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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:

The Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) project
by R. J. Beichner, J. M. Saul, D. S. Abbott, J. J. Morse, D. L. Deardorff, R. J. Allain, S. W. Bonham, M. H. Dancy, and J. S. Risley.

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

Symmetry and Gauss's Law Conceptual Evaluation

Symmetry and Gauss's Law Conceptual Evaluation
The Symmetry and Gauss's Law Conceptual Evaluation, developed by Chandralekha Singh, is a research-based multiple-choice test designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of symmetry and Gauss's Law. The test is appropriate for research in calculus-based introductory physics courses or upper-level undergraduate E&M courses.

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PER Events PER-Central Announcements RSS

Physics Education Research Conference 2026
PERC 2026 will be held July 22-23, 2026 in Pasadena, CA.  The theme will be "Potentials and Perils from AI in Physics Teaching and Learning."

Foundations and Frontiers of Physics Education Research: Puget Sound 2026
The sixth FFPER: Puget Sound conference will be held August 20-23, 2026 at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. FFPERPS is a regional conference open to physics educators in the Cascadia region and beyond.

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Latest Additions Latest Additions to PER-Central RSS

Mar 30 Graduate Education in Physics: The Path Ahead. A Report on the 2nd Graduate Education in Physics Conference
Mar 30 Graduate Education in Physics: Which Way Forward?
Feb 25 Characterizing and Assessing Covariational Reasoning in Introductory Physics Contexts
Jan 20 Meta-Representational Competence in Quantum Mechanics Change of Basis Problems