Physics Education Initiatives

Although there is naturally some overlap, we distinguish between physics education research and educational reforms, both of which are well represented in our department.

Following is a partial list of some of our programs and activities in each. Some more detailed papers and links from individual faculty members in our PER group can be found here.

Physics Education Research activities

We have instituted weekly (or bi-weekly) departmental brown bag education lunches in which we discuss topics of interest (or concern) or hear from outside speakers.

Carl Wieman has a research program called PhET (Physics Education Technology Project), which will be developing and assessing the use of java applets (simulations for the most part) in introductory physics.

Carl Wieman and Steven Pollock are involved in an NSF program called Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Teacher Preparation: STEM-TP to help recruit, support, and prepare tomorrow's K-12 science and math teachers. (You can also find more information about Steven Pollock's STEM-TP project here)

Steve Pollock has initiated an SOTL ("Scholorship of Teaching and Learning" research project on student learning and attitudes towards concept tests

Education Reform

Concept questions (based on Eric Mazur's Peer Instruction at Harvard) are being used in many introductory lectures, often with the H-ITT "hyperactive interaction" student response system (infrared clickers). We have more information on H-ITT if you're interested in trying it out. We have also started to compile some "local collections" of concept tests for the benefit of instructors who want to begin doing this themselves.

We have a Help Room staffed 9-5 every weekday, where TA's and profs in the introductory courses hold their office hours. It has been extraordinarily popular, we sometimes struggle with staffing especially on the busy days when homeworks are due.

Many introductory courses use CAPA (Computer assisted physics assignments), which allow for individualized homeworks (problems are the same, but numbers or details are randomly changed for different students). Students get instant feedback, and graduate TA's have significantly reduced grading load. We recently graduated a student (Andi Pascarella) whose PhD research project was an investigation of the effectiveness, and resulting epistemological impact, of this homework system.

If you have questions, you might contact Steven.Pollock@colorado.edu

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