Physics Education Researchers Give 21 Summer Presentations

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

September 24, 2018 News, Research

Physics Education Research Ph.D. candidate presenting research — Caleb Speirs Presents at RiSE Summit

Members of the Physics Education Research Laboratory (PERL) were extremely active at national meetings this past summer.

The conference season started off with the Third Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year (BFY III) at Loyola University Maryland, where two members of PERL presented one poster and also offered a workshop on flexible resources for supporting student understanding of diode circuits. At this summer’s national meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), work by members of the Physics Education Research Laboratory (PERL) was also prominently on display. Members of the group gave a workshop, an invited talk, 9 contributed talks, and 2 posters. In addition, at the international Physics Education Research Conference that immediately followed the AAPT meeting, members of PERL presented 5 posters and participated in a poster symposium. In total, members of the group gave 21 presentations.

Presenters included faculty and PhD students from PERL, MST students from the Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center), undergraduate students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, graduates of the MST program who are now teachers in Maine, former post-doctoral researchers from the RiSE Center who are now faculty at other institutions, and collaborators from throughout the US.

Topics included: student understanding of advanced physics and mathematics topics, investigations to test models of learning and reasoning, interdisciplinary work on the use of physics in biology and the use of mathematics in physics, and investigations of teacher knowledge.

For more information about physics education research, click here.