UW Department of Physics
Faculty Development Workshops
on Teaching Physics by Inquiry
The Physics Education Group offers workshops for college and university
faculty on the use of Physics by
Inquiry, a curriculum that provides a step-by-step
introduction to physics and the physical sciences. This set of
laboratory-based modules has been developed by Prof. Lillian C.
McDermott and the Physics Education Group and published by John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.
Physics by Inquiry has been
developed on the basis of extensive classroom experience and more than
30 years of research on the learning and teaching of physics. The
modules have been thoroughly class-tested at the University of
Washington and at other institutions, including two- and four-year
colleges. The curriculum is designed to address the needs and
abilities of different student populations and is especially
appropriate for use in classes to:
• prepare
prospective and practicing K-12 teachers to teach science as a process
of inquiry,
• strengthen the science and mathematics background
of underprepared students, and
• provide students majoring in the arts and social
sciences with direct experience in the scientific method.
The workshops are conducted regularly at national AAPT meetings and occasionally at
colleges and universities. Longer workshops are sometimes
conducted at the University of Washington. The workshops are
designed primarily for faculty in physics departments who prepare K-12
teachers to teach physics and physical science as a process of inquiry,
but faculty in other sciences and mathematics have also found them
useful. In addition to providing hands-on experience with the
instructional materials, the workshops cover various aspects of
designing and implementing courses in physics departments for
teachers. During the workshops, participants also gain an
understanding of how physics education research has guided the design
of the modules. Faculty who have participated a workshop and who
are interested in seeing a Physics
by Inquiry course in operation may want to arrange a visit to
the University of Washington.
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