Publications

Most of these are available on-line in PDF format. Click on the title to view downloadable articles. Some of our presentations are also available.

Incorporating active learning in large introductory physics classes: The SCALE-UP Project. (submitted). Saul, J., Beichner, R., Abbott, D., Morse, J., Deardorff, D., Allain, R., Bonham, S., Dancy, M., Risley, J., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.

Amount and type of spontaneous information as undergraduate students interpret kinematics graphs, (submitted). Kim, T., & Beichner, R., J. Res. Sci. Teaching.

Do students need to grasp the concept of rate of change before they understand electric potential, (submitted). Allain, R. & Beichner, R., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.

New Physics Teaching and Assessment: Laboratory and Technology Enhanced Active Learning, (in press). Beichner, R., Dori, Y., and Belcher, J. in Mintzes, J. and Leonard, W. (Eds.), Handbook of College Science Teaching, Washington DC: National Science Teachers Association.

Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) project. (in press). Beichner, R., Saul, J., Abbott, D., Morse, J., Deardorff, D., Allain, R., Bonham, S., Dancy, M., and Risley, J. in E. F. Redish and P. J. Cooney (Eds.), PER-Based Reform in University Physics. College Park, MD: American Association of Physics Teachers.  

Instructional Technology Research and Development in a US Physics Education Group, (2006). Beichner, R. European J. of Engineering Ed, 31, 383-393. The purpose of this invited paper is to provide insight into the kinds of work being done by an education research group in a US physics department. Instructional technology raises many intersting questions and lends itself to a wide variety of studies. References and contacts are provided for readers wanting more detailed information on the research. The paper is based on a presentation given at the Workshop on Best Practices of ICT Use in a University Environment, 24/9/2004, Zurich.

Stars of the Big Dipper: A 3-D vector activity, (2006) Kuo, V., and Beichner, R., (2006). Physics Teacher. Copyright 2006 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The article may be found at Kuo, V., and Beichner, R., (2006). Stars of the Big Dipper: A 3-D vector activity, Physics Teacher, 44,(4), 168-172.

Impact of animation on assessment of conceptual understanding in physics, (2006). Dancy, M. & Beichner, R., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010104.

Evaluating an electricity and magnetism assessment tool: Brief electricity and magnetism assessment, (2006). Ding, L., Chabary, R., Sherwood, B. & Beichner, R., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010105.

Introduction to the SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) Project, (2005). Beichner, R., and Saul, J., in Invention and Impact: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education, proceedings of a conference by the Am. Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, April 2004, Washington DC.

Matter and Interactions by Chabay, R., & Sherwood, B., Wiley.

Scientific teaching. (2004). Handelsman, J., D. Ebert-May, R. Beichner, P. Bruns, A. Chang, R. DeHaan, J. Gentile, S. Lauffer, J. Stewart, S.M. Tilghman, W.B. Wood, Science, 304, (23), 521-522. (Supplementary material also available)

Call to AAPT about PER articles in Am. J. Physics. (2004). Meltzer, D., McDermott, L., Heron, P., Redish, E. & Beichner, R. (Supplementary material also available)

Discussion of new journal for PER. (2004). Beichner, R.

The SCALE-UP Project, (2004). Oliver-Hoyo, M., and Beichner, R., in Lee, V. S. (Ed.), Teaching and Learning through Inquiry: A Guidebook for Institutions and Instructors. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

Essentials of Elementary Science (3rd ed.). (2004). Dobey, D., & Beichner, R. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Students understanding of direct current resistive electrical circuits. Copyright 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 72, and may be found at Paula V. Engelhardt & Robert J. Beichner, Am. J. Phys. 72, 98 (2004).

Oscillator damped with a constant-magnitude force. Copyright 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 72, and may be found at Avi Marchewka, David Abbott, & Robert J. Beichner,  Am. J. Phys. 72, 477 (2004).

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A comparison of student performance using web and paper-based homework in college-level physics, (2003). Scott W. Bonham, Duane L. Deardorff, Robert J. Beichner,  J. of Res. in Sci. Teaching, 40, 1050-1071. This article is a preprint of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, copyright 2003 Wiley.

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But are they learning? Getting Started in classroom evaluation, (2002). Melissa Dancy and Robert Beichner, Cell Biology Education, 1, 87-94.

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Introductory physics students treatment of measurement uncertainty, (2001). Duane Deardorff. (Ph.D. Dissertation)

Investigating the Relationship Between Student Difficulties with the Concept of Electric Potential and the Concept of Rate of Change, (2001). Rhett Allain. (Ph.D. Dissertation)

Online Homework: Does it Make a Difference. Copyright 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 39, and may be found at Scott Bonham, Robert Beichner, and Duane Deardorff, Phys. Teach., 39, 293 (2001).

