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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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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

An Inquiry- and Laboratory-based Curriculum for the Introductory Algebra-based Physics Course

An Inquiry- and Laboratory-based Curriculum for the Introductory Algebra-based Physics Course
These inquiry- and laboratory-based modules by Beth Thacker are designed for an algebra-based introductory physics course. The modules are largely based on Workshop Physics techniques and include health science applications when appropriate.

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

Research Instruments

Magnetism Conceptual Survey

Magnetism Conceptual Survey
The Magnetism Conceptual Survey (MCS), developed by Singh and Li, is designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of magnetism up to Faraday's law. It is written for algebra- and calculus-based introductory courses.

Find more assessment instruments

PER Announcements PER-Central Announcements RSS

Announcing the PhysRev PER Statistical Modeling Review Committee
New committee will support high-quality statistical modeling techniques published and/or referenced in PhysRev PER. Committee chair and members will serve three-year terms.

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PER Events PER-Central Announcements RSS

Physics Education Research Conference 2023
PERC 2023 will be held July 19-20, 2023 in Sacramento, California.  The theme will be "Working together to Strengthen the PER Community of Practice."

More events

Latest Additions Latest Additions to PER-Central RSS

May 21 Applying Conceptual Blending to Model Coordinated Use of Multiple Ontological Metaphors
May 20 A Framework for Analyzing Interdisciplinary Tasks: Implications for Student Learning and Curricular Design
May 19 University student conceptual resources for understanding energy
May 19 Resources-oriented instruction: What does it mean, and what might it look like?

Latest Discussion Posts

May 6 at 2:00 PM EST
Tom posted Think Aloud Protocol to the US - Solo Physics Education Researc... thread.

November 7 at 1:14 PM EST
Steve Maier posted PERLOC Councilor Elections! to the US - Solo Physics Education Researc... thread.

February 22 at 1:23 PM EST
Steve Maier posted Call for PERC Proceedings Editor to the US - Solo Physics Education Researc... thread.

October 29 at 10:45 PM EST
Steve Maier posted Upcoming Talk! to the US - Solo Physics Education Researc... thread.