Retrieval-based practice and peer instruction in introductory Physics

September 25, 2019 Prasanth

Retrieval-based practice and peer instruction in introductory Physics

Under certain conditions, retrieval-based practice can produce learning at-least as good as peer instruction.

June 26, 2019 Nick Young

Research-backed advice for mentoring researchers

Mentoring an undergraduate researcher for the first time or looking to improve your mentoring ability? See what the literature has to say.

April 24, 2019 Nick Young

Virtual Labs vs Physical Labs: does it matter?

Physics labs can be done with physical equipment or done virtually. It appears each has its own benefits.

April 10, 2019 Nick Young

Will I get worse student evaluations if I switch to active learning? Probably not.

Many instructors fear that switching from lecture to active learning will result in worse student evaluations. That doesn’t appear to be the case.

March 27, 2019 Nick Young

This title is like an analogy; it should explain this post but it really doesn’t.

Analogies are used all of the time in physics education. But what makes a good analogy?

March 13, 2019 Nick Young

That’s no schematic, it’s a power box

Today’s post introduces a new type of representation for understanding circuits, the power box with multiple examples.

February 27, 2019 Nick Young

Hey instructors, your beliefs can affect students’ grades (and not in a positive way)

Minority students in classes with fixed-mindset instructors do worse than in classes with growth-mindset instructors.

November 7, 2018 Nick Young

You seem like a physicist

Explicitly and implicitly recognizing students as physicists can help them identify as physicists.

September 12, 2018 Nick Young

Extra! Extra! Physics labs might be extra

Labs have been a standard part of the physics curriculum. Today’s paper suggests that labs don’t help students develop physics knowledge beyond what is already covered in other parts of the course.

June 20, 2018 Nick Young

The Price of Active Learning

Active learning methods are thought to be more costly to implement than traditional lectures. Is this common belief actually the case and if so, what does that mean for their implementation?