Existing research themes

Below are some of the ongoing research interests of the Energy Project. We encourage you to pursue whatever research interests grab you, whether those originate with you or with us. You do not need to pursue any of these. However, to help prepare for your EPSRI experience, we encourage you to pick at least ONE of the following topics and read the related articles and blog posts.

Embodied learning activities. In ELAs, instructors deliberately arrange for human bodies or parts of the body to stand for entities in the description or explanation of a phenomenon. ELAs are intended to promote and externalize conceptual understanding in physics for the benefit of the learner, the instructor and the researcher. An ELA we call "Energy Theater" plays a central role in Energy Project instruction.
R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, S. B. McKagan, and E. W. Close, “‘Energy Theater’: Using the body symbolically to understand energy,” C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2010 Physics Education Research Conference)
E. W. Close, H. G. Close, S. B. McKagan, and R. E. Scherr, “Energy in action: The construction of ideas in multiple modes," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2010 Physics Education Research Conference)
E. C. Kahle, R. E. Scherr, and H. G. Close, “An evolving model for seeing colored objects; A case study progression,” C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2010 Physics Education Research Conference)
H. G. Close and R. E. Scherr, "Differentiation of Energy Concepts Through Speech and Gesture in Interaction," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)

Other groups doing embodied learning activities:
Kinesthetic Astronomy
Paradigms in Physics kinesthetic activities

Conceptual metaphors for energy. We find it very useful to use a substance metaphor for energy, in which objects are containers, and energy is in the containers. This metaphor supports ideas of conservation, flow, transfer, storage, etc, which are among our primary learning goals.
R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, and S. B. McKagan, "Intuitive Ontologies for Energy in Physics," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)
R. Duit, Should energy be illustrated as something quasi-material?, International Journal of Science Education 9 (1987), pp. 139–145.
Swackhamer, G. (2005). Cogntive resources for understanding energy. [unpublished draft].
Amin, T. G. (2009). Conceptual metaphor meets conceptual change. Human Development(52), 165-197.

Teacher and learner empowerment. A primary goal of the Energy Project is to help participating teachers value beginners as legitimate participants in the scientific process – to value themselves and their students as intelligent agents who can figure out scientific ideas from scratch. We have adapted the Algebra Project instructional framework described by R. Moses for teacher professional development.
Close, H. G., DeWater, L. S., Close, E. W., Scherr, R. E., & McKagan, S. B. (2010). "Using The Algebra Project method to regiment discourse in an energy course for teachers," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2010 Physics Education Research Conference)
S. B. McKagan, R. E. Scherr, E. W. Close, and H. G. Close, "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)

Rogerian relational discourse. Rogers structures our thinking for how teachers and learners may interact with one another authentically, warmly, and empathetically.
Rogers, C. (1961). Significant learning: In therapy and in education. On becoming a person: A therapist's view of psychotherapy (pp. 279-296). New York: Houghton Mifflin.
R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, and S. B. McKagan, "Promoting Proximal Formative Assessment with Relational Discourse," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)
Excerpts and reflections on the blog: General approach. Carl Rogers on education parts I, II, and III. Application of theory to classroom observation.

Proximal formative assessment. The practice of teachers' paying continual, moment-to-moment attention to specific aspects of individual students' developing understanding.
Erickson, F. (2007). Some Thoughts on “Proximal” Formative Assessment of Student Learning. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 106 (pp. 186-216).
R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, and S. B. McKagan, "Promoting Proximal Formative Assessment with Relational Discourse," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)
B. W. Harrer, R. E. Scherr, M. C. Wittmann, H. G. Close, and B. W. Frank, "Elements of Formative Assessment in Learners' Discourse about Energy," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)

Video Analysis. Research focused on understanding the complex detail of human interaction through careful analysis of video.
R. E. Scherr, "Video analysis for insight and coding: Examples from tutorials in introductory physics," Phys. Rev. – Spec. Topics: Phys. Educ. Res. 5(020106), 1-10 (2009)
B. Jordan and A. Henderson, "Interaction Analysis: Foundations and Practice," The Journal of the Learning Sciences 4(1) , 39-103 (1995)

Derry et al, Guidelines for Video Research

Forms of Energy. Research on how physicists and learners think about forms of energy.
S. B. McKagan, R. E. Scherr, E. W. Close, and H. G. Close, "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference) (Submitted)
And references therein.