Areas of Interest
As a member of the Physics Education R & D Group, Dr. Beichner's research focuses on increasing our understanding of student learning and the improvement of physics education. Working from a base of National Science Foundation and computer industry support, he developed the popular "video-based lab" approach for introductory physics laboratories. A spinoff from the award-winning VideoGraph project was a study of how the visual perception of motion can best be utilized in instructional computer animations and how that information can be used by teachers of large lecture classes. In a separate project, Dr. Beichner and his students are writing a series of tests aimed at diagnosing students' misconceptions about a variety of introductory physics topics. The kinematics graphing test developed by Dr. Beichner is now being used in high schools and colleges around the world. His biggest current project is the creation and study of a learning environment supporting a new way to teach called SCALE-UP: Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs. This curriculum development, evaluation, and dissemination effort is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, and Pasco Scientific. The approach is being adopted at quite a few schools, including MIT, the University of New Hampshire, Coastal Carolina, the University of Central Florida, RIT, the University of Alabama, American University, and Wake Technical Community College. The SCALE-UP project is part of Dr. Beichner's efforts to reform physics instruction at a national level. Probably his most visible work along those lines has been the textbook that he co-authored with Raymond Serway. The 5th edition of Physics for Scientists and Engineers was the top-selling introductory calculus-based physics book in the nation, and was used by more than a third of all science, math, and engineering majors. He is currently the director of the PER-CENTRAL project, working to establish an electronic "home base" for the Physics Education Research community. He is also the founding editor of the APS journal Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research.
Recent Publications
Beichner, R., (2009). Introduction to Physics Education Research, a peer reviewed chapter
of Getting Started in PER, (Henderson, C. and Harper, K., eds.).
Ding, L. and Beichner, R. (2009).
Approaches to data analysis of multiple-choice questions, Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research 2, 020103.
Beichner, R., (2008). The SCALE-UP Project: A Student-Centered,
Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs,[PDF] a commissioned white paper for the National Academy of Sciences.
Gaffney, J., Richards, E., Kustusch, M. B., Ding, L., & Beichner, R. (2008).
Scaling up education reform[PDF], Journal of College Science Teaching, 37, (5), 48-53.
Beichner, R., Dori, Y., and Belcher, J. (2006).
New Physics Teaching and Assessment:Laboratory and Technology Enhanced Active Learning.[PDF] In Mintzes, J. and Leonard, W.
(Eds.), Handbook of College Science Teaching, Washington DC: National Science Teachers Association.
Beichner, R., (2006). North Carolina State University: SCALE-UP. In Oblinger, D. (Ed.),
Learning Spaces, Boulder, CO: Educause.
Dancy, M. & Beichner, R. (2006). Impact of animation on assessment of conceptual
understanding in physics, Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research 2, 010104.
Ding, L., Chabay, R., Sherwood, B. & Beichner, R. (2006). Evaluating an electricity
and magnetism assessment tool: Brief electricity and magnetism assessment, Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research
2, 010105.
Beichner, R., and Saul, J. (2005). Introduction to the
SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) project. In Invention and Impact: Building Excellence in
Undergraduate Science[PDF], Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education, proceedings of a conference by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, April 2004, Washington DC.
Click here to view a larger list of publications.
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