2001 Oersted Medal Award

Lecture presented at the 2001 Winter Meeting 
of the American Association of Physics Teachers

Physics Education Research: The Key to Student Learning Lillian C. McDermott Biographical information Department of Physics University of Washington Seattle, Washington Abstract Research on the learning and teaching of physics is essential for cumulative improvement in physics instruction. Pursuing this goal through systematic research is efficient and greatly increases the likelihood that innovations will be effective beyond a particular instructor or institutional setting. The perspective taken is that teaching is a science as well as an art. Research conducted by physicists who are actively engaged in teaching can be the key to setting realistic standards, to helping students meet expectations, and to assessing the extent to which real learning takes place.

Click here for the published version of the lecture, American Journal of Physics, November 2001.

Click here for more information about the Oersted Medal Award on the AAPT web site. (note: site is slow loading)

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