FFPER2005

Plenary Speakers

Plenary Talks

I. Lillian McDermott, University of Washington (Monday 9 AM)

II. Edward F. "Joe" Redish, University of Maryland (Monday 10 AM)

III. Karen Cummings, Southern Connecticut State University (Tuesday 9 AM)

IV. Ron Thornton, Tufts University (Tuesday 10 AM)

V. David Hammer, University of Maryland (Wednesday 9 AM)

VI. Valerie Otero, University of Colorado, Boulder (Wednesday 10 AM)

VII. David Meltzer, Iowa State University (Thursday 9 AM)

VIII. Steve Kanim, New Mexico State University (Thursday 10 AM)

IX.a. Paula Heron, University of Washington (Friday 9 AM)

IX.b. Michael Wittmann, University of Maine (Friday 9.30 AM)

Conference Photos

Names are from left to right. The large group standing at the back is named en masse.

Standing (l to r): Gary Gladding, Joe Beuckman, Paul Camp, David Pritchard, Beth Lindsay, Mackenzie Stetzer, Warren Christensen, Saalih Allie, Andrew Crouse, Leon Hsu, Charles Henderson, Alan van Heuvelen, David Schuster, David Brookes, Andrew Elby, Roger Feeley, Tim McCaskey, Rebecca Lindell, Paul Hutchinson, Jeff Morgan, Ray Hodges, Constance Barsky, Leslie Atkins, Peter Shaffer, Andrew Boudreaux, Karen Wosilait, Bruce Birkett, Tim Steltzer, Tom Bing, Brad Ambrose, John Thompson, Jaehouk Choi, Eric Brewe, Michael Loverude, Dewey Dykstra, Don Mountcastle

Seated: Luanna Ortiz, Andrew Heckler, David Meltzer, Valerie Otero, Karen Cummings, "Joe" Redish, Lillian McDermott, Steve Kanim, David Hammer, John Belcher, Eugenia Etkina (standing at end of row: Esther Zirbel)

Kneeling (l to r): Eleanor Sayre, Nicole Gillespie, Jennifer Nekrease, Michael Wittmann, Paula Heron, Rachel Scherr, Dawn Meredith, Rosemary Russ, Laura Walsh, Melissa Dancy, Noah Finkelstein

Click on the photo for the full-size image.

Additional photos at the FFPER 2005 site on PERLnet.

Targeted Sessions

Targeted Sessions offer highly interactive discussion of a specific research topic of the organizer's choosing.

Framing PER from the broadest perspectives: examining why, how, and to what ends our work is conducted

(Melissa Dancy and Noah Finkelstein; Monday only)

Auditorium

Participants in this workshop/discussion will use alternative frames to critically examine the assumptions, methods, and impacts of the PER community.

Physics for teachers and teacher effectiveness: What we know, what we assume and what we need to find out

(Nicole Gillespie and Charles Henderson; Thursday only)

Auditorium

This roundtable discussion will explore the relationship between physics preparation for K-12 teachers and their students' achievement, as well as ways PER does or could contribute to the knowledge base.

Using cognitive conflict in teaching: evolution of theory and practice

(Eugenia Etkina, Peter Fletcher, David Shuster, and Alan Van Heuvelen; Monday and Thursday)

Blair Dining Hall

This panel and discussion will examine the historical roots, teaching value, and social implications of cognitive conflict (or cognitive dissonance), and explore new developments in studies of the brain, cognitive science, science education and physics education research related to it.

Why are easy questions so hard for some students?

(Andrew Boudreaux, Karen Cummings, Andy Elby, Mac Stetzer; Monday and Thursday)

Blair/Tyson 3rd Floor Lounge, sections C & D

This targeted poster session will use examples of student difficulties with fundamental concepts and lines of reasoning as the basis for speculation on the reasons that very easy questions are challenging for some students.

Working Groups

A "working group" is a discussion group whose task is to develop a well-articulated position on the topic at hand. Reports from these working groups were published in the Fall, 2005, newsletter of the American Physical Society Forum on Education.

Maximizing the Benefits of Physics Education Research: Building Productive Relationships and Promoting Institutional Change

(Charles Henderson and Tim Stelzer)

Davis Classroom

This group will have the task of identifying how those of us in PER may best cultivate productive relationships with faculty in physics departments.

A Literary Canon in Physics Education Research

(John Thompson and Brad Ambrose)

Davis Living Room

This group will have the task of devising a PER canon -- a set of readings that our community considers basic and necessary.

Lobbying for Discipline-based Education Research

(David Meltzer and Paula Heron)

Botany Lab

This group will have the task of making an action plan for encouraging NSF and/or other organizations to dedicate funding to discipline-based education research.

PER for K-12 Teachers

(Peter Shaffer)

Blair/Tyson 3rd Floor Lounge, section C

This group will have the task of spelling out an ideal relationship between PER (or the PER community) and K-12 teachers.

Querying Other Fields

(Andrew Elby and Mike Loverude)

Blair/Tyson 3rd Floor Lounge, section D

This group will have the task of articulating what questions we in PER have that other fields might be able to answer for us.

Report on Events

Summary comments about the 2005 meeting were published in the Fall, 2005, American Physical Society Forum on Education newsletter