Physics education research (PER) is a form of discipline-based education research specifically related to the study of the teaching and learning of physics, often with the aim of improving the effectiveness of student learning. PER draws from other disciplines, such as sociology, cognitive science, education and linguistics, [1] and complements them by reflecting the disciplinary knowledge and practices of physics.[2] Approximately eighty-five institutions in the United States conduct research in science and physics education.
Adapted from Duit, R., H. Niedderer and H. Schecker (see ref.).
One primary goal of PER is to develop pedagogical techniques and strategies that will help students learn physics more effectively and help instructors to implement these techniques. Because even basic ideas in physics can be confusing, together with the possibility of scientific misconceptions formed from teaching through analogies, lecturing often does not erase common misconceptions about physics that students acquire before they are taught physics. Research often focuses on learning more about common misconceptions that students bring to the physics classroom so that techniques can be devised to help students overcome these misconceptions.
In most introductory physics courses, mechanics is usually the first area of physics that is taught. Newton's laws of motion about interactions between forces and objects are central to the study of mechanics. Many students hold the Aristotelian misconception that a net force is required to keep a body moving; instead, motion is modeled in modern physics with Newton's first law of inertia, stating that a body will keep its state of rest or movement unless a net force acts on the body. Like students who hold this misconception, Newton arrived at his three laws of motion through empirical analysis, although he did it with an extensive study of data that included astronomical observations. Students can erase such as misconception in a nearly frictionless environment, where they find that objects move at an almost constant velocity without a constant force.
Major areasedit
The broad goal of the PER community is to understand the processes involved in the teaching and learning of physics through rigorous scientific investigation.
According to the University of Washington PER group, one of the pioneers in the field,[3] work within PER tends to fall within one or more of several broad descriptions, including:
Identifying student difficulties
Developing methods to address these difficulties and measure learning gains
Developing surveys to measure student performance and other characteristics
Investigating student attitudes and beliefs as relating to physics
Studying small and large group dynamics analyzing student patterns using framing and other new and existing epistemological methods[4]
"An Introduction to Physics Education Research", by Robert Beichner,[5] identifies eight trends in PER:
Conceptual understanding: Investigating what students know and how they learn it is a centerpiece of PER. Early research involved identifying and treating misconceptions about the principles of physics. The term has since evolved to "student difficulties" based on the consideration of alternative theoretical frameworks for student learning. A difficulty with a concept can be built into a correct concept; a misconception is rooted out and replaced by a correct conception. The PER group at the University of Washington specializes in research about conceptual understanding and student difficulty.[6]
Epistemology: PER began as a trial-and-error approach to improve learning. Because of the downsides of such an approach, theoretical bases for research were developed early on, most notably through the University of Maryland. The theoretical underpinnings of PER are mostly built around Piagettean constructivism. Theories on cognition in physics learning were put forward by Redish, Hammer, Elby and Scherr,[7] who built off of diSessa's "Knowledge in Pieces". The Resources Framework,[8] developed from this work, builds off of research in neuroscience, sociology, linguistics, education and psychology. Additional frameworks are forthcoming, most recently the "Possibilities Framework",[9] which builds off of deductive reasoning research started by Wason and Philip Johnson-Laird.
Problem solving: It plays an important role in the processes that advance physics research, featured in high numbers of exercises in conventional textbooks. Most research in this area rests on examining the difference between novice and expert problem solvers (freshmen and sophomores, and graduate-level and postdoctorate students, respectively). Approaches in researching problem solving have been a focus for the University of Minnesota's PER group. Recently, a paper was published in PRL Special Section: PER that identified over 30 behaviors, attitudes, and skills that are used in the solving of a typical physics problem. Greater resolution and specific attention to the details are used in the field of problem solving.
Attitudes: The University of Colorado developed an instrument that reveals student attitudes and expectations about physics as a subject and as a class. Student attitudes are often found to decline after traditional instruction, but recent work by Redish and Hammer show that this can be reversed and positive attitudinal gains can be seen if attention is paid to "explicate the epistemological elements of the implicit curriculum."[10]
Social aspects: Research has been conducted into gender, race, and other socioeconomic issues that can influence learning in physics and other fields. Other research has investigated the impacts on learning physics of body language, group dynamics, and classroom setup.
