Physics Education Research (PER): The PER-Friendly Classroom and The Importance of Reasoning Brian A. Pyper Ph.D. Director of Physics Education BYU-Idaho Department of Physics

Introduction PER and Teaching&Learning A short History of PER Key findings for Physics teachers Lectures, Listening and Cognition Active Learning Demos Action Research Reasoning

A short history of PER AAPT founded 1930 The Manhattan Project Sputnik Halliday and Resnick 1 st ed 1960 Paul Klopsteg Floyd Richtmeyer Homer Dodge

The 1970s: A Subtle Shift – How do we teach vs How do they learn? Arons (To Teachers): “You have two ears and one mouth, and should use them in that proportion.” Karplus: “I believe that students become vitally interested in their studies and learn best when direction and guidance from a source of authority are combined with ample opportunity for students to direct and control their own learning.”

The 1980s: Converts Lillian McDermott Fred Reif Joe Redish Prescilla Laws Alan Van Heuvelen Dean Zollman Jose MestreSheila Tobias

The Force Concept Inventory David Hestenes Eric Mazur Richard Hake

The US PER Map

PER Now Misconceptions Expert-Novice studies Curriculum Technology Gender and Ethnicity Problem Solving Cognition Teacher Preparation Attitudes and Epistemology Reasoning The Physics Teacher, AJP, Physics Education, PhysRevST - PER

Lectures and Cognition How people learn: changing the brain Prior knowledge is crucial - misconceptions Pedagogy is important – epistemology, metacognition, emotion/motivation Listen at least as much as you talk How you learn is not always (i.e.: hardly ever) how they learn

Active Learning Learning is a verb – you have to DO it You can't do it to them or for them The more senses involved the better

Demonstrations Can be but should not only be Entertaining 5 E's: Engage Explore Explain Evaluate Elaborate/Extend (for physics you may add Explode, Explain, Excuse and Escape) Make the students commit to a prediction Do the demo Review and extend

Action Research Think about what you're doing so you're doing it deliberately, and measure outcomes. PER methodologies (surveys, pre-post testing, case studies, interviews, etc) are both sophisticated and effective. Why reinvent the wheel? – especially not the flat tire! Compadre, PER-central, PER user’s guide

Reasoning Piaget The Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning Pre-post, thousands of students

Changing Reasoning Measured by the Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning F08 PHS100 No significant changes: using peer instruction and some home-made tutorial-like activities.

+ tutorials Adding one day a week with Tutorials in Introductory Physics (Ph105)

Knight textbook workbook assignments

But does it help with the concepts?

Conclusion If we care about learning and teaching, let's do it right. What matters in learning Physics?: interactivity. (engage agency) Pay more than lip-service to how they think. Reasoning Matters My sincere thanks to those in this room who've had such a big impact on my life and career.