Lillian C. McDermott
66
History
3/15/10
physicists is likely to be credible to other physicists.
The
same arguments support direct
involvement by physics faculty in K-12 teacher preparation.
Our group was the first at a major American research university in which students
could earn a Ph.D. in physics for research in physics education.
I think that our credibility
has been strengthened by our ongoing participation in research and continuing emphasis
on publication.
We report our results in terms familiar to physicists in refereed journals to
which they have ready access.
(Education publications do not meet these conditions.)
Until fairly recently, we were accustomed to referring to our curriculum as
research-based
.
However, current overuse use of that term is creating a problem.
Almost
every new text today is promoted as research-based.
What seems to be lacking is the
recognition that
research-based
is not equivalent to
research-validated.
Pretesting and
post-testing are crucial.
Just because one is aware of what students cannot do does not
mean that one knows what to do about it.
Unless instructional strategies have been shown
to work reproducibly,
research-based
is not a very strong recommendation.
A higher
standard is needed – one that is based on evidence, not on expectation or opinion.
The current versions of
Physics by Inquiry
and
Tutorials in Introductory Physics
are the result of successive refinement over many iterative cycles.
Unless faculty are
willing to make such a commitment, they should rely on curriculum that has proved
effective.
If they develop their own instructional materials, they should document the
results so that cumulative progress in the teaching of physics becomes possible.
Not intended to be a complete scholarly record, this history of physics education
research presents a particular perspective on PER by a physicist strongly committed to this
field.
164
I interpret my receiving the
1990 AAPT Millikan Lecture Award,
the
2001
AAPT
Oersted Award,
and the
2002
ICPE Medal
as evidence that the field of physics education
research and our group’s role in it have won acceptance by the academic physics
community.
165
We were honored with the
2008 APS Excellence in Physics Education
164
For a broader history of PER, see “ 2
.
A Brief History of PER in the U.S.,” in R.J. Beichner,
An
Introduction to Physics Education Research
(PER Central 2009).
<http://www.per-central.org/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8806&DocID=1147>
165
The
Oersted
and
Millikan Awards
are, respectively, the highest and second highest awards given by
AAPT.
The
ICPE
Medal is from the International Commission on Physics Education, which is part of
the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).
Lillian C. McDermott
67
History
3/15/10
Award.
166
I especially appreciate this recognition because it specifically acknowledges
our collaborative effort.
What we have done together could not have been accomplished
by any of us individually.
Endnotes
II.a.
Although I had helped Arnold write the proposal to NSF, he had not involved me in grant
management.
During his absence, our grant was randomly chosen for a thorough General
Accounting Office (GAO) investigation.
I had a lot to learn very quickly.
For about six months,
the GAO staff stayed in our building, looking carefully for infringements.
They found none, but
the experience convinced me of the importance of shared leadership and management.
II.b.
Among our early long-term visitors were Betty Windham (Harper College, Palatine, Il), and
Dean Gaily (U. of Western Ontario), instructors in the teacher preparation and EOP courses.
II.c.
The only physics D.A. degree from UW was awarded in 1975 to Arnold’s graduate student.
III.a.
Donna is one of two former Institute participants who earned a Science Education Ph.D. for
research on the impact that
PbI
and the Institutes have had on teachers.
Deborah Hanuscin (now at
U. of Missouri, then Indiana U.) examined how Institute participants learn the “grammar of
science.”
(I was on both Supervisory Committees.)
III.b.
At the 2007 AAPT Winter Meeting, eight former Summer Institute participants who had
conducted “action research” in their classrooms reported their findings.
III.c. Besides Emily van Zee, our Ph.D. students and post-docs, others contributing to the initial or
revised modules included Lezlie DeWater, Brian Popp, and Nelsen Spickard.
IV.
When Cliff Mills left Wiley, Stuart Johnson became our Editor.
In 1999 Erik Fahlgren
replaced Alison at Pearson International, which had absorbed Prentice Hall.
Like Cliff and Alison,
Stuart and Erik were always very supportive.
V.a.
The 22 students in the Physics Education Group who earned Ph.D.s between 1979 and 2008
and affiliations of those who have had faculty positions, are: Brad Ambrose (Grand Valley State),
Andrew Boudreaux (Western Washington U.), Hunter Close (Seattle Pacific U.), Matt Cochran
(Kauai Community College), Andrew Crouse (Ithaca College), James Evans (U. of Puget Sound),
Luanna S. Gomez (Buffalo State), Diane Grayson (U. of Pretoria), Rand Harrington (U. of Maine),
Steve Kanim (New Mexico State), Chris Kautz (Technical U. of Hamburg-Harburg), Pamela
166
The
APS Excellence in Physics Education Award
is primarily intended to honor a group.
The UW
Physics Education Group was cited “
For leadership in advancing research methods in physics
education, promoting the importance of physics education research as a sub-discipline of physics, and
developing research-based curricula that have improved students’ learning of physics from
kindergarten to graduate school
.”
<http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient. University of Washington Physics
Education Group/08 cfm>.
