physical review physics education research

• Skip to main navigation
• Skip to search
• Skip to content
• Press Release Archive
• AAPT Committees
• Area Committees
• Annual Report
• Job Opportunities
• Code of Conduct
• Mission Statement
• Organization
• Marketing Opportunities
• Privacy Statement
• Strategic Plan
• AAPT's DEI Strategy
• COMMUNITIES
• 2024 AAPT Summer Meeting
• 2024 AAPT Winter Meeting
• National Meetings
• Highlights of Past Meetings
• Meeting Abstract Archive
• TYC Tandem Meeting
• Physics Department Chairs Conference
• Awards & Medals
• Collaborative Projects
• U.S. Physics Team
• Grants & Scholarships
• Contests & Competitions
• New Faculty Programs
• K-12 Portal
• Virtual Coffee Hour
• Publications Information
• AJP Website
• AAPT Book Archive
• Browse AJP Online
• Advertising Media Kit
• Browse TPT Online
• Video Abstracts
• The Physics Teacher TOC
• TOC Archive
• eNNOUNCER Archive
• AAPT Annual Report

Physical Review Physics Education Research

• Physics Today
• AAPT Section News Archive
• News Archive
• AAPT ComPADRE Digital Library
• Joining AAPT - Levels & Dues
• Member Benefits
• Renew your membership
• View or update your profile
• Member Directory
• How to Get Involved with AAPT
• Testimonials
• Member Spotlight Archive
• In Memoriam
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Physics
• Sustainability in Physics
• Colleges and Universities
• AAPT ComPADRE Digital library
• Speakers Bureau
• AAPT Career Center
• Program Review
• Media Relations
• Policy & Legislation
• Guidelines and Recommendations
• AAPT Sections
• Affiliated Organizations
• PERTG & PERLOC
• Supporters of AAPT
• Planned Giving
• Volunteering
• Publications & Journals ›
• Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research

Publications Section Navigation Show navigation

• American Journal of Physics TOC
• Section News

Physical Review Physics Education Research , is a peer reviewed electronic-only journal. For guidelines please go to APS's information for authors page .

This journal is distributed without charge and is financed by publication charges to the authors or to the authors' institutions. See Open Access information on the journal website.

The criteria for acceptance of articles will include the high scholarly and technical standards of our other Physical Review journals. The scope of the journal will cover the full range of experimental and theoretical research on the teaching and/or learning of physics. Review articles, replication studies, descriptions of the development and use of new assessment tools, presentation of research techniques, and methodology comparisons/critiques are welcomed.

Please visit the journal's home site for additional information.

Physical Review Physics Education Research

• Collections
• Editorial Team

News for Physical Review Physics Education Research

Announcement, aps announces outstanding referees for 2024, march 1, 2024.

APS has selected 156 Outstanding Referees for 2024 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online.

Editorial: Discontinuation of short papers in PRPER

January 16, 2024.

Short papers in Physical Review Physics Education Research (PRPER) were originally intended for articles that either extended a previous work (by the authors or someone else) or were initial results from a larger effort that were interesting enough to merit this type of publication.

APS Partners with Research4Life

December 15, 2023.

Offer includes Journal Access and waived article publication charges to Scientists in 100+ Lower and Middle Income Countries

Editorial: Call for Papers for Focused Collection of Physical Review Physics Education Research : AI Tools in Physics Teaching and PER

December 14, 2023.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly found its way into more and more areas of our lives, including education. This focused collection aims to address opportunities, challenges, and issues around the use of a broad variety of AI tools in physics education and physics education research.

Editorial: Call for Papers for Focused Collection of Physical Review Physics Education Research : Investigating and Improving Quantum Education through Research

December 4, 2023.

In the year 2025, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the formulation and development of quantum theory. The United Nations is working toward a declaration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQST). In the spring of 2025, Physical Review Physics Education Research (PRPER) will join the celebration by rolling out a special issue of the journal focused on investigating and improving quantum education.

2023 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 3, 2023.

APS congratulates the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics recipients Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”

Read more in APS News

Editorial: To Review Is to Be

September 25, 2023.

APS Editor in Chief, Randall D. Kamien, discusses the importance and impact of journal reviewers.

First Published Content from PRX Life is Now Online

July 20, 2023.

It is our pleasure to introduce the first published articles from PRX Life , the American Physical Society’s new interdisciplinary, open-access journal exclusively for quantitative biological research.

Meet New PRPER Associate Editor Eric Brewe

June 30, 2023.

Dr. Eric Brewe is a Professor in Physics and Science Education at Drexel University. Much of his research into the teaching and learning of physics at the university level is focused on the Modeling Instruction method. Dr. Brewe publishes frequently in PRPER and has received significant external funding to support his research. He is an APS Fellow and has served as Chair of the APS Education Policy Committee and Chair of the APS Topical Group on Physics Education Research.

APS Signs Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

May 16, 2023.

The American Physical Society (APS), publisher of the Physical Review journals, is joining more than 20,000 individuals and organizations across 160 countries in a commitment to improve how researchers and their contributions to the scientific record are evaluated. APS is proud to mark the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) by officially signing on to the international initiative.

PRX Life Is Now Open for Submissions!

March 20, 2023.

View an interview with PRX Life Lead Editor Margaret Gardel and Managing Editor Serena Bradde from the 2023 APS March Meeting for more information on the journal.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2023

March 6, 2023.

APS has selected 153 Outstanding Referees for 2023 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

JOURNAL CLUB

Gper and physical review journal club, february 16, 2023.

The journal Physical Review Physics Education Research  and the Topical Group on Physics Education Research (GPER) are collaborating to host these events on recent, high-impact physics education research.

Randall Kamien Named APS Editor in Chief

December 7, 2022.

The American Physical Society’s Board of Directors has appointed Randall Kamien as Editor in Chief effective January 1, 2023.

Introducing PRX Life

December 1, 2022.

APS is pleased to announce the launch of the newest Physical Review title, PRX Life . PRX Life will offer scientists from a broad range of disciplines—including physics, biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine—a high impact, fully open access journal dedicated to publishing outstanding research at all scales of biological organization.

