Physics faculty, experts in evidence-based research, often rely on anecdotal experience to guide their teaching practices. Adoption of research-based instructional strategies is surprisingly low, despite the large body of physics education research (PER) and strong dissemination effort of PER researchers and innovators. Evidence-based PER has validated specific non-traditional teaching practices, but many faculty raise valuable concerns toward their applicability. We address these concerns and identify future studies required to overcome the gap between research and practice.

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Teaching and physics education research: bridging the gap

In this paper we consider how theories of learning can inform the practice of scienceteaching in formal settings. We describe two broad strands of learning theory that havebeen drawn upon in science education, namely individual and sociocultural views. Weshow how aspects of both views can usefully inform our understanding of teaching andlearning science in formal settings. A perspective on science learning in formal settingsis presented which draws on and develops features of both individual and socioculturalviews, and the implications of this perspective on science learning for research and practice are discussed. The paper concludes with reflections on some of the recent critiques of so-called `constructivist views of learning' in the light of the perspective developed.

Individual and Sociocultural Views of Learning in Science Education

We present a new research-based course on quantum mechanics in which the conceptual issues of quantum mechanics are taught at an introductory level. In the context of virtual laboratories, the students discover from the very beginning how quantum phenomena deviate from our classical everyday experience. The results of the evaluation of the course show that most of the students acquired appropriate quantum mechanical conceptions, and that many of the common misconceptions encountered in traditional instruction have been avoided.

Teaching quantum mechanics on an introductory level

We describe efforts toward the development of a hypothetical learning progression (HLP) for the growth of grade 7-14 students' models of the structure, behavior and properties of matter, as it relates to nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). This multi-dimensional HLP, based on empirical research and standards documents, describes how students need to incorporate and connect ideas within and across their models of atomic structure, the electrical forces that govern interactions at the nano-, molecular, and atomic scales, and information in the Periodic Table to explain a broad range of phenomena. We developed a progression from empirical data that characterizes how students currently develop their knowledge as part of the development and refinement of the HLP. We find that most students are currently at low levels in the progression, and do not perceive the connections across strands in the progression that are important for conceptual understanding. We suggest potential instructional strategies that may help students build organized and integrated knowledge structures to consolidate their understanding, ready them for new ideas in science, and help them construct understanding of emerging disciplines such as NSE, as well as traditional science disciplines. 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 687-715, 2010

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Developing a Hypothetical Multi-Dimensional Learning Progression for the Nature of Matter.

One notable line of inquiry, aspects of which date back to the early 1980s, involves the design and implementation not of long‐term curricula, but of topic‐oriented sequences for teaching science. One distinguishing characteristic of a teaching–learning sequence (TLS) is its inclusion in a gradual research‐based volutionary process aiming at interlacing the scientific and the student perspective. In the present paper, which is introductory to the special issue, we attempt to serve a double purpose: on the one hand, we provide an overview of developments and trends with regard to TLSs and their classroom validation, discussing empirical studies, theoretical proposals, methodological tools and approaches to describing the design of these sequences in ordinary language, while on the other the paper serves as an introduction to this volume, making it easier for the reader to apprehend the processes of development and validation of research on TLSs.

Teaching–learning sequences: aims and tools for science education research

In this paper, one student's learning process in a course on quantum atomic physics in grade 13 of a German gymnasium (secondary school) is described. The course lasted 16 weeks for a total of approximately 80 lessons. The aim of the present study is to elaborate the student's cognitive system for atomic physics as a hypothetical pragmatic model to describe, analyse and explain his thinking and learning while interacting with the teaching input. In this paper, the student's learning pathway is described as a sequence of several meta‐stable conceptions of the atom, starting from a planetary model. His final cognitive element ‘atom’ following teaching is displayed as an association of three parallel conceptions including his initial planetary model, a state‐electron model and an electron‐cloud model. These different conceptions influence his thinking in different ‘strengths’ and ‘status’. In addition, the student's meta‐cognitive beliefs on physics and the way they are affected by a quantum world view are b...

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Juergen Petri

Papers

A learning pathway in high‐school level quantum atomic physics