PER Literature

Search the literature by:

Author Title All Fields

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
• Teacher Characteristics

• Applied Research
• Active Learning
• Careers
• Classroom Management
• Curriculum Development
• 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

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

• PhysPort
• PER Wiki
• PER-Central Forums
• PERTG
• For the Media

• Reviews in PER
• PERC Proceedings
• AJP (AAPT)
• PR-PER
• Perticles

Features

Respectful PER Reviews

This document, prepared by journal editors and PER community members, grew out of conversations that brought attention to the negative impact particular reviews have had on community members. These conversations precipitated a survey inviting community members to share their experiences of the PER journal review process. This 2-page survey summary issues recommendations on the basis of our interpretations. We focus on respectful reviewing and do not comprehensively address reviewing practices writ large.

PER Programs

Browse the different PER groups and their descriptions on the PER Program Map.

For the Classroom

Connecting Meaning and Mathematics
This page contains step-by-step tutorials and guided inquiry activities designed to help students discover physical properties and concepts by developing understanding from mathematics. Most of this material is written for upper level classical mechanics courses. Connections are made with the Intermediate Mechanics Tutorials by Ambrose and Wittmann.

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

Research Instruments

PhysPort: Research-Based Assessments
PhysPort's collection of research-validated physics and astronomy learning assessments and science appreciation surveys are available for many topics and levels of student, from high school through upper division. Information is provided on the goal and structure of each assessment, research results, and best practices for using the assessments. The assessment database also includes the Data Explorer service that analyzes assessments results and compares to national outcomes. Access to the assessments is restricted to verified physics and astronomy educators and researchers.

Find more assessment instruments