Editorial: Announcing the PRPER Statistical Modeling Review Committee (SMRC)

November 22, 2022.

Lead Editor, Charles Henderson, announces PRPER’s development of the Statistical Modeling Review Committee (SMRC) to help support high-quality statistical modeling techniques.

2022 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 4, 2022.

APS congratulates the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics recipients Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for their groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when separated. Their results clear the way for new technology based on quantum information.

Open Access Report Shares Perspectives from Physics Researchers

August 22, 2022.

The American Physical Society (APS), along with AIP Publishing, IOP Publishing (IOPP), and Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA), surveyed over 3,000 physical science researchers between December 2021 and January 2022 in an effort to understand their perspective on Open Access (OA) publishing. Their responses have been compiled into a report, which will help APS and other publishers better meet the publishing needs of the research community.

Nominations Are Open for APS Editor in Chief (EIC)

August 19, 2022.

APS is now accepting nominations of members, including self-nominations, for the newly restructured role of APS Editor in Chief (EIC) .

Editorial: Research on Advancing Equity Is Critical for Physics

April 11, 2022.

PRPER Lead Editor, Charles Henderson, and APS Editor in Chief, Michael Thoennessen, discuss the vital importance of offering an inclusive and welcoming environment to the physics community.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2022

March 1, 2022.

APS has selected 146 Outstanding Referees for 2022 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

PRX Energy Appoints Inaugural Lead Editor: David Scanlon

December 7, 2021.

The American Physical Society (APS) is delighted to announce the appointment of David Scanlon, Professor of Computational Materials Design, University College London, United Kingdom, to the role of Lead Editor of PRX Energy , APS’s new, highly selective, open access journal covering energy science and technology. Professor Scanlon will serve as the inaugural Lead Editor of the journal, which will open for submissions December 7, 2021 and offer an introductory promotion in which all article publication charges (APCs) will be paid by APS through the end of 2022.

Meet New PRPER Associate Editor Saalih Allie

November 18, 2021.

Saalih Allie is a Professor at the University of Cape Town, where he has held joint positions in the Department of Physics and the Academic Development Programme since 1986. He holds a PhD in experimental nuclear physics from the University of Cape Town and is presently Co-Director of the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) in South Africa.

Editorial: Call for Papers Focused Collection of Physical Review Physics Education Research Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions

November 17, 2021.

Physics is an experimental science. Instructional laboratories where students conduct experiments, analyze data, arrive at conclusions, and communicate findings have been around for over a century. Every physics department has labs of different levels: from introductory to advanced, for majors and nonmajors, with real equipment or virtual.

2021 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 5, 2021.

APS congratulates the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics recipients Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann “for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming” and the other half to Giorgio Parisi “for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.”

Professor Parisi has authored several papers with Physical Review journals. A selection of relevant papers from Physical Review Letters and Reviews in Modern Physics have been made free-to-read.

Patrick Charbonneau, Eric I. Corwin, Giorgio Parisi, and Francesco Zamponi, Universal Microstructure and Mechanical Stability of Jammed Packings, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 , 205501 (2012) .

M. Mézard, G. Parisi, N. Sourlas, G. Toulouse, and M. Virasoro, Nature of the Spin-Glass Phase, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52 , 1156 (1984) .

G. Parisi, Infinite Number of Order Parameters for Spin-Glasses, Phys. Rev. Lett. 43 , 1754 (1979) .

Paolo Rissone, Eric I. Corwin, and Giorgio Parisi, Long-Range Anomalous Decay of the Correlation in Jammed Packings, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127 , 038001 (2021) .

Giorgio Parisi and Francesco Zamponi, Mean-field theory of hard sphere glasses and jamming, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82 , 789 (2010) .

Giorgio Parisi, Order Parameter for Spin-Glasses, Phys. Rev. Lett. 50 , 1946 (1983) .

Physical Review Journals Announce Inclusive Name Change Policy

September 17, 2021.

The American Physical Society (APS) today released the details of its name change policy for the Physical Review journals. The policy is intended to make the world’s leading physics journals more inclusive and ensure authors retain ownership of prior work published under a different name.

Editorial: Call for Papers Focused Collection of Physical Review Physics Education Research Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination

August 4, 2021.

Physics Education Research (PER) uses various research methods classified under qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. These approaches help researchers understand physics education phenomena and advance our efforts to produce better PER. Over time, research questions and contexts have evolved, and so have our methods. We understand it has come the time for PER scholars to examine qualitative methods in our field critically. Therefore, we urge you to contribute to the Focused Collection on Qualitative Methods in PER.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2021

February 24, 2021.

APS has selected 151 Outstanding Referees for 2021 who have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online.

Rapid Communications papers will now be Letters

November 23, 2020.

Starting January 1, 2021, the Rapid Communications article type will be renamed to Letters. With this change, all eight Physical Review journals that had previously classified articles of the type “Rapid Communications” will adopt the practice of Physical Review Applied and now publish such articles as Letters. Learn more

Promoting Inclusive and Respectful Communications

November 18, 2020.

APS Editor in Chief, Michael Thoennessen, discusses a new opportunity for communicating authors to include their pronouns together with their contact email in order to promote a more respectful, inclusive, and equitable environment.

2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 6, 2020.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced the recipients of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, which has been awarded for discoveries about black holes, one of the most exotic phenomena in the universe. This year’s prize is awarded to Roger Penrose (University of Oxford), Reinhard Genzel (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, and University of California, Berkeley), and Andrea Ghez (University of California, Los Angeles).

American Physical Society, Max Planck Gesellschaft Pilot Transformative Agreement

July 7, 2020.

APS and the Max Planck Gesellschaft (MPG) have finalized the terms of a strategic partnership that allows MPG authors to easily publish open access in all hybrid and gold Physical Review journals at no direct cost to authors. At the center of the collaboration is APS’s first “read and publish” pilot, covering the calendar year 2020, and building upon the long-standing relationship between APS and the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL).

SPECIAL COLLECTION

Examining racial diversity and identity in physical review physics education research, july 1, 2020.

