Disciplined-based education research (DBER) in science differs from traditional education research in that the main emphasis is on issues related to the learning and teaching of specific science content.   The primary motivation has been to improve the effectiveness of instruction in a particular discipline, but the results can also contribute more generally to the development of educational theory and methodology.  The context in this Symposium is physics.  Analogies to other sciences, however, are readily made.  

Until relatively recently, research in physics education (PER) was mostly conducted among pre-university students and, to a lesser extent, among prospective high school teachers.   PER at the university level has grown rapidly in the last forty years in the U.S. and in several other countries.  The Symposium will present examples of investigations involving students who were studying physics at universities in several countries.  Almost all of these individuals had studied the subject previously.  The investigations included: (1) prospective and current teachers of physics and physical science, (2) undergraduate science and engineering majors, and (3) physics graduate students. 

This Symposium will emphasize discipline-based education research that is specific to physics and that is conducted among students in university physics courses.  To influence university faculty and improve the effectiveness of physics instruction, the focus will be on the discipline, rather than on general educational theories.  A brief history of PER among university students will conclude the presentations. 

Physics has been taught to students in American and European universities for about 200 years, but it is only relatively recently that the effectiveness of the teaching methods has been subjected to careful investigation and rigorous assessment. Beginning around 1970, European and American physicists launched systematic research programs to probe the thinking and learning of university physics students, and applied their findings to the development and testing of evidence-based instructional methods and curricular materials. The past 40 years have seen gradual cumulative progress emerging through growth of an international physics education research community that documents and disseminates its findings, allowing researchers to build on and extend previous work. The history of these efforts will be outlined with a focus on developments in the United States, where dramatic growth during the past 20 years has seen physics education research groups establish a presence in several dozen university physics departments. Research that focused initially on the teaching and learning of classical mechanics and resistive electric circuits has been extended to many other topics from the introductory to more advanced levels.  Researchers in the U.S. and Europe have built upon and strengthened one another's efforts.  A review of major guiding themes, both from past and current research frontiers, will conclude the presentation.  

Physics has been taught to students in American and European universities for about 200 years, but it is only relatively recently that the effectiveness of the teaching methods has been subjected to careful investigation and rigorous assessment. Beginning around 1970, European and American physicists launched systematic research programs to probe the thinking and learning of university physics students, and applied their findings to the development and testing of evidence-based instructional methods and curricular materials. The past 40 years have seen gradual cumulative progress emerging through growth of an international physics education research community that documents and disseminates its findings, allowing researchers to build on and extend previous work. The history of these efforts will be outlined with a focus on developments in the United States, where dramatic growth during the past 20 years has seen physics education research groups establish a presence in several dozen university physics departments. Research that focused initially on the teaching and learning of classical mechanics and resistive electric circuits has been extended to many other topics from the introductory to more advanced levels.  Researchers in the U.S. and Europe have built upon and strengthened one another's efforts.  A review of major guiding themes, both from past and current research frontiers, will conclude the presentation.  

Physics has been taught to students in American and European universities for about 200 years, but it is only relatively recently that the effectiveness of the teaching methods has been subjected to careful investigation and rigorous assessment. Beginning around 1970, European and American physicists launched systematic research programs to probe the thinking and learning of university physics students, and applied their findings to the development and testing of evidence-based instructional methods and curricular materials. The past 40 years have seen gradual cumulative progress emerging through growth of an international physics education research community that documents and disseminates its findings, allowing researchers to build on and extend previous work. The history of these efforts will be outlined with a focus on developments in the United States, where dramatic growth during the past 20 years has seen physics education research groups establish a presence in several dozen university physics departments. Research that focused initially on the teaching and learning of classical mechanics and resistive electric circuits has been extended to many other topics from the introductory to more advanced levels.  Researchers in the U.S. and Europe have built upon and strengthened one another's efforts.  A review of major guiding themes, both from past and current research frontiers, will conclude the presentation.  

Physics has been taught to students in American and European universities for about 200 years, but it is only relatively recently that the effectiveness of the teaching methods has been subjected to careful investigation and rigorous assessment. Beginning around 1970, European and American physicists launched systematic research programs to probe the thinking and learning of university physics students, and applied their findings to the development and testing of evidence-based instructional methods and curricular materials. The past 40 years have seen gradual cumulative progress emerging through growth of an international physics education research community that documents and disseminates its findings, allowing researchers to build on and extend previous work. The history of these efforts will be outlined with a focus on developments in the United States, where dramatic growth during the past 20 years has seen physics education research groups establish a presence in several dozen university physics departments. Research that focused initially on the teaching and learning of classical mechanics and resistive electric circuits has been extended to many other topics from the introductory to more advanced levels.  Researchers in the U.S. and Europe have built upon and strengthened one another's efforts.  A review of major guiding themes, both from past and current research frontiers, will conclude the presentation.