Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom

Version 2024.1

This section provides guidance for classroom

Instructional Staff

Faculty, instructors, adjuncts, teaching staff, and others who serve as instructors of record for courses. This term does not include instructional support staff who support the teaching of courses.

on how to understand and implement research-based teaching in their physics classes. The section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department provides guidance for department chairs and leaders on how to create departmental and cultural structures to support instructional staff in implementing research-based teaching in a department or program. Physics education research (PER) has produced many principles and strategies that can dramatically improve student learning of physics. We use the term research-based teaching broadly to refer to teaching that applies the principles of PER and/or uses strategies, tools, and/or materials developed through PER. Research-based teaching is structured around insights from research about students’ physics ideas. It helps students build on these ideas through active learning or interactive engagement, in which students collaboratively think through physics rather than passively listen to lectures, as well as through peer interaction and

Formative Assessment

Assessment for the purposes of monitoring progress toward a goal, identifying strengths and weaknesses, providing feedback, and enabling improvement. Formative assessment may be used to provide feedback to students about their learning (e.g., through low-stakes homework, quizzes, or peer discussion), to instructional staff about their teaching (e.g., through mid-semester feedback forms or peer observations of teaching), or to departments about their achievement of program-level student learning outcomes (e.g., through aggregate student performance on designated in-class conceptual questions, homework, and exam questions chosen for their relevance to the particular outcome being assessed; presentations; and projects). Formative assessment is often contrasted with summative assessment, which is assessment for the purposes of measuring the final achievement of outcomes at the end of an event or experience.

to support students in actively constructing their own understanding of physics. This section discusses teaching practices that improve learning of physics content and development of problem-solving skills; that support non-content goals including improving students’ attitudes and beliefs about physics, science identities, and metacognition; and that support inclusive learning environments. For further guidance on incorporating these practices into specific classes, see the sections on Introductory Courses for STEM Majors, Introductory Courses for Life Sciences Majors, Courses for Non-STEM Majors, and Upper-Level Physics Curriculum. For guidance on using these practices to teach specific skills, see the sections on Instructional Laboratories and Experimental Skills, Computational Skills, and Communication Skills. For further guidance on creating inclusive learning environments, see the sections on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Departmental Culture and Climate.

Benefits

Effective implementation of the principles and strategies described in this section has been demonstrated to improve student learning, satisfaction, and/or retention for all kinds of students, including students from

Marginalized Groups

People of color and others with marginalized ethnicities, women and others who experience misogyny, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and others who have traditionally been marginalized in society and in physics. According to the TEAM-UP Report, marginalized groups are “groups of people defined by a common social identity who lack adequate social power or resources to design, build, or perpetuate social structures or institutions that reflect the centrality … of their identities, proclivities, and points of view. … They need not be underrepresented or numerical minorities, but often are.” We use the term marginalized groups, rather than minorities, underrepresented groups, or other commonly used terms, because people in these groups are not always minorities or underrepresented, and in order to convey that underrepresentation is the result of marginalization rather than a statistical accident. Another common term is minoritized groups. While we use this general term for brevity and readability, it is important to recognize that the many different groups encompassed by this term face different challenges and have different needs that should be addressed individually whenever possible, to learn the terms that people ask to be called, and to recognize that these terms may change over time.

, first-generation college students, introductory and advanced physics students majoring in physics and in other disciplines, and students who are underprepared. These practices support student learning and enable

Instructional Staff

Faculty, instructors, adjuncts, teaching staff, and others who serve as instructors of record for courses. This term does not include instructional support staff who support the teaching of courses.

to apply critical scientific skills in the classroom, engage in scholarship around teaching and learning, and be more productive, collaborative, and effective in their teaching. As a result, use of these practices can make teaching and learning physics more interesting and rewarding for both students and instructional staff.

The Cycle of Reflection and Action

Effective Practices

Effective Practices

  1. Plan your approach to implementing research-based teaching in your classroom

  2. Learn the general principles of research-based teaching

  3. Choose appropriate teaching practices for your context

  4. Use research-based assessment practices

Programmatic Assessments

Programmatic Assessments

The evidence in support of these practices comes from numerous sources, including physics education research articles published in Physical Review Physics Education Research, American Journal of Physics, The Physics Teacher, and various journals serving the discipline-based education research and education research communities. References 1–2 are meta-analyses of studies demonstrating the positive impact of research-based instructional practices on student learning in introductory physics courses and in STEM, respectively. Reference 3 is a meta-analysis of the impact of research-based teaching practices on students’ attitudes and beliefs. References 4 provides an overview of research-based teaching methods and materials in physics. References 5–6 provide overviews of research-based assessment instruments in physics. Reference 7 provides an overview of the principles and practices that support learning based on research in cognitive science and educational psychology. Reference 8 is a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, the biological sciences, the geosciences, and chemistry.

  1. J. Von Korff, B. Archibeque, K. A. Gomez, T. Heckendorf, S. B. McKagan, E. C. Sayre, E. W. Schenk, C. Shepherd, and L. Sorell, “Secondary analysis of teaching methods in introductory physics: A 50 k-student study,” American Journal of Physics 84(12) 969-974 (2016).
  2. S. Freeman, S. L. Eddy, M. McDonough, M. K. Smith, N. Okoroafor, H. Jordt, and M. P. Wenderoth, “Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(23), 8410-8415 (2014).
  3. A. Madsen, S. B. McKagan, and E. C. Sayre, “How physics instruction impacts students’ beliefs about learning physics: A meta-analysis of 24 studies,” Physical Review Special Topics – Physics Education Research 11 (1), 010115 (2015).
  4. D. Meltzer and R. Thornton, “Resource Letter ALIP–1: Active-Learning Instruction in Physics,” American Journal of Physics 80 (6), 478-496 (2012).
  5. A. Madsen, S. B. McKagan, and E. C. Sayre, “Resource Letter RBAI-1: Research-Based Assessment Instruments in Physics and Astronomy,” American Journal of Physics 85 (4), 245 (2017).
  6. A. Madsen, S. B. McKagan, E. C. Sayre, and C. A. Paul, “Resource Letter RBAI-2: Research-based assessment instruments: Beyond physics topics,” American Journal of Physics 87 (5), 350 (2019).
  7. S. A. Ambrose, M. W. Bridges, M. DiPietro, M. C. Lovett, and M. K. Norman, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (Jossey-Bass, 2010).
  8. National Research Council, Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering. The National Academies Press (2012).
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 1738311, 1747563, and 1821372. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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