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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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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

Over the past two decades, the PER community has developed a number of effective instructional strategies for calculus-based university physics classes.

This review article helps to bring a set of those results to the instructional community:

Peer Instruction: Engaging Students One-on-One, All At Once
by C. H. Crouch, J. Watkins, A. P. Fagen, and E. Mazur.

Find more articles that help to bridge research and practice in Volume 1 of Reviews in PER.

Community Resources

PER Programs

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

For the Classroom

Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials

Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials
This web site provides small-group learning materials for teaching intermediate mechanics. The physics is Newtonian with very little Lagrangian formalism. Materials are a mix of conceptual, mathematical, and problem solving University of Washington-style tutorials, as well as related research results, examination questions, and suggested course outlines.

Find more PER-based Curricular Materials: Course Packages | Student Activities | Pedagogy Guides

Research Instruments

PhysPort: Research-Based Assessments
PhysPort's collection of research-validated physics and astronomy learning assessments and science appreciation surveys are available for many topics and levels of student, from high school through upper division. Information is provided on the goal and structure of each assessment, research results, and best practices for using the assessments. The assessment database also includes the Data Explorer service that analyzes assessments results and compares to national outcomes. Access to the assessments is restricted to verified physics and astronomy educators and researchers.

Find more assessment instruments