home - login - register

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

Search the literature by:



Or find an article by topic:

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

PER Programs map image

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

For the Classroom

SEI Upper-Division Quantum Mechanics I Transformed Course Materials

SEI Upper-Division Quantum Mechanics I Transformed Course Materials
This web site provides research-based materials for junior-level quantum mechanics 1 courses. Topics covered include the Schrödinger equation, bound state problems, Hilbert space and operators, the hydrogen atom, and spin. The course archives include documented student difficulties, learning goals, ConcepTests (clicker questions), class activities, homework, tutorials, and a conceptual assessment tool.

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

Research Instruments

Energy Concept Assessment

Energy Concept Assessment
The Energy Concept Assessment, developed by Lin Ding, is designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of energy in algebra- or calculus-based introductory physics courses.

Find more assessment instruments