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 I-RISE experience, we encourage you to pick at least ONE of the following topics and read at least some of the related articles and blog posts.


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, S. B. McKagan, E. W. Close, and S. Vokos, "Representing energy dynamics in complex physical processes," Physical Review - Special Topics:  Physics Education Research submitted (2012).
• R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, and S. B. McKagan, "Intuitive ontologies for energy in physics," in 2011 Physics Education Research Conference, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Engelhardt (AIP Conference Proceedings, Omaha, NE, 2011), Vol. 1413, pp. 343-346.
• R. Duit, "Should energy be illustrated as something quasi-material?," International Journal of Science Education 9 (2), 139-145 (1987).
• T. G. Amin, "Conceptual metaphor meets conceptual change," Human Development (52), 165-197 (2009).

Forms of energy
Another primary learning goal is to coordinate our theoretical model of energy with observable properties of objects. One way we do this is by categorizing energy into forms that correspond to types of observable evidence of energy.

• S. B. McKagan, R. E. Scherr, E. W. Close, and H. G. Close, "Criteria for creating and categorizing forms of energy," in 2011 Physics Education Research Conference, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Engelhardt (AIP Conference Proceedings, 2011), Vol. 1413, pp. 279-282.
• G. Falk, F. Hermann, and G. B. Schmid, "Energy forms or energy carriers?," American Journal of Physics 51 (12), 1074-1077 (1983).
• J. Warren, "The nature of energy," European Journal of Science Education 4, 295-297 (1982).
• J. W. Jewett, "Energy and the confused student IV: A global approach to energy," The Physics Teacher 46 (4), 210-217 (2008).

Energy conservation in physics and in society
Energy conservation is central both in a sociopolitical sense and in the formal study of physics, but the term has a different meaning in each context. In physics, energy conservation refers to the idea that the same total quantity of energy is always present in any closed system; energy is neither created nor destroyed. In the pubic consciousness, however, energy conservation refers to the idea that we have to guard against energy being wasted or used up; the energy available to serve human purposes is both created (in power plants) and destroyed (in processes that render it unavailable to us). We are creating a conceptual model for what happens to energy during physical processes, expecting to eventually include entropy and the second law of thermodynamics.

• K. A. Ross, "Matter scatter and energy anarchy: The second law of thermodynamics is simply common experience," School Science Review 69 (248), 438-445 (1988).

Representations of energy
The Energy Project developed has developed special representations that we call "Energy Tracking Representations," because they support learners in conserving and tracking energy as it flows from object to object and changes form. Such representations enable detailed modeling of energy dynamics in complex physical processes.

• R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, S. B. McKagan, E. W. Close, and S. Vokos, "Representing energy dynamics in complex physical processes," Physical Review - Special Topics:  Physics Education Research submitted (2012).

Embodied learning activities
An Embodied Learning Activity (ELA) is when 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, E. W. Close, and S. Vokos, "Representing energy dynamics in complex physical processes," Physical Review - Special Topics:  Physics Education Research submitted (2012).
• R. E. Scherr, H. G. Close, S. B. McKagan, and E. W. Close, ""Energy Theater":  Using the body symbolically to understand energy," in Physics Education Research Conference, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (AIP, Portland, Oregon, 2010), Vol. 1289, pp. 293-296.
• E. W. Close, H. G. Close, S. B. McKagan, and R. E. Scherr, "Energy in action: The construction of physics ideas in multiple modes," in Physics Education Research Conference, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (AIP, Portland, Oregon, 2010), Vol. 1289, pp. 105-108.
• E. C. Kahle, R. E. Scherr, and H. G. Close, "An evolving model for seeing colored objects: A case study progression," in Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and S. Rebello (AIP, Portland, Oregon, 2010), Vol. 1289, pp. 185-188.
• H. G. Close and R. E. Scherr, "Differentiation of energy concepts through speech and gesture in interaction," in 2011 Physics Education Research Conference, edited by C. Singh, M. Sabella, and P. Englehardt (AIP Conference Proceedings, 2011), Vol. 1413, pp. 151-154. 
• Other groups doing embodied learning activities: Kinesthetic Astronomy, Paradigms in Physics kinesthetic activities

Assessing responsive teaching

We are formulating a framework for assessing the extent to which teachers respond to the disciplinary substance of student ideas as they arise during classroom instruction.

• J. E. Coffey, D. Hammer, D. M. Levin, and T. Grant, "The missing disciplinary substance of formative assessment," Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48 (10), 1109-1136 (2011).
• E. van Es, "A framework for learning to notice student thinking," in Mathematics teacher noticing: Seeing through teachers' eyes, edited by M. G. Sherin, V. R. Jacobs, and R. A. Philipp (Routledge, New York, 2011), pp. 134-151.
• D. L. Ball, "With an eye on the mathematical horizon: Dilemmas of teaching elementary school mathematics," The Elementary School Journal 93 (4), 373-397 (1993).
• F. Erickson, "Some thoughts on “proximal” formative assessment of student learning," in Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 106 (2007), Vol. 106, pp. 186-216.
• D. Hammer and E. van Zee, Seeing the science in children's thinking:  Case studies of student inquiry in physical science. (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 2006).

Assessing aspects of the nature of science

We would like to measure growth in teachers' perceptions of science as flexible and constructed, as well as growth in their perceptions of themselves as participants in the scientific community.

• F. Abd-El-Khalick and N. G. Lederman, "Improving science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literature," International Journal of Science Education 22 (7), 665-701 (2000).

Research paradigms in PER

We seek to understand explicit and implicit similarities and differences between research paradigms in PER.

• S. J. Derry, R. D. Pea, B. Barron, R. A. Engle, F. Erickson, R. Goldman, R. Hall, T. Koschmann, J. L. Lemke, M. G. Sherin, and B. L. Sherin, "Conducting video research in the learning sciences: Guidance on selection, analysis, technology, and ethics," Journal of the Learning Sciences 19 (1), 3-53 (2010).
• F. Erickson, "Qualitative methods in research on teaching," in Handbook of Research on Teaching, edited by M. C. Wittrock (Macmillan, New York, 1986), pp. 119–161.
• J. A. Maxwell, "Understanding and validity in qualitative research," Harvard Educational Review 62 (3), 279-300 (1992).
• J. A. Maxwell, "Using qualitative methods for causal explanation," Field Methods 16 (3), 243-264 (2004).