In the following special collection from Physical Review Physics Education Research , authors examine and highlight racial diversity, specifically how Black physicists and people of color navigate within the physics community at large.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2020

March 2, 2020.

APS has selected 147 Outstanding Referees for 2020 that have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts submitted to the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 8, 2019.

APS congratulates the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics recipients James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology”, and Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” Read more in this update from APS News .

Focused Collection: Quantitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination

July 3, 2019.

Articles appearing in this special collection highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to quantitative methods. Editorial

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2019

February 26, 2019.

APS has selected 143 Outstanding Referees for 2019 that have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts submitted to the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

REVTeX 4.2 Released

January 11, 2019.

The first update to REVTeX since 2010 is now available. REVTeX 4.2 includes bug fixes, improved functionality, and support for more societies and journals. For more information, please visit the REVTeX home page .

2018 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 2, 2018.

APS congratulates the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics recipients Arthur Ashkin “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems,” and Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.” Read more in this update from APS News .

PhySH Now Publicly Available

September 11, 2018.

PhySH, APS’s physics classification scheme, is now publicly available under a Creative Commons CC0 license . Created to provide a fully open, high-quality classification scheme for the entire physics community, PhySH groups concepts into a flexible hierarchy that organizes content by topics.

Physical Review PER: Archiving Knowledge about Physics Teaching

July 2, 2018.

Do laboratory experiments help students learn concepts? Why do so few women choose to major in physics? What is the most important skill for a high school physics teacher to develop?

Focused Collection: Astronomy Education Research

June 18, 2018.

Articles appearing in this special collection highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to astronomy education research. Editorial

Call for Papers for Focused Collection: Physical Review Physics Education Research Curriculum Development: Theory into Design

June 5, 2018.

Guest Editors Benedikt W. Harrer, Eleanor C. Sayre, and Leslie Atkins Elliott Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to curriculum development in PER.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2018

February 26, 2018.

APS has selected 147 Outstanding Referees for 2018 that have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts submitted to the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

A Tale of Two Anniversaries: 125 Years of the Physical Review and 25 Years of Physical Review E

January 4, 2018.

Publisher Matthew Salter and Editor in Chief, Michael Thoennessen, kick off the 125th anniversary of The Physical Review and 25th anniversary of Physical Review E .

Corrections in Physical Review publications

The Physical Review journals and Reviews of Modern Physics now make Corrections of minor errors in published papers.

2017 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 3, 2017.

APS congratulates Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne for winning the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.” APS News Article

APS Cultivates ORCID Links

July 18, 2017.

On July 18, 2017, APS, along with the Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP), has taken an important step towards working more closely with the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) system of unique identifiers by signing the ORCID open letter requiring the collection of ORCID iDs in their publishing processes.

APS Joins the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC)

July 11, 2017.

Starting on July 11, APS will begin participating in the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC) , a collaboration among scholarly publishers to make information freely available about what papers are cited by a given journal article. This information had always been available to those subscribing to the Physical Review journals, but now the citation data will be open to all.

Michael Thoennessen Appointed New APS Editor in Chief

June 22, 2017.

Nuclear physicist Michael Thoennessen has been selected to become APS Editor in Chief at the end of August 2017. Currently an Associate Director of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University (MSU) in Lansing, Michigan, and University Distinguished Professor of Physics at MSU, he was appointed following a vote of the APS Board of Directors on June 16.

Call for Papers for Focused Collection: Quantitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination

June 15, 2017.

Guest Editors Marcos D. Caballero, Alexis V. Knaub, and John M. Aiken Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to quantitative methods in PER.

APS Endorses March for Science

March 10, 2017.

After a thoughtful, deliberative process involving an examination of the alignment of the values of APS with the goals of the March for Science on April 22 in Washington, D.C., the APS Council Steering Committee, on behalf of the Council of Representatives, unanimously voted to endorse the march.

From the APS Editor in Chief

February 3, 2017.

The journals of the American Physical Society welcome and will continue to welcome manuscripts from all countries, with publication based on scientific merit alone.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2017

January 17, 2017.

APS has selected 150 Outstanding Referees for 2017 that have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts published in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees is available online .

Never mind the gap: Gender-related research in Physical Review Physics Education Research , 2005–2016

November 30, 2016.

Rachel Scherr discusses gender-related research in Physical Review Physics Education Research , from 2005 to the present.

2016 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 4, 2016.

APS congratulates David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane, and J. Michael Kosterlitz for winning the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theoretical discoveries using topological concepts.

Call for Papers for Focused Collection: Astronomy Education Research

August 12, 2016.

Guest Editors Janelle M. Bailey and Julia D. Plummer Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to astronomy education research.

Focused Collection: Gender in Physics

August 1, 2016.

Guest Editors Eric Brewe and Vashti Sawtelle A collection of articles that highlights the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to gender in physics.

APS Selects Editor in Chief

June 23, 2016.

Pierre Meystre of the University of Arizona has been appointed Editor in Chief of the Physical Review research journals.

In Memory of Peter D. Adams

April 20, 2016.

We are saddened by the passing on April 16 of our dear colleague Peter Adams, one of the founders of the Physical Review family of journals. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family.

APS Announces Outstanding Referees for 2016

March 2, 2016.

APS has selected 146 Outstanding Referees for 2016 that have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the Physical Review journals. A full list of the Outstanding Referees for 2016 is available online .

Focused Collection: Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators

February 22, 2016.

Guest Editors Rachel E. Scherr and MacKenzie R. Stetzer A collection of articles that highlights the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to upper-division physics courses.

Renaming Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research

January 26, 2016.

Charles Henderson announces that as of January 1, 2016, the name of Physical Review Special Topics—Physics Education Research (PRST-PER) was changed to Physical Review Physics Education Research (PRPER).

Renaming the APS Special Topics Series

December 31, 2015.

Beginning January 1, 2016, the names of Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams (PRST-AB) will change to Physical Review Accelerators and Beams (PRAB), and Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research (PRST-PER) will change to Physical Review Physics Education Research (PRPER).

APS Appoints New Publisher

December 1, 2015.

Asia-Pacific region publishing manager for UK Institute of Physics to join top management staff of the American Physical Society.

