Research serves as the basis for all instructional materials developed by the Physics Education Group. Currently the group has two major curriculum development projects.

Physics by Inquiry - Volumes I and II
L.C. McDermott and the Physics Education Group
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1996)

Physics by Inquiry is a set of laboratory-based modules that are specifically designed to help prepare prospective and practicing teachers (K-12) to teach science as a process of inquiry. The modules are also suitable for liberal arts students and for underprepared students who aspire to science-related careers but whose background in science and mathematics is weak. Physics by Inquiry emphasizes the process of science rather than the presentation and explanation of facts. Teaching is not by telling but by guiding students through carefully sequenced experiments and exercises designed to help them develop a functional understanding of the material. Volume III, currently in preparation, extends the same approach to other topics.
 

Tutorials in Introductory Physics - First Edition
L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer, and the Physics Education Group
(Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002)

Tutorials in Introductory Physics is a supplementary curriculum that can be used in conjunction with any standard textbook in calculus-based or algebra-based physics. The tutorials are designed to be used in small-group sessions in which students work collaboratively in groups of three or four. Worksheets provide the structure. Carefully sequenced activities and questions guide students step-by-step through the reasoning required for the development and application of important concepts and principles.

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