Saturday Physics for Everyone: How Physicists Sparked a Revolution in College Teaching

There is a growing consensus that the stereotypical college class – where professors mainly lecture while students listen and take notes – is not ideal for learning.   In response, college courses have slowly, but surely, started dedicating more class time to “active learning” – where students are the ones doing the thinking, discussing, and problem solving. In this talk, I’ll explain the important role that physicists played in this teaching revolution. By taking a scientific approach to education, Physics Education Research (PER) has documented efforts to improve physics teaching and learning over the last 50+ years.  I’ll give some of PER’s key findings, how they have affected physics education, as well as my top tips for how college STEM students can excel.  As a bonus, I’ll share some early PER efforts here in the University of Illinois Physics Department that have transformed college teaching (some of which took place in the very room where this presentation is happening!).

Saturday Physics for Everyone is an event series focused on sharing the research of the Department of Physics with the UIUC community. High school students interested in STEM are highly encouraged to attend.