Neutrino Oscillations Nab Nobel Prize

October 6, 2015.

APS congratulates Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald for winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Their prize-winning research is free to read in Physical Review Letters .

Focused Collection: PER in Upper-Division Physics Courses

September 23, 2015.

Guest Editors Michael E. Loverude and Bradley S. Ambrose A collection of articles that highlights the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to upper-division physics courses.

GUEST EDITORIAL

Reflections on the origins of physical review special topics – physics education research, july 23, 2015.

Robert J. Beichner discusses the origins and role of Physical Review Special Topics—Physics Education Research in supporting the movement of PER towards acceptance as a legitimate research area for physicists.

Editor in Chief of APS Journals Steps Down

May 1, 2015.

Gene Sprouse, Editor in Chief of the APS research journals since March 2007, has stepped down from the position as of April 28, 2015. Read more in APS News .

PRX Takes on a New Role

October 9, 2014.

APS Editor in Chief Gene Sprouse discusses the new role of Physical Review X as APS's highly selective and broadly accessible journal, that publishes a small number of key papers from all areas of physics in APS's nonprofit, science-first publishing tradition.

APS Congratulates the 2014 Nobel Prize Winners

October 8, 2014.

The American Physical Society congratulates the 2014 Nobel Prize Winners in Physics and Chemistry.

The physics laureates Isamu Akasaki (Meijo University and Nagoya University), Hiroshi Amano (Nagoya University), and Shuji Nakamura (University of California, Santa Barbara) have been recognized for their work that led to the invention of the blue light-emitting diode, a fundamental stepping stone towards the realization of new environmentally friendly and energy efficient light sources.

The chemistry laureates Eric Bertzig (Howard Hughes Medical Institute), Stefan W. Hell (Max Planck Institute and German Cancer Research Center), and William E. Moerner (Stanford Univerisity) have been recognized for their work in improving the resolution of optical microscopy, in particular the development of a super-resolved fluorescence microscope.

“It’s a great year for optics,” said Pierre Meystre (University of Arizona Regents’ Professor of Physics and Optical Sciences, Physical Review Letters Lead Editor), “with blue LEDs winning the Physics Nobel yesterday and fluorescence microscopy winning the Chemistry prize today. It shows that wonderful things are happening in optics from saving enormous amounts of energy with efficient lighting to helping with life-saving medical advances that rely on super-resolution imaging. They are completely different technologies, but both light-based, and next year is the International Year of Light, so the timing couldn’t be better.”

Many remarkable papers from these scientists contributed to this development. These include Moerner’s seminal 1989 work on optical detection and spectroscopy of single molecules in a solid, which was published in Physical Review Letters . This paper is now freely available on our website.

Read More from APS:

• Physics APS News Update
• Chemistry APS News Update
• APS Press Release for Chemistry Prize
• W. E. Moerner and L. Kador, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2535 (1989)

Nobel Press Releases:

Aps launches full-text html, september 10, 2014.

The American Physical Society has launched full-text HTML versions of more than 200,000 articles throughout the APS journal collection from as early as 2003. Users can now access APS content using high-quality navigation features and mobile-friendly math displays across a range of devices.

New Associate Editor for PRST-PER

April 21, 2014.

Paula Heron of University of Washington appointed Associate Editor of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research .

Focused Collection of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research Gender in Physics

April 16, 2014.

Guest Editors Eric Brewe and Vashti Sawtelle Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to gender in physics.

Focused Collection of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators

March 26, 2014.

Guest Editors Rachel E. Scherr and MacKenzie R. Stetzer Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the state of the field of physics education research as it relates to preparing and supporting university physics educators.

Focused Collection of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research PER in Upper-Division Physics Courses

March 17, 2014.

Guest Editors Michael E. Loverude and Bradley S. Ambrose Articles appearing in this special collection will highlight the current state of the field of physics education research as it relates to upper-division physics courses.

APS Announces 143 New Outstanding Referees for 2014

February 26, 2014.

The editors of the APS journals have selected 143 new Outstanding Referees for 2014, out of more than 50,000 currently active referees.

Announcing PRST-PER Focused Collections

January 2, 2014.

I am pleased to announce that PRST-PER will begin having focused collections. A focused collection is a selection of articles on a particular topic of interest to the PER community. Announcements of the first three focused collections will be made in the form of guest editorials in the coming months. It is expected that there will be one or two focused collections in PRST-PER published each year.

ORCID One-Year Anniversary

October 16, 2013.

ORCID is celebrating its one-year anniversary today, and APS is proud to have been a Launch Partner and to continue as a Platinum Sponsor of the ORCID Registry. We encourage all authors who have not yet registered for an ORCID identifier to visit the APS Author Profile application to sign up and help meet the goal of 500,000 researchers signed up by the end of 2013.

2013 Nobel Prize in Physics: Discovery of the Higgs Boson and the Symmetry Breaking Theory that Predicted It

October 8, 2013.

The 2013 Physics Nobel Prize has been awarded to two physicists who were instrumental in developing the theory that helps explain the origin of mass of elementary particles and predicts the existence of the Higgs Boson discovered last year. The prize, which recognizes the contributions of François Englert (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) and Peter Higgs (University of Edinburgh) for the theory of broken symmetry in electroweak physics, echoes the announcement of the 2010 American Physical Society’s J. J. Sakurai prize, which was awarded to the two Nobel Laureates as well as four additional physicists who made comparable contributions to the symmetry breaking work. The work originally appeared in Physical Review Letters .

APS Announces 142 New Outstanding Referees for 2013

February 6, 2013.

The editors of the APS journals have selected 142 new Outstanding Referees for 2013, out of more than 60,000 currently active referees. Initiated in 2008, the highly selective Outstanding Referee program recognizes scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals. Selections are based on two decades of records on the number, quality, and timeliness of referee reports. The 2013 honorees come from 27 different countries, with large contingents from the US, Germany, UK, Canada, and France. The decisions were difficult and there are many excellent referees who have yet to be recognized. By means of the program, APS expresses appreciation to all referees, whose efforts in peer review not only keep the standards of the journals at a high level, but in many cases also help authors to improve the quality and readability of their articles—even those that are not published by APS. For more information and a listing of all Outstanding Referees, please visit http://publish.aps.org/OutstandingReferees .

