Oersted Medal Lecture 2001: “Physics Education Research—The Key to Student Learning”

Research on the learning and teaching of physics is essential for cumulative improvement in physics instruction. Pursuing this goal through systematic research is efficient and greatly increases the likelihood that innovations will be effective beyond a particular instructor or institutional setting. The perspective taken is that teaching is a science as well as an art. Research conducted by physicists who are actively engaged in teaching can be the key to setting high (yet realistic) standards, to helping students meet expectations, and to assessing the extent to which real learning takes place.