Speaker
Description
Physics Education Research aims to investigate the teaching and learning of University-level physics through qualitative and quantitative methods. Dr. Christensen’s work extends this work across the boundaries of Mathematics and Physics, investigating what mathematicians and physicists value about mathematics, as well as how math is taught in math classes compared with how physics classes expect students to use much of that mathematics. Knowing that mathematics often serves as a barrier for continued success in physics, he seeks to identify the ways in which math is presented in class, how it’s used in problem solving, and, most importantly, the nuanced ways in which students reason about it. He’s identified disconnects in the areas of coordinate systems, vectors, derivatives and integration. Using textbook analysis, classroom observations, free-response questions, and student and faculty interviews, Dr. Christensen will present on many of the challenges facing students and the content areas where students need support to find success as they consider the mathematics we as physicists expect them to embrace.