Announcement: PRST-PER Editors’ Suggestions

January 2, 2013.

Editorial: Physical Review in Physics Education Research 2.0

July 24, 2012.

I am honored to be selected as the Editor of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research (PRST-PER). I am fortunate to inherit a smooth-running operation from founding Editor Robert Beichner. Beichner established PRST-PER in 2005 to provide an archival research journal for the growing body of knowledge produced by the physics education research community.

APS Announces New Editor for Physical Review Special Topics − Physics Education Research

April 26, 2012.

The American Physical Society is happy to announce that Charles Henderson of Western Michigan University has agreed to take on the Editorship of PRST-PER as Bob Beichner, founding Editor, steps down.

Editorial: Redefining Length

July 11, 2011.

A picture is worth 170 words, not one thousand, according to APS's new length scheme that aims to ease the frustrations typically associated with estimating the length of Letters and other short papers.

Announcement: Short Papers Become Shorter

February 15, 2011.

Short Papers in Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research (PRST-PER) are intended for articles that either extend a previous work (by the authors or someone else) or are initial results from a larger effort that are interesting enough to merit this type of publication. In a change aimed to encourage conciseness by authors and thereby enhance readability, the PRST-PER editors and Editorial Board have lowered the length limit of Short Papers from 600 lines, which is approximately five journal pages, to four journal pages. This new limit is the same as that governing Letters published by Physical Review Letters .

Editorial: Creative Commons and ‘Gold’ Open Access for PRST-PER

As of 15 February 2011, authors in most Physical Review journals will have a new alternative: to pay an article-processing charge whereby their accepted manuscripts will be available barrier-free and open access on publication

Announcement: New Chair of the PRST-PER Editorial Board

October 14, 2010.

It is a pleasure to announce that Chandralekha Singh of the University of Pittsburgh has been named Chair of the Editorial Board of Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research .

Editorial: APS now leaves copyright with authors for derivative works

October 1, 2008.

When you submit an article to an APS journal, we ask you to sign our copyright form. It transfers copyright for the article to APS, but keeps certain rights for you, the author. We have recently changed the form to add the right to make ‘‘derivative works’’ that reuse parts of the article in a new work. The importance of this change is discussed below.

Editorial: Physics - spotlighting exceptional research

September 15, 2008.

Announcement: Teacher Preparation Book

September 11, 2007.

Contributions are solicited for a forthcoming book, to be published jointly by the American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers, on the preparation and professional development of teachers of physics and physical science.

Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research

May 1, 2005.

The American Physical Society is pleased to announce that Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research , a peer reviewed electronic-only journal, will begin receiving submissions (for guidelines please go to http://authors.aps.org ) starting 9 May 2005 (9:00 am EDT or 1:00 pm GMT). This journal will be distributed without charge, and financed by publication charges to the authors or to the authors' institutions. These charges will be made up of two components - a per article charge of $700 to defray the editorial expenses plus a length dependent charge of $80 per 125 lines to defray production and composition expenses. The length of the manuscript is estimated using the APS's standard guidelines (see Length Estimate Guidelines ).

Payment of these charges is necessary to maintain free access to the journal. Accepted manuscripts will not be forwarded to production until the publication charges are paid in full. If an author or the author's institution is unable to pay the charges in full, the author may request a reduction of the publication charge by sending a formal request to [email protected] . We ask that all requests include a justification for the reduction and the amount of aid needed. The aid will come from limited funds donated by the sponsoring organizations, American Association of Physics Teachers and the APS Forum on Education.

As a special incentive, manuscripts which are submitted in 2005 and accepted for publication will have the per article charge of $700 waived. This charge will be paid by the Editor through a grant from the NSF. Starting in 2006, this incentive will no longer be available.

We are especially fortunate that Professor Robert Beichner of North Carolina State University has accepted the position of Editor of the journal. He was recently elected to be an APS Fellow for his efforts in advancing the field of physics education research and promoting the application of its findings in the nation's classroom. Also, Nobel Laureate Professor Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado has agreed to Chair the Editorial Board.

The criteria for acceptance of articles will include the high scholarly and technical standards of our other Physical Review journals. The scope of the journal will cover the full range of experimental and theoretical research on the teaching and/or learning of physics. Review articles, replication studies, descriptions of the development and use of new assessment tools, presentation of research techniques, and methodology comparisons/critiques are welcomed.

Please go to http://prst-per.aps.org for additional information.

March 15, 2005

The American Physical Society is pleased to announce the start of a new peer reviewed electronic-only journal: Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. This is the second Special Topics journal published by the American Physical Society, the first being Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerator and Beams. The journal will be distributed without charge, and financed by publication charges to the authors or to the authors' institutions.

The introduction of Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research is the result of discussions between the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), and the APS Forum on Education on the need for a wide ranging and widely distributed peer review journal for researchers in this field. The journal will be sponsored and partially supported by the AAPT and the APS Forum on Education.

We are especially fortunate that Professor Robert Beichner of North Carolina State University has accepted the position of Editor of the journal. He was recently elected to be an APS Fellow for his efforts in advancing the field of physics education research and promoting the application of its findings in the nation's classrooms.

The criteria for acceptance of articles will include the high scholarly and technical standards of our other Physical Review journals. The scope of the journal will cover the teaching and/or learning of physics and the full range of experimental and theoretical research. Review articles, replication studies, descriptions of the development and use of new assessment tools, presentation of research techniques, and methodology comparisons/critiques are welcomed.

The Physical Review will begin receiving submissions later this spring and anticipates publication in the summer of 2005. Instruction for submittals will appear soon at publish.aps.org.

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Physics Education Research

• Forgot your username/password?
• Create an account

Article Lookup

Paste a citation or doi, enter a citation.

Physical Review Physics Education Research

Subject Area and Category

• Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

American Physical Society

Publication type

Information.

How to publish in this journal

The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

The SJR is a size-independent prestige indicator that ranks journals by their 'average prestige per article'. It is based on the idea that 'all citations are not created equal'. SJR is a measure of scientific influence of journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where such citations come from It measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more than one country; that is including more than one country address.

