This paper was written as part of the Status, Contributions, and Future Directions of Discipline Based Education (DBER) Research project undertaken by the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council/National Academies. The report attempts to answer the following questions:

A. In what decade did the phenomenon of physics education research arise, and what was the impetus?
B. Where were the first generation of physics education research scholars located?
C. When were the first generation of PhD and postdoctoral programs for education researchers in physics established, and where were they?
D. How was physics education research initially viewed by scholars in the discipline and by others such as educators or social scientists?
E. Has the status of physics education research changed over time? If so, how and why?
F. What are some key indicators of the changing status? (e.g., T & P requirements, publication of physics education research in disciplinary journals, the establishment of physics education research journals, etc.)
G. What theoretical frameworks have guided the development
of physics education research?
H. Has the focus of physics education research changed over time?
I. What were the key milestones in the development of physics education research?