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Investigating Animations for Assessment with an Animated Version of the Force Concept Inventory, (2000). Melissa Dancy.  Ph.D. Dissertation.

SCALE-UP Project Summary Robert J. Beichner,  North Carolina State University

Physics for Scientists and Engineers (5th ed.). (2000). Serway, R. & Beichner, R. Philadelphia: Saunders.

This was the leading introductory, calculus-based physics textbook in the nation—approximately 1/3 of all science, math, and engineering majors use this book.

Instructor's Manual with Solutions for R.A. Serway and R.J. Beichner, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, (2000). R. McGrew, J. Saul, and C. Teague, Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia PA.

Hints, Tips and Problems for Teaching Introductory Physics (2000). R. Serway, J.M. Saul, and R. Allain, with J. Morse, Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia PA.

Education research using web-based assessment systems, (2000). Scott W. Bonham, Aaron Titus, Robert J. Beichner, and Larry Martin, J. Res. on Computing in Ed., 33, 28-45.

Introduction to SCALE UP : Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment University Physics, (2000). Robert J. Beichner, Jeffrey M. Saul, Rhett J. Allain, Duane L. Deardorff, David S. Abbott, Proceedings of the 2000 Annual meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Evaluating introductory physics classes in light of ABET criteria : An Example of SCALE-UP Project, (2000). Jeffrey M. Saul, Duane L. Deardorff, David S. Abbott,  Rhett J. Allain, and Robert J. Beichner, Proceedings of the 2000 Annual meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Promoting collaborative groups in large enrollment courses, (2000). Robert J. Beichner, Jeffrey M. Saul, Rhett J. Allain, Duane L. Deardorff, David S. Abbott, Proceedings of the 2000 Annual meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education. 

Can one lab make a difference? Copyright 2000 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 68, Physics Education Research Supplement and may be found at David S. Abbott, Jeffrey M. Saul, George W. Parker, & Robert J. Beichner, Am. J. Phys. 68, S60 (2000).

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Case study of the physics component of an integrated curriculum. Copyright 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 67, Physics Education Research Supplement and may be found at Robert J. Beichner, L. Bernold, E. Burniston, P. Dail, R. Felder, J. Gastineau, M. Gjertson, and John Risley, Am. J. Phys. 67, S16 (1999).

Student-Centered Activities for Large-Enrollment University Physics (SCALE UP), (1999). Robert J. Beichner, Proceedings of the Sigma Xi Forum on the Reform of Undergraduate Education, Minneapolis, MN.

Using Physlets to teach electrostatics. Copyright 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 57, and may be found at Scott W. Bonhan and John S. Risley, Phys. Teach., 37, 276 (1999).

Video-based labs for introductory physics courses, (1999). Robert J. Beichner and David S. Abbott, J. College Science Teaching, 29 (2), 101-104.

Integrating video and animation with physics problem solving exercises on the world wide web, (1998). Aaron Titus, Ph.D. Dissertation.

Web-based testing in physics education: Methods and opportunities, (1998). Aaron Titus, Larry Martin, Robert Beichner,  Computers in Physics, 12, 117-123.

Schwartz, J., & Beichner, R. (1998). Essentials of Classroom Teaching: Computers in the Classroom. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (In press. Not available on-line.)

This is a textbook for preservice teachers. It is part of a series published by Allyn & Bacon and edited by C. A. Riedesel. The Delta Principle, which describes the different stages of technology adoption, is utilized throughout to help elementary school teachers find the best ways for their students to use computers and the Internet.

Carlson, S., Risley, J., Gastineau, J., & Beichner, R. (1998) Core Concepts in Physics CD-ROM, Philadelphia: Saunders.

This CD-ROM, developed with Archipelago Productions, contains problems and modules (the equivalent of chapters) written by NCSU PER Group members.

Visualizing potential surfaces with a spreadsheet. Copyright 1997 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 35, and may be found at Beichner, R., Phys. Teach., 35, 95 (1997).

A spreadsheet can be used to quickly produce three dimensional plots of potential surfaces. The procedure is straightforward and can be easily learned by students. Instructors can use the plots to help students develop a strong qualitative understanding of electric fields and potentials.

Schwarz, C. & Beichner, R (1997), Interactive Journey Through Physics CD-ROM, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

This highly interactive CD-ROM is designed to augment the traditional learning experiences of lecture, lab, and text. It includes several dynamic components--simulation, animation, video, and interactive problem solving--that enable students to interact and visualize concepts in ways not possible in traditional learning programs.