Not every article in a journal is considered primary research and therefore "citable", this chart shows the ratio of a journal's articles including substantial research (research articles, conference papers and reviews) in three year windows vs. those documents other than research articles, reviews and conference papers.

Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

Evolution of the percentage of female authors.

Evolution of the number of documents cited by public policy documents according to Overton database.

Evoution of the number of documents related to Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. Available from 2018 onwards.

Leave a comment

Name * Required

Email (will not be published) * Required

* Required Cancel

The users of Scimago Journal & Country Rank have the possibility to dialogue through comments linked to a specific journal. The purpose is to have a forum in which general doubts about the processes of publication in the journal, experiences and other issues derived from the publication of papers are resolved. For topics on particular articles, maintain the dialogue through the usual channels with your editor.

Follow us on @ScimagoJR Scimago Lab , Copyright 2007-2024. Data Source: Scopus®

Cookie settings

Cookie Policy

Legal Notice

Privacy Policy

Physical Review Physics Education Research

• Collections
• Editorial Team

Volume 18, Issue 1

January - june 2022, editorials and announcements, editorial: research on advancing equity is critical for physics, charles henderson and michael thoennessen, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010001 (2022) – published 11 april 2022, highlighted articles, featured in physics editors' suggestion, lgbt + physicists: harassment, persistence, and uneven support, ramón s. barthelemy, madison swirtz, savannah garmon, elizabeth h. simmons, kyle reeves, michael l. falk, wouter deconinck, elena a. long, and timothy j. atherton, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010124 (2022) – published 28 march 2022, viewpoint: making physics inclusive to lgbtq+ folks.

LGBT+ members of the physics community who have negative perceptions of workplace climate and who observe exclusionary behavior are more likely to consider leaving the discipline.

Show Abstract

Featured in physics, not feeling recognized as a physics person by instructors and teaching assistants is correlated with female students’ lower grades, sonja cwik and chandralekha singh, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010138 (2022) – published 31 may 2022, : keeping women in physics is more than a numbers game.

Women in introductory physics are less likely than men to think that others perceive them as being a physics person.

Students’ sense of belonging in introductory physics course for bioscience majors predicts their grade

Phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010139 (2022) – published 31 may 2022.

In introductory physics courses where men outnumber women, mens’ sense of belonging increases while womens’ does not.

Editors' Suggestion

Impact of virtual research experience for undergraduates experiences on students’ psychosocial gains during the covid-19 pandemic, dina zohrabi alaee, micah k. campbell, and benjamin m. zwickl, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010101 (2022) – published 4 january 2022.

Remote research experience for undergraduates programs should be considered as a means to expand access to research experiences for students.

Evaluating the role of student preference in physics lab group equity

N. g. holmes, grace heath, katelynn hubenig, sophia jeon, z. yasemin kalender, emily stump, and eleanor c. sayre, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010106 (2022) – published 20 january 2022.

Inequities in student lab group experiences are due to structural aspects of the learning environment; instructors must institute policies and practices to push against gender norms and stereotypes.

Cross-disciplinary learning index: A quantitative measure of cross-disciplinary learning about energy

Todd haskell, emily borda, and andrew boudreaux, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010108 (2022) – published 24 january 2022.

The development and validation of techniques to measure cross-disciplinary learning: an example in the context of energy.

Increased learning in a college physics course with timely use of short multimedia summaries

Spencer dunleavy, greg kestin, kristina callaghan, logan mccarty, and louis deslauriers, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010110 (2022) – published 28 january 2022.

Carefully designed one-minute videos and short text summaries following a lecture can significantly increase students’ understanding of the material and their ability to organize the material into useful mental frameworks.

Skills-focused lab instruction improves critical thinking skills and experimentation views for all students

Cole walsh, h. j. lewandowski, and n. g. holmes, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010128 (2022) – published 11 april 2022.

Labs focused on skills improve critical thinking skills and experimentation views for all students compared with labs focused on reinforcing lecture concepts.

Identifying students’ mental models of the apparent motion of the Sun and stars

Hans bekaert, hans van winckel, wim van dooren, an steegen, and mieke de cock, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010130 (2022) – published 20 april 2022.

There are five different mental models that students use to reason about the apparent motion of the Sun and stars.

Examining the effects of lab instruction and gender composition on intergroup interaction networks in introductory physics labs

Meagan sundstrom, david g. wu, cole walsh, ashley b. heim, and n. g. holmes, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010102 (2022) – published 4 january 2022.

In introductory physics labs, direct prompts from the lab instructor to interact with other groups leads to more and longer interactions.

Development and validation of the Conceptual Survey on Wave Optics

Karolina matejak cvenic, maja planinic, ana susac, lana ivanjek, katarina jelicic, and martin hopf, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010103 (2022) – published 10 january 2022.

The conceptual survey on wave optics is a valid and reliable 26-item multiple-choice instrument suitable for use as a post-test for high school students.

Investigating unprompted and prompted diagrams generated by physics majors during problem solving

Michael vignal and bethany r. wilcox, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010104 (2022) – published 12 january 2022.

On some types of problems many students can select the correct answer without drawing a diagram; on other types of problems many student who drew diagrams were unable to select the correct answer.

Working together or alone, near, or far: Social connections and communities of practice in in-person and remote physics laboratories

Drew j. rosen and angela m. kelly, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010105 (2022) – published 12 january 2022.

Students in remote undergraduate physics labs form weak communities of practice with one another, and their instructors exist outside of this community structure.

Examining the relationship between informal science experiences and physics identity: Unrealized possibilities

Zahra hazari, remy dou, gerhard sonnert, and philip m. sadler, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010107 (2022) – published 20 january 2022.

Informal learning experiences in physics reinforce stereotypical practices, fail to intersect in positive ways with the biological sciences, and continue to be less accessible to students from historically marginalized groups.

Assessing the impact of metacognitive postreflection exercises on problem-solving skillfulness

Aaron reinhard, alex felleson, paula c. turner, and maxwell green, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010109 (2022) – published 24 january 2022.

