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:
- Basic Research
- Achievement
- Alternative Conceptions
- Assessment
- Behavior
- Cognition
- Communication
- Learning Theory
- Problem Solving
- Research Design & Methodology
- Sample Population
- Societal Issues
- Student Characteristics
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- Applied Research
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- Careers
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- Informal Education
- Instructional Material Design
- Learning Environment
- Pedagogy
- Professional Development
- Recruitment
- School Improvement
- Teacher Preparation
- Technology
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
Volume 2 of Reviews in PER is dedicated to helping researchers get started in Physics Education Research.
In this review article, a member of the PER community presents an overview of an area of PER:
Getting Started with Research on Epistemologies and Expectations
by A. Elby.
Find more articles introducing PER research methods in Volume 2 of Reviews in PER.
Community Resources
PER Programs
Browse the different PER groups and their descriptions on the PER Program Map.
For the Classroom
SEI: Upper-Division Electrodynamics (E&M 2) Course Materials
This web site contains a complete suite of resources suitable for the second semester of an upper-division undergraduate electricity and magnetism class. The materials include clicker questions, in-class activities, homework problems, and assessments.
Find more PER-based Curricular Materials: Course Packages | Student Activities | Pedagogy Guides
Research Instruments
Quantum Mechanics Survey
The Quantum Mechanics Survey, developed by Singh and Zhu, is designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics in junior-level courses.
