Open-ended game-like simulations that include expert visual models, enabling scientist-like exploration and real-world connections.
Subject
+6
Setting
+4
Developers: PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado - Boulder
Small group discussion of conceptual questions interspersed with lectures, increasing engagement and providing formative feedback on student thinking.
Subject
+7
Setting
+2
Developers: Eric Mazur, Catherine H. Crouch, and colleagues
Students use electronic devices to answer questions and instructors collect and display responses, facilitating student engagement and collaboration.
Subject
+7
Setting
+3
Developers: N/A
Exercises in which students rank variations of a physical situation on the basis of a specified physical quantity and explain their reasoning.
Subject
+3
Setting
+3
Developers: Thomas O'Kuma, David P. Maloney, Curtis Hieggelke
Worksheets for use in lecture. Students predict results of demos, discuss in small groups, observe results, compare with predictions and explain.
Subject
+2
Level
Developers: David Sokoloff and Ron Thornton
Students work in groups using structured problem-solving strategy to solve complex, context-rich problems too difficult to solve individually.
Subject
+6
Developers: University of Minnesota Physics Education Research Group
Small, flexible, educational physics applets that use simple graphics to convey only salient features of physical phenomena; modifiable and adaptable.
Subject
+5
Setting
+4
Developers: Wolfgang Christian
Students answer questions online before class, promoting preparation for class and encouraging them to come to class with a "need to know."
Subject
+7
Setting
+2
Developers: G. Novak, A. Gavrin, E. Patterson, W. Christian
Students work in small groups on short, realistic scenarios, giving them a plausible motivation to solve problems.
Subject
+2
Developers: University of Minnesota Physics Education Research Group
A collection of interactive simulations for learning and teaching quantum mechanics concepts from advanced high school to advanced undergraduate.
Setting
+4
Developers: Antje Kohnle and the PER team at the University of St. Andrews
Guided-inquiry worksheets for use in small groups, typically in a recitation section. Instructors engage students in Socratic dialogue.
Subject
+5
Developers: many people
A series of introductory laboratory modules that use computer data acquisition tools to help students develop physics concepts and acquire lab skills.
Subject
+2
Level
Developers: David Sokoloff, Ron Thornton, and Priscilla Laws
A calculus-based introductory physics curriculum designed to completely replace traditional lectures and laboratories with sequenced activities.
Subject
+3
Level
Developers: Priscilla Laws with contributions from Robert Boyle, Patrick Cooney, Kenneth Laws, John Luetzelschwab, David Sokoloff and Ronald Thornton
Short activities that help students apply concepts and address known difficulties; designed so that they cannot be solved using plug and chug.
Setting
+3
Developers: Curtis Hieggelke, David Maloney, Stephen Kanim, Thomas O'Kuma
Guided-inquiry worksheets for small groups in recitation section of intro calculus-based physics. Instructors engage groups in Socratic dialogue.
Subject
+2
Level
Developers: Michael C. Wittmann, Richard N. Steinberg, Edward F. Redish, and the Physics Education Research Group at the University of Maryland
A program to recruit science majors to become K-12 teachers and to improve undergraduate education by implementing large-scale teaching reform.
Subject
+7
Setting
+3
Developers: Valerie Otero and Dick McCray
Laboratory activities that use microcomputer-based laboratory tools to develop both conceptual understanding and quantitative laboratory skills.
Level
Developers: Ron Thornton and David Sokoloff
Tools to elicit students' initial ideas, lessons to engage those ideas, assessment items, and reporting structures for students and teachers.
Subject
+2
Setting
+4
Developers: FACET Innovations
An integrated learning environment where the space is designed to facilitate interactions between small groups working on short, interesting tasks.
Subject
+6
Developers: Robert Beichner
Instruction organized around active student construction of conceptual and mathematical models in an interactive learning community.
Subject
+5
Developers: David Hestenes and Malcolm Wells
Guided-inquiry, introductory mechanics labs designed to promote students' mental construction of concepts.
Developers: Richard Hake
Guided-inquiry worksheets for small groups in recitation section of intro algebra-based physics. Instructors engage groups in Socratic dialogue.
Subject
+2
Setting
+4
Developers: Rachel E. Scherr and Andrew Elby
Lab-based guided-inquiry curriculum for future and current teachers to develop deep understanding of physics content and scientific reasoning skills.
