Date/Time
Date(s) - 24/10/2007
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm

Title: Physics Education

Speaker: Dr. Lillian MacDermott

Institute: University of Washington

Location: ABB 102

Description:

Research on the learning and teaching of physics is an efficient means for achieving cumulative improvement in student learning. Results from systematic studies indicate that university students from the introductory to the graduate level often have similar conceptual and reasoning difficulties. To ensure that strategies developed to address these difficulties in one setting will also work at other institutions, teaching must be treated as an applied science as well as an art. Examples will illustrate how findings from research have been used to guide instruction that has proved effective in introductory physics courses, in the preparation of graduate students as teaching assistants for these courses, and in the professional development of K-12 teachers.