How having a theory of teaching and learning changes what I do in class on Monday E. F. (Joe) Redish Department of Physics University of Maryland Friday, February 15th, 1:00 pm. HLS 160 Physics education research (PER) has developed a successful multi-decade track record of observational and engineering developments – descriptions of the kinds of difficulties students have in learning introductory physics and instructional environments that help improve their learning.  Recently, PER has begun to establish an understanding of the mental mechanisms responsible for some of these difficulties, based on recent developments in cognitive, neural, and behavioral science.  These insights are helping to broaden our focus to include intuition and skill development and they are beginning to provide a second generation of instructional reform.

 

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