Title: Doing physics means feeling confusion
Abstract: The core work of scientists is to engage with what they do not know: Doing science means finding gaps or inconsistencies to fill or reconcile. The experience is both intellectual and emotional, and the same is true for students. For more than a decade, my advisees have been guiding me toward research on how students’ feelings entangle with what they think of as knowledge and learning, that is with how affect entangles with epistemology. This research has an impact on my teaching, ~100 college students in introductory physics. I’ll talk about all of that in physics, and raise questions for comparison to chemistry.
Bio:
I’m a professor at Tufts, in the departments of Education and Physics & Astronomy, as well as the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction.
My research is on learning and teaching in STEM fields (mostly physics) across ages from young children through adults. Much of my focus has been on intuitive “epistemologies,” how instructors interpret and respond to student thinking, and resource-based models of knowledge and reasoning.
This is a list of my publications, with links to some files. If you’re interested and not sure where to start, try Case Studies of Children’s Inquiries or Student Resources for Learning Introductory Physics. For classroom videos, check out Students Doing Science or the earlier Responsive Teaching in Science. And this is a “virtual classroom visit” to Physics 11 from about 10 years ago.
Host: Prof. Ryan Stowe