Technology: Student response systems (clickers) are based on Eric Mazur's work in Peer Instruction. Research in PER examines the influence, applications of, and possibilities for technology in the classroom.
Instructional interventions: PER's curriculum design is based on more than two decades of research in physics education. Notable textbooks include Tutorials in Physics, Physics by Inquiry, Investigative Science Learning Environment, and Paradigms in Physics, as well as many new textbooks in introductory and junior level coursework. The Kansas State University Physics Education Research Group has developed a program, Visual Quantum Mechanics (VQM), to teach quantum mechanics to high school and college students who do not have advanced backgrounds in physics or math.
Instructional materials: For undergraduates, publishers now emphasize a PER basis for their physics textbooks as a major selling point. One of the earliest comprehensive physics textbooks to incorporate PER findings was written by Serway and Beichner. Apart from textbooks, instructional material for pre-college physics students now include PhET (Physics Education Technology) simulations. This is made possible through advances in personal computer hardware, platform-independent software such as Adobe Flash Player and Java, and more recently HTML5,[11]CSS3 and JavaScript.[12] According to Wieman,[13] PhET simulations offer a direct and powerful tool for probing student thinking and learning.
Physics education research papers in the United States are primarily issued among four publishing venues.[14] Papers submitted to the American Journal of Physics: Physics Education Research Section (PERS) are mostly to consumers of physics education research. The Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS) publishes papers that regard real-life or non-laboratory environments, often in the context of technology, and are about learning, not teaching. Meanwhile, papers at Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research (PRST:PER) are aimed at those for whom research is conducted on PER rather than to consumers. The audience for Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings (PERC) is designed for a mix of consumers and researchers. The latter provides a snapshot of the field and as such is open to preliminary results and research in progress, as well as papers that would simply be thought-provoking to the PER community. Other journals include Physics Education (UK), the European Journal of Physics (UK), and The Physics Teacher. Leon Hsu and others published an article about publishing and refereeing papers in physics education research in 2007.[14]
^Docktor, Jennifer L.; Mestre, José P. (2014-09-16). "Synthesis of discipline-based education research in physics". Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. 10 (2): 020119. doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020119.
^Council, National Research (2012-05-21). Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. doi:10.17226/13362. ISBN978-0-309-25411-3.
^Physics Education Research | Physics Education Group
^Fernandez, F.B. (2017). "Action research in the physics classroom: the impact of authentic, inquiry based learning or instruction on the learning of thermal physics". Asia-Pacific Science Education. 3 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1186/s41029-017-0014-z.
^Robert J. Beichner (2009). "An Introduction to Physics Education Research". In Charles R. Henderson and Kathleen A. Harper. Getting Started in PER. Reviews in PER 2.
^McDermott (2010). A Personal History of Physics Education Research and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. unpublished. pp. 1–81.
^Redish Edward F (2014). "Oersted Lecture 2013: How should we think about how our students think?". American Journal of Physics. 82 (6): 537–551. arXiv:1308.3911. Bibcode:2014AmJPh..82..537R. doi:10.1119/1.4874260. S2CID 119231128.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-12-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Redish, Edward F.; Hammer, David (2009-07-01). "Reinventing college physics for biologists: Explicating an epistemological curriculum". American Journal of Physics. 77 (7): 629–642. arXiv:0807.4436. Bibcode:2009AmJPh..77..629R. doi:10.1119/1.3119150. ISSN 0002-9505. S2CID 46304837.
^Wieman, Carl; Perkins, Katherine; Adams, Wendy (2007-10-28). "Oersted Medal Lecture 2007: Interactive simulations for teaching physics: What works, what doesn't, and why" (PDF). American Journal of Physics. 76 (4 & 5): 393–399. doi:10.1119/1.2815365. S2CID 30005032.
^ abLeon Hsu et al. (2007). "Publishing and refereeing papers in physics education research". Physics Education Research Conference 951: 3–6.
