Head of the group: Assistant Professor Shulamit Kapon
Research goals and topics: The research in the physics education group is grounded in practice and is motivated by a strong belief that physics and mathematics at the advanced high school and university introductory levels could be within the reach of a larger pool of learners than they are today. The group’s work combines theoretical and experimental research with development of curricular materials and learning environments. An underlying assumption that guides the research and development is that in a meaningful learning process, emotion and cognition work synergistically, and the learner develops both at the cognitive level and the personal-emotional level. We explore the interaction between features of instruction, design principles of curriculum and learning environments, and the learning process of high school students, preservice and in-service teachers.
Go to the extended site of the Physics Education group
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Physics teacher education
The physics teacher education program at the Technion is the largest and most comprehensive program in Israel for training future secondary school physics teachers.
The program aims to educate and nurture physics educators with deep and tangible educational vision, personal and pedagogical competencies and commitment needed for successfully joining Israel educational system as teachers, curriculum designers and researchers who can improve the system from within, and gradually become its leaders.
More than a third of the coursework in the program is comprised of rich and cutting-edge disciplinary-based educational courses in physics education (minimum of five courses). Apart from the practicum course in which the students shadow an expert physics teacher, all the physics education courses are taught in the Faculty’s well-equipped school-physics laboratory. These courses expose students to cutting-edge theory and methods of teaching physics, are practice-based, capitalize on various collaborations with excellent in-service physics teachers and nearby schools, and their design and implementation is informed and followed by research. We also offer several professional development programs for in-service physics teachers in different phases of their career, and work in close collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education.