The efficacy of metacognitive reflections on recently completed work to improve retention of newly learned problem-solving techniques may be highly context dependent.

Defining and assessing understandings of evidence with the assessment rubric for physics inquiry: Towards integration of argumentation and inquiry

C. f. j. pols, p. j. j. m. dekkers, and m. j. de vries, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010111 (2022) – published 15 february 2022.

An approach to assessing the presence and application of inquiry knowledge required for engaging in physics based on an observation of actions and decisions.

Improving test security and efficiency of computerized adaptive testing for the Force Concept Inventory

Jun-ichiro yasuda, michael m. hull, and naohiro mae, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010112 (2022) – published 17 february 2022.

The accuracy and precision of the full-length Force Concept Inventory can be achieved with fewer items via computerized adaptive testing.

Characterizing active learning environments in physics using latent profile analysis

Kelley commeford, eric brewe, and adrienne traxler, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010113 (2022) – published 23 february 2022.

Characterizing active learning environments at fine grained level allows for an understanding of the distinguishing characteristics of pedagogies in physics.

Participation, performance, and outcomes in an undergraduate physics degree: Perspectives on gender and socioeconomic factors

Rachel e. harrington, job h. j. thijssen, and judy hardy, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010114 (2022) – published 23 february 2022.

Institutional contexts are different and to support equitable practices and outcomes each institution collects and make decisions based on appropriate data about the academic performance and experience of their students.

Theoretical model and quantitative assessment of scientific thinking and reasoning

Lei bao, kathleen koenig, yang xiao, joseph fritchman, shaona zhou, and cheng chen, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010115 (2022) – published 23 february 2022.

A new instrument to assess scientific reasoning built from a modeling framework that integrates research in scientific and causal reasoning.

Framework for unpacking students’ mindsets in physics by gender

Z. yasemin kalender, emily marshman, christian d. schunn, timothy j. nokes-malach, and chandralekha singh, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010116 (2022) – published 28 february 2022.

Female physics students are more likely than male physics students to believe that innate talent is needed to excel in physics, and that they may not have that talent.

Development and validation of an astronomy self-efficacy instrument for understanding and doing

Rachel freed, david mckinnon, michael fitzgerald, and christina m. norris, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010117 (2022) – published 28 february 2022.

It is important to development domain-specific self-efficacy instruments as a way to assess and improve instruction with an example from astronomy.

Observing whiteness in introductory physics: A case study

Amy d. robertson and w. tali hairston, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010119 (2022) – published 11 march 2022.

Whiteness shapes many practices in physics classrooms that are often thought to be neutral.

Impact of introductory physics for the life sciences in a senior biology capstone course

Benjamin d. geller, jack rubien, sara m. hiebert, and catherine h. crouch, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010120 (2022) – published 11 march 2022.

Biology majors who take the introductory physics for life sciences course are more likely to reason quantitatively and mechanistically about diffusive phenomena and to successfully coordinate between multiple representations of diffusive processes.

Instructor interactions in traditional and nontraditional labs

David g. wu, ashley b. heim, meagan sundstrom, cole walsh, and n. g. holmes, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010121 (2022) – published 14 march 2022.

The amount of interaction between instructors and students during lab is more a product of the instructional design than an individual instructor’s implementation of that design.

Designing and implementing materials on quantum computing for secondary school students: The case of teleportation

Sara satanassi, elisa ercolessi, and olivia levrini, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010122 (2022) – published 14 march 2022.

Designing an inclusive and productive learning environment for the teaching of quantum computing in secondary schools.

History of science based dialogues on sound waves: From sound atoms to phonons

Alexander volfson, haim eshach, and yuval ben-abu, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010123 (2022) – published 18 march 2022.

An instructional technique that makes use of whole class discussions based on the history of science.

What decisions do experts make when doing back-of-the-envelope calculations?

Gabriel murillo-gonzalez and eric w. burkholder, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010125 (2022) – published 5 april 2022.

Solving back-of-the-envelope problems does not require different skills than solving other kinds of problems that physicists encounter in their research.

Measuring the level of homework answer copying during COVID-19 induced remote instruction

Zhongzhou chen, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010126 (2022) – published 5 april 2022.

Most students do not engage in answer copying behaviors to complete online homework assignments in introductory calculus-based physics.

Learning entropy among peers through the lens of coordination class theory

Juan velasco, laura buteler, carlos briozzo, and enrique coleoni, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010127 (2022) – published 7 april 2022.

Using coordination class theory to observe learning at both the individual and the group level.

Impacts on student learning, confidence, and affect in a remote, large-enrollment, course-based undergraduate research experience in physics

Alexandra werth, colin g. west, and h. j. lewandowski, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010129 (2022) – published 13 april 2022.

Implementation and assessment of a large-scale, introductory, online physics course-based undergraduate research experience.

Assessing the impact of introductory physics for the life sciences on students’ ability to build complex models

Benjamin d. geller, maya tipton, brandon daniel-morales, nikhil tignor, calvin white, and catherine h. crouch, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010131 (2022) – published 20 april 2022.

Introductory physics for the life sciences students are more successfully than students in a typical physics course at combining multiple ideas to solve problems in new contexts.

Evaluation of high school student responses to the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey

Julian s. martins and william e. lindsay, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010132 (2022) – published 25 april 2022.

Developing an attitudes and beliefs survey structure for K-12 physics courses aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Motivations for using the item response theory nominal response model to rank responses to multiple-choice items

Trevor i. smith and nasrine bendjilali, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010133 (2022) – published 25 april 2022.

New insights on multiple-choice assessments based on similarities between the item response theory nominal response model and the probability function of the canonical ensemble with degenerate energy states.

Detecting preservice teachers’ visual attention under prediction and nonprediction conditions with eye-tracking technology

Qiuye li, shaorui xu, yilin chen, chuting lu, and shaona zhou, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010134 (2022) – published 27 april 2022.

In an eye-tracking study, preservice teachers who correctly predicted student responses paid attention to different areas than those teachers who did not correctly predict student responses.

