Teaching Physics is a book
about learning to be a more effective physics teacher. It is meant
for anyone who is interested in learning about recent developments
in physics education. It is not a review of specific topics in physics
with hints for how to teach them and lists of common student difficulties.
Rather, it is a handbook with a variety of tools for improving both
teaching and learning of physics æ from new kinds of homework
and exam problems, to surveys for figuring out what has happened
in your class, to tools for taking and analyzing data using computers
and video.
Teaching Physics includes:
• an introduction to the cognitive model of thinking and learning
that underlies modern physics education research
• principles and guidelines for making use of and understanding
the implications of this cognitive model for the classroom
• a discussion of formative and summative evaluation with a
variety of “thinking problems” useful for homework and
exams
• a discussion of assessment of the success of instruction
using research-based concept and attitude surveys
• discussions of 11 research-based curricular materials for
use in lecture, lab, recitation, and workshop environments
• tips and guidelines for how to improve your instruction
In addition, the book comes with a Resource
CD containing 14 conceptual and 3 attitude surveys, more
than 250 thinking problems covering all areas of introductory physics,
resource materials from commercial vendors on use of computerized
data acquisition and video, and a variety of other useful reference
materials.
Teaching Physics is a companion
guide to using the Physics Suite, an integrated collection of research-based
instructional materials for lecture, laboratory, recitation, and
workshop/studio environments. The elements of the Suite share the
underlying philosophy of education described in this book.
Edward F. (Joe) Redish is a
Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland where he has
taught for over 30 years. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear
physics from MIT and was an active researcher in that field for
25 years. Since 1991, he has devoted his research effort to physics
education and has established a research group at Maryland. He is
the recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship of teaching
and learning including the 1998 Millikan award from the AAPT.
