Physics education research: the key to student learning

Physics education research differs from traditional education research in that the emphasis is not on educational theory or methodology in the general sense, but rather on student understanding of physics. Such research requires an in-depth knowledge of the subject as well as access to students, which means that it can usually only be carried out by physicists working in physics departments. The findings form a rich resource that provides insights into how students learn physics. When teachers apply this information and document the results for others to use, cumulative improvement in instruction is possible (L C McDermott and E F Redish 1999 Am. J. Phys. 67 755–767).