April 11, 2024
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Physics education research news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style November 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate December 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Physics education research PER is a form of discipline based education research specifically related to the study of the teaching and learning of physics often with the aim of improving the effectiveness of student learning PER draws from other disciplines such as sociology cognitive science education and linguistics 1 and complements them by reflecting the disciplinary knowledge and practices of physics 2 Approximately eighty five institutions in the United States conduct research in science and physics education Contents 1 Goals 2 Major areas 3 Journal association 4 See also 5 ReferencesGoals editThis section includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this section by introducing more precise citations February 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Number of Publications on Students Ideas on the Bibliography by Duit 2005 Fragment PublicationMechanics force 792Electricity electrical circuit 444Optics 234Particle model 226Thermal physics heat temp 192Energy 176Astronomy Earth in space 121Quantum physics 77Nonlinear systems chaos 35Sound 28Magnetism 25Relativity 8 Predominant concept in brackets Adapted from Duit R H Niedderer and H Schecker see ref One primary goal of PER is to develop pedagogical techniques and strategies that will help students learn physics more effectively and help instructors to implement these techniques Because even basic ideas in physics can be confusing together with the possibility of scientific misconceptions formed from teaching through analogies lecturing often does not erase common misconceptions about physics that students acquire before they are taught physics Research often focuses on learning more about common misconceptions that students bring to the physics classroom so that techniques can be devised to help students overcome these misconceptions In most introductory physics courses mechanics is usually the first area of physics that is taught Newton s laws of motion about interactions between forces and objects are central to the study of mechanics Many students hold the Aristotelian misconception that a net force is required to keep a body moving instead motion is modeled in modern physics with Newton s first law of inertia stating that a body will keep its state of rest or movement unless a net force acts on the body Like students who hold this misconception Newton arrived at his three laws of motion through empirical analysis although he did it with an extensive study of data that included astronomical observations Students can erase such as misconception in a nearly frictionless environment where they find that objects move at an almost constant velocity without a constant force Major areas editThe broad goal of the PER community is to understand the processes involved in the teaching and learning of physics through rigorous scientific investigation According to the University of Washington PER group one of the pioneers in the field 3 work within PER tends to fall within one or more of several broad descriptions including Identifying student difficulties Developing methods to address these difficulties and measure learning gains Developing surveys to measure student performance and other characteristics Investigating student attitudes and beliefs as relating to physics Studying small and large group dynamics analyzing student patterns using framing and other new and existing epistemological methods 4 An Introduction to Physics Education Research by Robert Beichner 5 identifies eight trends in PER Conceptual understanding Investigating what students know and how they learn it is a centerpiece of PER Early research involved identifying and treating misconceptions about the principles of physics The term has since evolved to student difficulties based on the consideration of alternative theoretical frameworks for student learning A difficulty with a concept can be built into a correct concept a misconception is rooted out and replaced by a correct conception The PER group at the University of Washington specializes in research about conceptual understanding and student difficulty 6 Epistemology PER began as a trial and error approach to improve learning Because of the downsides of such an approach theoretical bases for research were developed early on most notably through the University of Maryland The theoretical underpinnings of PER are mostly built around Piagettean constructivism Theories on cognition in physics learning were put forward by Redish Hammer Elby and Scherr 7 who built off of diSessa s Knowledge in Pieces The Resources Framework 8 developed from this work builds off of research in neuroscience sociology linguistics education and psychology Additional frameworks are forthcoming most recently the Possibilities Framework 9 which builds off of deductive reasoning research started by Wason and Philip Johnson Laird Problem solving It plays an important role in the processes that advance physics research featured in high numbers of exercises in conventional textbooks Most research in this area rests on examining the difference between novice and expert problem solvers freshmen and sophomores and graduate level and postdoctorate students respectively Approaches in researching problem solving have been a focus for the University of Minnesota s PER group Recently a paper was published in PRL Special Section PER that identified over 30 behaviors attitudes and skills that are used in the solving of a typical physics problem Greater resolution and specific attention to the details are used in the field of problem solving Attitudes The University of Colorado