Physics Education Research Laboratory

Drawings of energy: Evidence of the Next Generation Science Standards model of energy in diagrams Kara E. Gray, Michael C. Wittmann, Stamatis Vokos, and Rachel E. Scherr Physical Review Physics Education Research 15, 010129. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide a succession of objectives for energy learning and set an expectation for teachers to […]

Physics students’ construction and checking of differential volume elements in an unconventional spherical coordinate system Benjamin P. Schermerhorn and John R. Thompson Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 15, 010112 In upper-division physics courses, students’ use of differential line, area, and volume elements and their facility with the various multivariable coordinate systems consistently go hand in […]

Physics students’ construction of differential length vectors in an unconventional spherical coordinate system Benjamin P. Schermerhorn and John R. Thompson Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 15, 010111 Vector calculus and multivariable coordinate systems play a large role in the understanding and calculation of much of the physics in upper-division electricity and magnetism. Differential vector elements […]

Research in the Resources Framework: Changing environments, consistent exploration Wittmann, M.C. (2018). Research in the Resources Framework: Changing environments, consistent exploration. in Reviews in PER Volume 2: Getting Started in Physics Education Research, edited by C. Henderson and K. A. Harper (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, MD, 2018). In this paper, I discuss […]

Student determination of differential area elements in upper-division physics Benjamin P. Schermerhorn and John R. Thompson Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017 Given the significance of understanding differential area vectors in multivariable coordinate systems to the learning of electricity and magnetism (E&M), students in junior-level E&M were interviewed about E&M tasks involving integration over areas. […]

Middle School Physics Teachers’ Content Knowledge of Acceleration Elijah Tabachnick, Peter Colesworthy, and Michael C. Wittmann Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017 In the “speed model” of accelerated motion, the terms “speeding up” and “slowing down” are equated with positive and negative acceleration, respectively. As part of the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership, we have investigated […]

Using multiple survey questions about energy to uncover elements of middle school student reasoning M. Wittmann, A. Rogers, C. Alvarado, J. Medina, and L. Millay Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings 2017, Cincinnati, OH, 2017. One power of middle school physics teaching is its focus on conceptual understanding, rather than mathematical modeling. Teaching energy in middle […]

Michael C. Wittmann Research in the Resources Framework: Changing environments, consistent exploration preprint can be found at arXiv.org > physics > arXiv:1801.09592 (This paper will be published in the Reviews in Physics Education Research in a volume edited by (in alphabetical order) Charles Henderson, Kathy Harper, and Amy Robertson, publication date Summer 2018. See https://www.compadre.org/per/per_reviews/ […]

Teacher awareness of problematic facets of meaningful metaphors of energy Michael C. Wittmann, Carolina Alvarado, Laura Millay Latin American Journal of Physics Education 11, 2327 (2017). English Abstract How teachers respond to students depends, in part, on what they see in their students’ thinking. In a teacher professional development setting, we asked teachers to provide […]

Comparing Item Response Curves of Japanese and American Students on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation M. Ishimoto, G. Davenport, and M. C. Wittmann Physical Review Physics Education Research 13, 20135 (published Nov 30, 2017) Student views of force and motion reflect the personal experiences and physics education of the student. With a different language, […]