Beichner, R. (1997). Physics Education. In J. Rigden (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Physics, New York: Macmillan.

A brief introduction to physics education intended for the general public, including job options and research.

Beichner, R. (1997). Physics Education Research. In the American Physical Society's  Physics News in 1996 A very brief introduction to the field of physics education research. In PDF format--go to page 14.

 

Non-Physical Results with the Electric Field Mapping Experiment. Copyright 1996 American Association of Physics Teachers. This Article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 34, and may be found at Ayars, E., Phys. Teach., 34, 344 (1996).

The Electric Field Mapping Experiment is a common introductory lab experiment used to introduce students to the concepts of electric field and equipotential lines. It is most often used in a way that gives erroneous results. This article discusses the causes of these errors and demonstrates a modification to the apparatus which ensures correct results.

The impact of video data analysis on kinematics graph interpretation skills. Copyright 1996 American Association of Physics Teachers. This Article may be downloaded fro personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 64, and may be found at Robert J. Beichner, Am. J. Phys. 64, 1272 (1996).

Video motion analysis software was used by 368 introductory physics students in a variety of instructional settings. These high school and college students experienced graduated variations in their use of a video analysis software package. Post-instruction assessment of their ability to interpret kinematics graphs clearly establishes that all performed better than students taught via traditional instruction. The data indicate that the greater the integration of video analysis into the kinematics curriculum, the larger the educational impact. Hands-on involvement appeared to play a critical role. Limiting student experience with the video analysis technique to a single teacher-led demonstration resulted in no improvement in performance relative to traditional instruction. Offering more extensive demonstrations and carrying them out over an extended period of time proved somewhat effective. The greatest impact came from a combination of demonstrations with hands-on labs. The curricular modifications employed in the different classrooms and the methods used to evaluate them are discussed.

Beichner, R., Hake, R., McDermott, L., Mestre, J., Redish, E., Reif, F., and Risley, J. (1995). Support of Physics Education Research as a Subfield of Physics: Proposal to the NSF Physics Division.

Not actually a grant proposal, this White Paper asks the NSF's Physics Division to consider increased funding of education research.

Beichner, R. (1995). Considering perception and cognition in the design of an instructional software package. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 1, 173-184.

An instructional multimedia software package was developed for use by students taking introductory physics courses. Studies have indicated that many of these students possess a set of common misunderstandings of graphs describing the motion of objects. The software described here was constructed as a student tool which would specifically address these difficulties. The impact of educational psychology, cognitive science, and human factors research on software design and user interface development are described.

Hardware and software preferences of high school physics teachers. Copyright 1995 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 33, and may be found at R. Beichner, L. Wilkinson, J. Gastineau, P. Engelhardt, M. Gjertsen, M. Hazen, L. Ritchie, & J. Risley, Phys. Teach., 33, 270 (1995).

High school teachers trained in using computers to teach physics, working in diverse settings, report success with the same small number of software and hardware packages. Their clear preferences emerged in the process of evaluating a pair of three-week workshops conducted by the Physics Courseware Evaluation Project (PCEP) during the summer of 1993 at North Carolina State University.

Beichner, R. (1994). Research-guided design of multimedia research tools. Computer Graphics, 28, 40-43.

(On-line article not available.)

Testing student interpretation of kinematics graphs. Copyright 1994 American Association of Physics Teachers. This article may be downloaded fro personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the American Journal of Physics, vol. 62, and may be found at Robert J. Beichner, Am. J. Phys. 62, 750 (1994. or from this site.

Recent work has uncovered a consistent set of student difficulties with graphs of position, velocity, and acceleration versus time. These include misinterpreting graphs as pictures, slope/height confusion, problems finding the slopes of lines not passing through the origin, and the inability to interpret the meaning of the area under various graph curves. For this particular study, data from 895 students at the high school and college level was collected and analyzed. The test used to collect the data is included at the end of the article and should prove useful for other researchers studying kinematics learning as well as instructors teaching the material. The process of developing and analyzing the test is fully documented and is suggested as a model for similar assessment projects.

Beichner, R, & Doby, D. (1994). Essentials of Classroom Teaching: Elementary Science. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Not available on-line.)

This is a textbook for preservice teachers. It is part of a series published by Allyn & Bacon and edited by C. A. Riedesel. It stresses the importance of letting students construct their own knowledge. Chapters relate what is known about students intuitive ideas related to specific science topics. A second edition is currently under development.

