Physics Education Research at CU-Boulder
News & Announcements
Mayhew & Finkelstein win 2009 Campus Diversity Award
Dr's Mayhew and Finkelstein won a 2009 Campus Diversity Award for the Partners in Informal Science in the Community (PISEC) program
Physics Department wins CU System Wide Award
The Physics Department was recognized as the best graduate program in the system, winning the Presidential Leadership Award
CU Wins National Award:
NSF:
I3 - STEM Education
Under the direction of the Provost, researchers in the PER and DBER groups will lead an effort to build a national center in STEM Education
Pollock Named Presidential Scholar
Steven Pollock was named as a President's Teaching Scholars, one of CU's highest honors for teaching and scholarly endeavors.
PhET winsScience award and See new article in Science too!
The Physics Education Technology Project wins First Place in Science Magazines 2007 Visualization Challenge
Physics Education Research at CU-Boulder
The Physics Education Research Group at Colorado (PER@C) is one of the newest and largest research programs in PER in the nation. Our research group develops and studies: uses of technology in physics education, assessments (conceptual, epistemological, and belief oriented), theoretical models of students learning physics, social and contextual foundations of student learning, examination of successful educational reforms and replication studies of such reforms, and student problem-solving in physics. We sponsor a number of educational reforms in physics, which range from pre-college to post-doctoral. The research group includes faculty, staff, and students from both the Department of Physics and the School of Education. read more »
Upcoming Events
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Jun 18: Group Mtg: Spike, TA/ LA predictions of student difficulties
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Jun 11: Group Mtg: Pollock, Lonigitudinal Studies
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Jun 4: Grp: State Standards
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May 28: Group Meeting
Chandra Turpen: the Culture of Tutorials -
May 21: Group Meeting
Robert Lambourne
Open University, UK
Promoting excellence in physics teaching and learning
Featured Project: PhET
The Physics Education Technology project at the University of Colorado has developed a suite of physics simulations that take advantage of the opportunities of computer technology while addressing some of the limitations of these tools. The suite includes over 50 research-based simulations that span the curriculum of introductory physics as well as sample topics from advanced physics and chemistry All simulations are free, and can be run over the internet or downloaded for off-line use. The simulations are designed to be highly interactive, engaging, and open learning environments that provide animated feedback to the user. The simulations are physically accurate, and provide highly visual, dynamic representations of physics principles. Simultaneously, the simulations seek to build explicit bridges between students’ everyday understanding of the world and the underlying physical principles, often by making the physical models (such as current flow or electric field lines) explicit.