Department of Physics
Purdue University
Whether you are presently teaching non-science majors, engineering or technology majors, non-physics science majors or physics majors you have almost certainly noticed changes over the years in both the attitudes and the preparation of students you deal with and may have noticed more recent, striking changes in some of the curricular materials you are being offered. I will discuss some of the curricular experiments in progress here and elsewhere that seek to increase the physics learned by all students and to help committed physics students accomplish more during their undergraduate careers. I will also say a bit about the physics-based education research that is driving such innovation and assessing its effectiveness. Promoted by the APS and supported by the NSF and other funding agencies and foundations, such discipline-based research differs markedly from traditional education research and is beginning to have a significant effect on physics education.