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The Physics Education Research Group brings together physicists with an interest in how students learn and a passion for improving their teaching. At the OU this research theme is inevitably concerned with the full range of educational technologies, pedagogical methodologies and evaluative techniques that are required to support, sustain and improve the evidence-based teaching of physics in a large and diverse organisation. Research students in this area are housed in the Department of Physical Sciences while their projects are coordinated through the University’s recently founded eSTEeM centre for Educational Scholarship in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. Areas of particular expertise are:
- online experimentation
- assessment and its links to learning
- physics education in an open and distance learning environment
- public engagement and physics outreach through a range of media.
An important and exciting driver of current and future activity is the establishment of the innovative Wolfson Open Science Laboratory at the OU, and the opportunities thereby provided to introduce and evaluate new methods of teaching laboratory skills and practical techniques in a virtual setting.
Qualifications available:
- PhD or MPhil
Fees:
- For detailed information on current fees visit Fees and funding.
Entry requirements:
- Minimum 2:1 (or equivalent) in BSc Physics or a related subject
Potential research projects
- Shared web-based representations to support learning
- A critical assessment of remote experiments in science distance teaching
Please also see further opportunities.
Current / recent research projects
- Practical physics in Africa
Potential supervisors
- Professor Nicholas Braithwaite - Laboratory-based teaching and learning
- Professor Robert Lambourne - Laboratory-based teaching and learning
- Mrs Sally Jordan - Assessment
- Dr Sam Smidt - Public engagement and outreach
Further information
If you have an enquiry specific to this research area please contact:
- Name:
- Astrid Peterkin, Research Coordinator
- Email:
- science-phd-enquiries@open.ac.uk
- Phone:
- +44 (0)1908 659845
For general enquiries please contact the Research Degrees Team via the link under ‘Your questions’ on the right of the page.
Research degrees
Your questions
For advice about applying for a research degree, or sponsoring a research student, send us an email or call +44 (0)1908 654882.