developed an instrument that reveals student attitudes and expectations about physics as a subject and as a class Student attitudes are often found to decline after traditional instruction but recent work by Redish and Hammer show that this can be reversed and positive attitudinal gains can be seen if attention is paid to explicate the epistemological elements of the implicit curriculum 10 Social aspects Research has been conducted into gender race and other socioeconomic issues that can influence learning in physics and other fields Other research has investigated the impacts on learning physics of body language group dynamics and classroom setup Technology Student response systems clickers are based on Eric Mazur s work in Peer Instruction Research in PER examines the influence applications of and possibilities for technology in the classroom Instructional interventions PER s curriculum design is based on more than two decades of research in physics education Notable textbooks include Tutorials in Physics Physics by Inquiry Investigative Science Learning Environment and Paradigms in Physics as well as many new textbooks in introductory and junior level coursework The Kansas State University Physics Education Research Group has developed a program Visual Quantum Mechanics VQM to teach quantum mechanics to high school and college students who do not have advanced backgrounds in physics or math Instructional materials For undergraduates publishers now emphasize a PER basis for their physics textbooks as a major selling point One of the earliest comprehensive physics textbooks to incorporate PER findings was written by Serway and Beichner Apart from textbooks instructional material for pre college physics students now include PhET Physics Education Technology simulations This is made possible through advances in personal computer hardware platform independent software such as Adobe Flash Player and Java and more recently HTML5 11 CSS3 and JavaScript 12 According to Wieman 13 PhET simulations offer a direct and powerful tool for probing student thinking and learning Journal association editMain category Physics education journalsPhysics education research papers in the United States are primarily issued among four publishing venues 14 Papers submitted to the American Journal of Physics Physics Education Research Section PERS are mostly to consumers of physics education research The Journal of the Learning Sciences JLS publishes papers that regard real life or non laboratory environments often in the context of technology and are about learning not teaching Meanwhile papers at Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research PRST PER are aimed at those for whom research is conducted on PER rather than to consumers The audience for Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings PERC is designed for a mix of consumers and researchers The latter provides a snapshot of the field and as such is open to preliminary results and research in progress as well as papers that would simply be thought provoking to the PER community Other journals include Physics Education UK the European Journal of Physics UK and The Physics Teacher Leon Hsu and others published an article about publishing and refereeing papers in physics education research in 2007 14 See also editTeaching quantum mechanicsReferences edit Docktor Jennifer L Mestre Jose P 2014 09 16 Synthesis of discipline based education research in physics Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research 10 2 020119 doi 10 1103 PhysRevSTPER 10 020119 Council National Research 2012 05 21 Discipline Based Education Research Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering doi 10 17226 13362 ISBN 978 0 309 25411 3 Physics Education Research Physics Education Group Fernandez F B 2017 Action research in the physics classroom the impact of authentic inquiry based learning or instruction on the learning of thermal physics Asia Pacific Science Education 3 1 1 20 doi 10 1186 s41029 017 0014 z Robert J Beichner 2009 An Introduction to Physics Education Research In Charles R Henderson and Kathleen A Harper Getting Started in PER Reviews in PER 2 McDermott 2010 A Personal History of Physics Education Research and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington unpublished pp 1 81 Resources Framing and Transfer Redish Edward F 2014 Oersted Lecture 2013 How should we think about how our students think American Journal of Physics 82 6 537 551 arXiv 1308 3911 Bibcode 2014AmJPh 82 537R doi 10 1119 1 4874260 S2CID 119231128 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2019 12 04 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Redish Edward F Hammer David 2009 07 01 Reinventing college physics for biologists Explicating an epistemological curriculum American Journal of Physics 77 7 629 642 arXiv 0807 4436 Bibcode 2009AmJPh 77 629R doi 10 1119 1 3119150 ISSN 0002 9505 S2CID 46304837 PhET Source Code Instructions Seskir Z C Migdal P Weidner C Anupam A Case N Davis N Decaroli C Ercan I Foti C Gora P Jankiewicz K La Cour B R Malo J Y Maniscalco S Naeemi A Nita L Parvin N Scafirimuto F Sherson J F Surer E Wootton J R Yeh L Zabello O Chiofalo M 2022 Quantum games and interactive tools for quantum technologies outreach and education Optical Engineering 61 8 081809 1 081809 38 arXiv 2202 07756 doi 10 1117 1 OE 61 8 081809 Wieman Carl Perkins Katherine Adams Wendy 2007 10 28 Oersted Medal Lecture 2007 Interactive simulations for teaching physics What works what doesn t and why PDF American Journal of Physics 76 4 amp 5 393 399 doi 10 1119 1 2815365 S2CID 30005032 a b Leon Hsu et al 2007 Publishing and refereeing papers in physics education research Physics Education Research Conference 951 3 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Physics education research amp oldid 1184062640, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
