Physics Education Research and Teaching Strategies

Abstract

Because of globalisation, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and knowledge advancement, the whole educational framework has changed. Learners now have access to information from the internet whenever and wherever required. It is evident that learning in 21st century is different in terms of skill and perceptions. The urgent question is what type of new pedagogy is required to better enhance learning? Pedagogy— a term derived from the Greek term ‘PAID’ (meaning child) and ‘AGOGOS’ (meaning learning). So pedagogy means the art and science of teaching children. In colleges and other institutions of higher learning, the learners are adults and thus mature and experienced. The adult learning is different from the traditional pedagogical approach. There is an emerging theory of adult learning, Andragogy — the word again derived from the Greek word 'ANDRA' (meaning man). Andragogy is therefore the art and science of helping and teaching adults. A further aspect of teaching related to pedagogy is called Cybergogy — principles and practice of teaching through the internet. The call of our time is to test the effectiveness of teaching strategies to enhance learning. In this direction physics education research is contributing and has brought many changes in physics teaching. The emerging Physics Education Research (PER) is an interdisciplinary field which uses teaching approach of education for enhancing the learning of physics. It has potential to yield significant benefits for students, teachers and society by training the skilled science professional in this direction.