Subject
+3
Level
Setting
+2
Developers: Lillian C. McDermott, Peter S. Shaffer and the Physics Education Group at UW
A guided-inquiry conceptual physics course designed to help students develop a deep conceptual understanding of big ideas in physics.
Level
Developers: Fred Goldberg, Valerie Otero and Steve Robinson
A guided-inquiry conceptual physical science course designed to help students develop a deep conceptual understanding of big ideas.
Developers: Fred Goldberg, Rebecca Kruse, Steve Robinson, Valerie Otero and Nephi Thompson
A guided-inquiry, conceptual physical science course intended for teaching in a lecture-style environment, e.g. classes with large enrollment.
Level
Developers: Fred Goldberg, Stephen Robinson, Edward Price, Rebecca Kruse, Danielle Boyd Harlow and Michael McKean
Engage students in lecture classes by asking cognitively engaging multiple-choice questions to challenge their thinking and foster deep discussion.
Developers: Center for Astronomy Education
Socratic-dialogue driven, highly-structured collaborative learning activities for use in introductory Astronomy lecture courses.
Level
Setting
+2
Developers: Ed Prather, Tim Slater, Jeff Adams, and Gina Brissenden
Conceptual exercises in which students make comparative judgments to identify the order of various situations based on a physical outcome or result.
Level
Setting
+3
Developers: David Hudgins, Kevin Lee, and Edward Prather
Comprehensive learning system for introductory physics that engages students in experiences that mirror experiences of practicing scientists.
Subject
+2
Setting
+3
Developers: Eugenia, Etkina, David Brookes, Gorazd Planinsic, and Alan Van Heuvelen
Questions for homework, clickers, and exams that help students connect mathematical and conceptual reasoning and relate physics to the real world.
Subject
+3
Setting
+4
Developers: E. F. Redish and the University of Maryland Physics Education Research Group
Sequences of multiple-choice questions that emphasize qualitative reasoning and multiple representations. For interactive discussion in lecture.
Level
Setting
+2
Developers: David E. Meltzer and Kandiah Manivannan
Supplementary activities for upper-level E&M. All materials are modular and can be mixed and matched with any other teaching strategy or materials.
Setting
+2
Developers: Steven Pollock, Stephanie Chasteen, Bethany Wilcox, Qing Ryan, Charles Baily, and many others in the University of Colorado Boulder PER group and physics department
Supplementary activities for upper-level QM I. All materials are modular and can be mixed and matched with any other teaching strategy or materials.
Setting
+2
Developers: Steven Pollock, Stephen Goldhaber, and many others in the University of Colorado Boulder PER group and physics department
Activity-based curriculum for high school physics. Helps students to explore, hone, and link concepts, and to develop analysis and reasoning skills.
Subject
+2
Setting
+2
Developers: William J. Gerace, Jose P. Mestre, Robert J. Dufresne, and William J. Leonard
An Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) class that develops general scientific competencies and is biologically authentic.
Subject
+4
Setting
+4
Developers: Joe Redish, Ben Dreyfus, Ben Geller, Julia Svoboda Gouvea, Wolfgang Losert, Kimberly Moore, Vashti Sawtelle, Chandra Turpen, and the NEXUS team
A guided-inquiry, physical science curriculum for pre- and in-service K-5 teachers, with flexible modular units for lab- or lecture-based courses.
Subject
+2
Level
Developers: Fred Goldberg, Steve Robinson, Ed Price, Danielle Harlow, Julie Andrew, and Michael McKean
A physics/physical science curriculum that builds on intrinsic mathematical reasoning to develop and strengthen mathematics and physics concepts.
Setting
+2
Developers: Eugenia Etkina, Suzanne Brahmia, Chis D'Amato, James Finley, Jim Flakker, Danielle Bugge, Richard Therkorn
Resources for teaching introductory quantum mechanics and modern physics with an emphasis on concepts and applications.
Setting
+3
Developers: Michael Wittman, Richard Steinberg, and Edward Redish
A pedagogy using clickers for interactive, student-centered science instruction that engages students in extended whole-class discussion.
