Research in physics education is one of the newest subfields of physics. Activities at UNL began in the 1970s with the development of Keller Plan physics courses, bioscience laboratories in general physics, and physics teaching for the development of reasoning.
Physics education research first obtained national recognition in the
early 1980s with the formation of the Committee on Research in Physics Education
of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Since that time the Committee
has sponsored workshops, symposia, and sessions of contributed papers at
national meetings of physicists and physics teachers.
Research in physics education focuses the attention of the physicist on
aspects of the processes of teaching and learning physics. Research topics
in this field span a broad range, from psychology - in studying student
behaviors - to computer science - in studying uses of new interactive technologies
in learning physics.
Whatever the focus, research in physics education differs from traditional
physics research in one striking aspect. Traditionally, pure physics research
demonstrates little interest in the application of the results of the research.
That is, in traditional physics, research and development are separate activities,
and, in fact, development has been looked down upon by academic physicists.
In physics education, research and development must go hand in hand. Every
research topic is rooted in the development and evaluation of an educational
strategy. Every educational strategy raises fundamental questions about
how physics is learned. In physics education every research project includes
both theory and practice.
UNL Department of Physics & Astronomy
October, 2005
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