Research in Physics Education

Printer-friendly version

Overview

We are engaged in a number of nationally recognized projects in curriculum development/physics education research.

Please also visit the OSUPER webpage, which is the group wiki page for Oregon State University Physics Education Research, for more information on some current projects, activities, and publications.

For more information about our relationship with other education research groups at Oregon State, please visit the websites for the Center for Research in Lifelong STEM Learning and for the ESTEME (Enhancing STEM Education) research cluster.

Lower-division Course Reform

Dedra Demaree
demareed@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1713    WNGR 373

The Physics Department is embarking on a new project to reform the teaching of our lower-division, large-enrollment courses. We are using a team approach involving faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants. Dedra Demaree was hired to get this process into fast gear based on her expertise in Physics Education Research and current best practices in teaching. 

This project currently involves:

1. classroom renovations and course restructuring
2. curriculum development
3. assessing student learning and attitudes in the reformed classes
4. faculty development and studying faculty discourse within the classroom
5. TA training and development

An outcome of this focus has been working with a team of faculty from OSU and local community colleges to build a discourse community to share and develop effective activities and to share PCK through the discourse that we have about the course content.

Details for the assessment plans are on the the OSUPER webpage.

Paradigms in Physics

Corinne Manogue
corinne@physics.oregonstate.edu     (541) 737-1695    WNGR 493

Tevian Dray
tevian@math.oregonstate.edu     (541) 737-5159    KIDDER 298A

David H. McIntyre
mcintyre@ucs.orst.edu    (541) 737-1696   WNGR 463

Emily van Zee
Emily.vanZee@science.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1880    WNGR 267

Mary Bridget Kustusch
mary.bridget@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-6080    WNGR 491

David Roundy
roundyd@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 250-0137   WNGR 401B

The Paradigms in Physics Program at Oregon State University is a restructuring of the traditional upper-division curriculum to be more modern, more flexible, and more inclusive. The focus of our current NSF-grant is to design materials to support faculty teaching more traditional courses who may wish to experiment with one or more pieces of our successful curriculum, be it a single activity or an entire course. Four main strands have been identified:

1. New content: The PIs are developing two new textbooks: one for quantum mechanics and one for vector calculus that emphasize their innovative approach to these topics, while encouraging, but not requiring, the use of active engagement.
2. Case studies: The PIs are designing a new website to provide the information necessary for successful adoption of one or more of their activities, showing how to combine lectures and active engagement in a coherent way.
3. Community of scholars: The PIs will host a small number of visitors who will be immersed in, and contribute to, the entire Paradigms package.
4. Education Research: The PIs are doing research into students’ ability to reason harmonically and metacognitively, and into how these capabilities are affected by Paradigms curricular materials.

Computational Physics for UnderGraduates (CPUG)

Rubin H. Landau
rubin@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1693    WNGR 499

Please see the CPUG website: http://www.physics.oregonstate.edu/CPUG

Instructional Materials and Techniques

Kenneth S. Krane
kranek@physics.oregonstate.edu   (541) 737-1692   WNGR 367

Ken Krane's physics education research ranges from materials and curriculum development for undergraduate teaching to the structure of academic physics departments. He has been involved in studying how students understand energy and momentum conservation in introductory physics and how they interpret their first exposure to probabilistic concepts in modern physics. Based on the latter research, with NSF support he is developing instructional materials that support interactive teaching methods in courses covering modern physics. He is also involved in an NSF-funded project to develop and test interactive classroom materials for teaching nuclear and particle physics. He has been a leader of the SPIN-UP study of the characteristics of successful physics departments, and for 10 years he directed the New Faculty Workshop that provides mentoring to recent hires in physics and astronomy. He is the author of three textbooks: Modern Physics (3rd edition, 2012), Physics, with David Halliday and Robert Resnick (5th edition, 2002), and Introductory Nuclear Physics (1988).

Engaging People in Cyberinfrastructure (EPIC)

Rubin H. Landau
rubin@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1693    WNGR 499

As part of the EPIC project, Rubin Landau and Sally Haerer are producing videos for the National Digital Library of Science. A sample is available.

Computational Physics Textbooks

Rubin H. Landau
rubin@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1693    WNGR 499

Rubin Landau has written several textbooks on Computational Physics and Advanced Quantum Mechanics. Please see his website for further information.

The Vector Calculus Bridge Project

Tevian Dray
tevian@math.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-5159    KIDDER 298A

Corinne Manogue
corinne@physics.oregonstate.edu    (541) 737-1695    WNGR 493

There is a "vector calculus gap" between the way vector calculus is usually taught by mathematicians and the way it is used by other scientists. This material is essential for physicists and some engineers due to its central role in the description of electricity and magnetism. The goals of this long-term project to understand this gap and to develop curricular materials to help bridge it from both the mathematics and physics sides. For more information, see the Vector Calculus Bridge Project Homepage