physics and its meaning. Here, we review two popular analogies for explaining the Higgs boson, field and mechanism and their complex relationships. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these analogies and their pedagogical implications. |
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| ISSN: | 0031-9120 |
| DOI: | 10.1088/0031-9120/48/5/670 |
