Teaching and learning physics:A model for coordinating physics instruction, outreach, and research

© Noah Finkelstein, 2004
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do not quote without permission of the author

Keywords: physics, education, research, outreach, teaching, service learning

This paper describes the development of a new university physics course designed to integrate physics, education, research, and community partnerships. The coordinated system of activitieslinks the new course to local community efforts in pre-college education, university education, university outreach, and research on teaching and learning. As documented both by gains onconceptual surveys and by qualitative analyses of field-notes and audiotapes of class, the course facilitates student learning of physics, as well as student mastery of theories and practices ofteaching and learning physics. Simultaneously, the course supports university efforts in community outreach and creates a rich environment for education research. The followingnarrative describes the motivation, structure, implementation, effectiveness, and potential for extending and sustaining this alternative model for university level science education.

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