Physics Education Research-based Reform at a Multicultural Institution

Cuny City College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Physics (13) The project is adapting and implementing exemplary research-based instructional strategies in a physics department at a multicultural urban college. The project involves the participation of a large fraction of the young and future faculty in the department. The group is working together to change the way introductory physics is taught in a particularly challenging context. The project focuses on strategies and curricula that are student-centered, based on physics education research, and that integrate advances in instructional technology, but that were all developed for a different audience. Most of the successful reform strategies require significant interactions among students and between students and instructor. Therefore the adaptation requires care, since students come from many different cultures and most speak English as a second language. The intellectual merit of this project is in using the tools of physics education research to systematically study how students learn and to develop an understanding of issues specific to the multicultural context. The project is having a significant impact within the department and institution. In addition, this project making a much broader impact nationally because the college is representative of a large number of multicultural urban colleges