Education research is our focus
Welcome to PER-Central, a resource collection for physics education researchers. Here you may find articles, theses and dissertations, research groups, curricular material, and news and events of interest to the PER Community. Learn more about PER-Central.
PER Literature
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Or find an article by topic:
- Basic Research
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By Topic:
Astronomy, Classical Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, Fluid Mechanics, General Physics, Mathematical Tools, Modern Physics, Optics, Oscillations & Waves, Other Sciences, Quantum Physics, Relativity, Thermo & Stat Mech
Reviews in PER
Volume 2 of Reviews in PER is dedicated to helping researchers get started in Physics Education Research.
In this review article, a member of the PER community presents an overview of an area of PER:
Physics Education Research as a Multidimensional Space: Current Work and Expanding Horizons
by R. S. Russ and T. O. B. Odden.
Find more articles introducing PER research methods in Volume 2 of Reviews in PER.
Community Resources
PER Programs

Browse the different PER groups and their descriptions on the PER Program Map.
For the Classroom

Open Source Tutorials in Physics with Teaching Assistant Development
This set of guided inquiry tutorials covers 13 topics regularly covered in introductory physics. The authors also provide supporting materials to help teachers make modifications and train TAs in their use.
Find more PER-based Curricular Materials: Course Packages | Student Activities | Pedagogy Guides
Research Instruments

Quantum Mechanics Survey
The Quantum Mechanics Survey, developed by Singh and Zhu, is designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics in junior-level courses.