Discovering thermal physics: male and female perspectives on learning through an interactive calendar

Thermal physics is one of the main topics in physics, especially for those who study sciences and engineering. Due to the concepts and mathematics involved in the topic, students may find it difficult and finally lose interest in studying Thermal Physics. The major objective of this project is to create a tool that will aid students in better, more enjoyable ways of understanding thermal physics. Thermal Physics Interactive calendar that includes concepts, facts, quizzes, and experiments that can try at home. Having a calendar that includes interesting thermal physics concepts may help the students to learn and gain knowledge in that area. Thirty students of the Diploma in Science from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) are involved in providing feedback. Male students find thermal physics course to be less fascinating due to the mean score for interesting being less than 4. The Spearman Rho test, using the interactive calendar, demonstrates a strong correlation between 1) preference and 2) content, with a t value of +0.937. In addition, an independent t-test reveals that there are no further significant differences in grades for male and female students in the following categories: 1) preference (t=0.437, p=0.666); and 2) content (t=0.280, p=0.782).