Subject
+6
Setting
+3
Developers: Ian D. Beatty & William J. Gerace
Curriculum for large-lecture modern physics class for engineering majors. Focus on reasoning development, model building, and real-world applications.
Setting
+4
Developers: Carl Wieman, Kathy Perkins, and Sam McKagan at the University of Colorado Boulder
A modern calculus-based introductory curriculum with an emphasis on the application of fundamental principles and on the atomic nature of matter.
Subject
+3
Level
Developers: Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood
Activities for upper-level physics that can be incorporated into a standard course or used as part of a restructuring of the undergraduate curriculum.
Subject
+4
Setting
+4
Developers: Oregon State University Physics Department
A curriculum and pedagogy to integrate lab and lecture into a learning environment where students build, test, deploy, and revise conceptual models.
Developers: Dwain Desbian, Eric Brewe, Vashti Sawtelle, Daryl McPadden, Jason Dowd, Renee-Michelle Goertzen, Idaykis Rodriguez, Geoff Potvin, Seth Manthey, Jared Durden, Adrienne Traxler, Remy Dou, Eric Williams, Laird Kramer, David Jones Natan Samuels, Camila Monsalve, Daniela Gil, and John Pendas
A suite of computer simulations for teaching physics and physical science through exploring phenomena and conducting simulated experiments.
Subject
+2
Setting
+4
Developers: Fred Goldberg and many others
Supplementary activities for upper-level CM. All materials are modular and can be mixed and matched with any other teaching strategy or materials.
Developers: Danny Caballero, Rachel Pepper, Steve Pollock, and many others in the University of Colorado Boulder PER group and physics department
Worksheets, clicker questions, and homework for quantum mechanics. Connect quantitative formalism to qualitative understanding and build intuition.
Setting
+3
Developers: Chandralekha Singh and PER team at the University of Pittsburgh
A sequence of introductory, activity-based, laboratory activities that integrate the use of guided-inquiry techniques with self-directed projects.
Level
Developers: David P. Jackson, Priscilla W. Laws, and Scott V. Franklin
Guided group material for common graduate-level core courses: Classical Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, and E&M
Subject
+2
Developers: Christopher D. Porter, Taylor Murphy, Humberto Gilmer, and Andrew Heckler
A practice of attending and responding to the substance of students' thinking. The instructor's next moves are based on students' emerging ideas.
Subject
+7
Setting
+2
Developers: Fred Goldberg, Sharon Bendall, Mike McKean, and Jennifer Radoff
Tutorials designed to support students in building on the productive ideas they already have about physics to develop scientific models.
Subject
+2
Setting
+4
Developers: Amy Robertson, Lisa Goodhew, Lauren Bauman, and Paula Heron
Tutorials for a course introducing non-science majors to basic ideas of quantum mechanics, including spectroscopy, simple molecules, and tunneling.
Level
Setting
+4
Developers: Jeffrey T. Morgan, Michael C. Wittmann, Eleanor C. Sayre, Katrina E. Black
Guided-inquiry worksheet activities to help students develop a better understanding of upper-division thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Level
Developers: John Thompson, Michael Loverude, David Meltzer, Warren Christensen, Don Mountcastle
Small-group learning materials for teaching intermediate mechanics. A mix of conceptual, mathematical, and problem-solving activities.
Setting
+2
Developers: Michael C. Wittmann and Bradley S. Ambrose
Design labs in which students work in groups to design an experiment, carry it out, analyze it, and present their results to other groups.
Developers: Rebecca Lippmann Kung, Paul Gresser, and Joe Redish
Guided-inquiry worksheets to support students in thinking about the nature of quantum entities and engage in interpretation of quantum phenomena.
Setting
+2
Developers: Benjamin W. Dreyfus, Jessica R. Hoehn, Erin Ronayne Sohr, Noah D. Finkelstein, Ayush Gupta, Andrew Elby, Kathleen Hinko
A professional development program for K-12 teachers on the learning of energy. Teachers construct an understanding about energy and about learning.
Level
Developers: Hunter Close, Eleanor Close, Lezlie DeWater, Stamatis Vokos, Lane Seeley, Rachel Scherr, and Sam McKagan
A curriculum for pre-service teachers. Students craft and investigate their own scientific questions about a range of scientific topics.
Subject
+4
Level
Developers: Leslie Atkins
