Knowledge base

But what about theories of teaching and learning?

Most physics lecturers have not been exposed to much teaching and learning theory as part of their own education. Our teaching practice is however guided by theory - just without us realising what it is. We tend to teach as we were taught. It is useful to read about different educational theories because it helps us see the implicit theory behind what we are currently doing, and it can guide us towards an alternative, if our current approach is not working for whatever reason.

A classic example might be that you find students are simply not engaging in your module. You convey the physics content to the students in large lectures, where you talk through the concepts via powerpoint and worked examples on the board; the ‘chalk and talk’ method. You have tried to make your explanations as accessible as possible, but when you throw out a question hardly anyone will answer. You read up a little on educational theories, and decide to go for a more constructivist approach in the lecture slots: assigning pre-reading; implementing student problem points and more discussion into the format, and so on. As a result, your lectures become more of a dialogue and your students appear more engaged.

Another reason for knowing a little theory is that you will see it discussed in PER and science education journal articles, as most published research will present the theoretical framework guiding the investigation in question.

The theoretical foundation of a study is usually referred to as the theoretical framework. This refers to the specific theories that inform that particular investigation. There are many previous studies out there where researchers have come up with theories or models about how different aspects of the world work, and these will be used by subsequent investigators to shape the direction of their research in a similar area. Theoretical frameworks are usually required to be explicitly stated as part of a doctoral thesis (in the literature review chapter or in a chapter of their own), while they are usually but not always stated in a journal article. In qualitative research, there may not always be a theoretical framework ‘up front’ but rather new theory emerges from the analysis of the data. Lederman and Lederman (2015) give a useful brief overview of the role of theory in educational research.

Useful overviews

There are many theories that might guide your investigations (behaviourist theories, cognitive theories, constructivist theories, theories about gender and inclusivity), and they can be daunting if you are unfamiliar with them. However, there are many texts out there that will give an easy introduction, sufficient for the purpose of doing some PER. For example, to learn more about learning theories, and their practical application, you could browse Science Education in Theory and Practice: An Introductory Guide to Learning Theory (Akpan and Kennedy 2020) and Physics Education and Gender: Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research (2020). Reading the literature related to your area of interest will help you locate relevant theoretical frameworks, and/or devise your own.