Beichner, R. J. (1994). Multimedia Editing to Promote Science Learning. J. Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 3, 1, 55-70. Reprinted in J. Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 13,147-162.

This paper examines the cognitive and affective impact of a multimedia editing task. Students were highly motivated to work cooperatively and without teacher supervision to search out and remember science content materials from a wide variety of resources, with visual recall being especially promoted. During this process, the students repeatedly demonstrated empathy for their audiences needs and interests. They viewed the creation of externally valuable (i.e. useful outside school) materials as the most important aspect of the experience. Although technology had an important role in student activity, it appears that it was the task that was vital, not how it was accomplished.

Beichner, R. J. (1993). Technology competencies for new teachers: Issues and suggestions. J. Computing in Teacher Education, 9, 3, 17-20. Reprinted in J. J. Hirschbuhl & L. F. Wilkinson (Eds.), Computer Studies: Computers in Education Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing.

This article discusses technology-related competencies which new teachers should have upon graduation from a teacher education program. A brief examination of how todays schools are taking advantage of the latest technology is a necessary part of the development of a definition of competencyit makes little sense to propose changes in a teacher education program without knowing what teachers will be required to do. In addition to describing the findings of studies that counted computers in the schools, results from new surveys of practicing teachers are also reported. The article concludes by proposing a brief series of minimal instructional technology competencies along with suggestions for how these new requirements might be evaluated.

 

Beichner, R. J. (1993). Development of a Graduate Class on Hypermedia Issues in Education. ED-TECH Review, 1 , 1, 18-19.

This article is a description of a popular course on Hypermedia Issues in Education which has been offered for the past two years in the Graduate School of Education at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The general design and philosophy of the class are discussed along with student assignments and grading. A suggested reading list and examples of some of the special materials developed for the class are presented.

Beichner, R., Collins, J. L., & Szymanski, S. (1992). The Consequences of Restructuring Teacher Education. In Vital Signs 3: Restructuring the English Classroom (pp. 153-166). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.

(On-line article not available.)

Beichner, R. (1990). Paper Cup Magnetism. Science Scope, 52 , 18-19. (On-line article not available.)

This article presents a simple piece of science apparatus which can be readily constructed by children at home or in school, using things they probably already have on hand. This device allows students to recognize, in a somewhat quantitative way, the presence of an electric current. With it, they can investigate currents through various combinations of batteries and light bulbs or other circuit elements. In addition, examining the operation of the galvanometer itself will reveal the relationship between electricity and magnetism and the operation of electric motors.

 

Beichner, R. J. (1990). The Effect of Simultaneous Motion Presentation and Graph Generation in a Kinematics Lab. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27(8), 803-815.

Real-time Microcomputer-based Lab (MBL) experiments allow students to see and, at least in kinematics exercises, feel the connection between a physical event and its graphical representation. In Brasells (1987) examination of the sonic ranger MBL, a delay of graphing by only 20 seconds diminished the impact of the MBL exercises. This article describes a study where kinesthetic feedback was completely removed by only giving students visual replications of a motion situation. Graph production was synchronized with motion re-animation so that students still saw a moving object and its kinematics graph simultaneously. Results indicate that this technique did not have a substantial educational advantage over traditional instruction. Since Brasell and others have demonstrated the superiority of microcomputer-based labs, this may indicate that visual juxtaposition is not the relevant variable producing the educational impact of real-time MBL. Immediate student control of the physical event and its graphical representation might be what makes MBL effective and, in the case of kinematics laboratories, kinesthetic feedback could be the most important component of the MBL learning experience. Further studies are needed in order to clarify this point.

Applications of Macintosh Microcomputers in Introductory Physics. Copyright 1989 American Association of Physics Teachers. This Article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following article appeared in the The Physics Teacher, vol. 27, and may be found at Robert Beichner, Phys. Teach., 27, 348 (1989). (On-line article not available.)

The findings of an informal survey of physics teachers using Macintosh microcomputers are reported. Educational applications range from word processing to microcomputer-based lab (MBL) exercises in conjunction with sophisticated modeling software. The computer assisted instructional materials being produced are of generally higher quality than those previously available and are probably worth investigation by physics departments interested in incorporating microcomputers into their curricula.

 

Beichner, R, DeMarco, M., Ettestad, D., & Gleason, E. (1989). VideoGraph: A new way to study kinematics. In E. Redish & J. Risley (Eds.), Computers in Physics Instruction (pp. 244-245). Raleigh, NC: Addison-Wesley.

(On-line article not available, although considerable information about Videograph is available.)

 

Beichner, R (1986). Using microcomputers for graphing practice, Journal of College Science Teaching, 15, 528-529.

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