This project is part of a long-range vision designed to have an impact on students and teachers from elementary through graduate school. The primary goal of the project is to improve learning by all students who take undergraduate physics. Related goals are to enhance the teaching effectiveness of graduate students and faculty, to strengthen the ability of K-12 teachers to teach physics and physical science, and to support graduate students, post-docs, and faculty engaged in physics education research at the University of Washington (UW) and elsewhere. The project is conducted by the Physics Education Group (PEG) in the UW Physics Department. The group consists of three Professors, a Research Assistant Professor, Post-doctoral Research Associates, a resident high school science teacher, graduate students, visiting faculty, and a small administrative staff. Each year the group works with a large number of faculty at many institutions and serves as a center for physics education research and curriculum development.
Intellectual merit: The PEG is working toward the project's primary goal by: (A) expanding the range of instructional materials to include a greater variety of research-based and research-validated options for transforming instruction; (B) conducting research on student understanding of physics to guide the design of instructional materials and to ensure they are effective in a wide range of instructional environments; (C) developing a comprehensive set of online and print resources to help instructors implement the materials effectively; and (D) establishing a multi-tiered program for supporting dissemination of the instructional resources and sustaining instructional transformation in physics courses and departments.
The project builds on the prior accomplishments of the PEG in research and the production and dissemination of two research-based curricula: Tutorials in Introductory Physics (Prentice Hall) and Physics by Inquiry (Wiley). The current project involves increasing the impact of the Tutorials by extending the research base on learning and teaching, expanding and refining existing tutorials, and developing ancillary materials that give instructors flexibility in incorporating research-validated strategies into all components of their courses (e.g., lectures, labs, and homework). A significant new emphasis is on providing a coherent, accessible set of online and print resources for instructors (e.g., an online instructor's guide and tools for assessing student achievement), as well as on establishing mechanisms for providing ongoing support (e.g., through workshops and a Users' Group). The results of this project also have important implications for the development of Physics by Inquiry, which is for the preparation and professional development of K-12 teachers.
In addition, the group is developing material that addresses the need for research-based interactive engagement at the upper level in physics. These materials are being developed in quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, special relativity, and thermodynamics, and they provide students who have used interactive engagement materials in the introductory courses continuity and breadth in the upper-level courses.
Broader impact: The instructional materials being produced strengthen the learning of physics by undergraduates in introductory physics courses for science and engineering majors and in lower and upper division courses for physics majors. However, the project is embedded in a larger overall effort that helps ensure an even broader impact. In the process of developing and assessing curriculum, the group works with faculty at a wide range of institutions that serve a wide spectrum of student populations, thus promoting improved learning by all students. The project has a direct effect on future faculty (e.g., graduate teaching assistants), who gain experience with an instructional approach that engages students in active learning. In addition to contributing to the research base, the project helps build the capacity for discipline-based education research through the professional development of graduate students, post-docs, and visitors to the group, and the group provides national leadership in physics education research.