Investigating students’ views of experimental physics in German laboratory classes

E. teichmann, h. j. lewandowski, and m. alemani, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010135 (2022) – published 27 april 2022.

A German language version of the E-CLASS instrument is available for understanding students views of experimental physics.

Problem solving in basic physics: Effective self-explanations based on four elements with support from retrieval practice

Vegard gjerde, vegard havre paulsen, bodil holst, and stein dankert kolstø, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010136 (2022) – published 2 may 2022.

Retrieval practice of physics principles and their conditions of application before self-explanation can have a positive effect on posttest problem-solving scores and can increase the quality of students’ self-explanations.

High school students’ perceptions on the relevance of inquiry-oriented instructional labs as introduction to an extended research project

David perl-nussbaum and edit yerushalmi, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010137 (2022) – published 25 may 2022.

Investigating high school student perceptions of the value of different inquiry practices in a learning progression and interpreting these finding using the lens of boundary crossing.

Difficulties in understanding mechanical waves: Remediated by problem-based instruction

Stella teddy kanyesigye, jean uwamahoro, and imelda kemeza, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010140 (2022) – published 2 june 2022.

Implementation of problem based learning in secondary schools in Western Uganda improves student understanding of mechanical waves.

Classification of open-ended responses to a research-based assessment using natural language processing

Joseph wilson, benjamin pollard, john m. aiken, marcos d. caballero, and h. j. lewandowski, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010141 (2022) – published 2 june 2022.

A natural language processing model can be trained to categorize open-ended responses to the physics measurement questionnaire as well as a pair of human coders.

Do female and male students’ physics motivational beliefs change in a two-semester introductory physics course sequence?

Yangqiuting li and chandralekha singh, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010142 (2022) – published 3 june 2022.

The current learning environment in traditionally taught introductory physics courses does not improve students’ physics motivational beliefs, and initial gender differences in these beliefs becomes larger.

Mediating role of personality in the relation of gender to self-efficacy in physics and mathematics

Rachel henderson, dona hewagallage, jake follmer, lynnette michaluk, jessica deshler, edgar fuller, and john stewart, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010143 (2022) – published 3 june 2022.

A substantial amount of the often-reported differences in self-efficacy between men and women may result from gender differences in the tendency to experience anxiety and the tendency to conscientiously complete tasks.

Exploring student ideas on change of basis in quantum mechanics

Giaco corsiglia, benjamin p. schermerhorn, homeyra sadaghiani, armando villaseñor, steven pollock, and gina passante, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010144 (2022) – published 6 june 2022.

Quantum mechanics students grapple with basis and change of basis in a variety of ways.

From Cartesian coordinates to Hilbert space: Supporting student understanding of basis in quantum mechanics

Benjamin p. schermerhorn, giaco corsiglia, homeyra sadaghiani, gina passante, and steven pollock, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010145 (2022) – published 8 june 2022.

The iteratively designed tutorial effectively helps students make sense of and carry out a change of basis in quantum mechanics by drawing an analogy between quantum state vectors and 2D Cartesian vectors.

Long-term collaboration with strong friendship ties improves academic performance in remote and hybrid teaching modalities in high school physics

Javier pulgar, diego ramírez, abigail umanzor, cristian candia, and iván sánchez, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010146 (2022) – published 13 june 2022.

Strong peer-to-peer collaborations in a physics class require time to develop and can result in higher grades.

Workplace climate for LGBT + physicists: A view from students and professional physicists

Ramón s. barthelemy, bryce e. hughes, madison swirtz, matthew mikota, and timothy j. atherton, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010147 (2022) – published 13 june 2022.

Actively cultivating an LGBT-inclusive work environment may have a more profound impact on retaining LGBT physicists than only removing exclusive behaviors and practices.

Harnessing active engagement in educational videos: Enhanced visuals and embedded questions

Greg kestin and kelly miller, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010148 (2022) – published 21 june 2022.

Instructonal physics videos are most effective when they include enhanced visuals and embedded questions.

Examining the relation of high school preparation and college achievement to conceptual understanding

Dona hewagallage, elaine christman, and john stewart, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010149 (2022) – published 28 june 2022.

Gender differences observed in pretest and post-test scores were changed little by controlling for either high school preparation or noncognitive factors.

Today’s interdisciplinary quantum information classroom: Themes from a survey of quantum information science instructors

Josephine c. meyer, gina passante, steven j. pollock, and bethany r. wilcox, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 010150 (2022) – published 30 june 2022.

There is not a canonical approach to introduction to quantum information science courses.

REVIEW ARTICLES

Critical race and feminist standpoint theories in physics education research: a historical review and potential applications, miguel rodriguez, ramón barthelemy, and melinda mccormick, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 013101 (2022) – published 25 february 2022.

A review and critique of critical race theory and feminist standpoint theory while providing guidance for using these theories in physics education research.

Eye tracking in physics education research: A systematic literature review

L. hahn and p. klein, phys. rev. phys. educ. res. 18 , 013102 (2022) – published 2 march 2022.

The use of eye tracking in physics education research is growing rapidly and has led to insights into students’ learning processes.

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Physics Education Research

• Forgot your username/password?
• Create an account

Article Lookup

Paste a citation or doi, enter a citation.

Physical Review Research

• Collections
• Editorial Team
• Open Access

Realization of high-fidelity unitary operations on up to 64 frequency bins

Syamsundar de, vahid ansari, jan sperling, sonja barkhofen, benjamin brecht, and christine silberhorn, phys. rev. research 6 , l022040 – published 13 may 2024.

• No Citing Articles

Supplemental Material

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The ability to apply user-chosen large-scale unitary operations with high fidelity to a quantum state is key to realizing future photonic quantum technologies. Here, we realize the implementation of programmable unitary operations on up to 64 frequency-bin modes. To benchmark the performance of our system, we probe different quantum walk unitary operations, in particular, Grover walks on four-dimensional hypercubes with similarities exceeding 95% and quantum walks with 400 steps on circles and finite lines with similarities of 98%. Our results open a path toward implementing high-quality unitary operations, which can form the basis for applications in complex tasks, such as Gaussian boson sampling.

• Received 24 March 2023
• Accepted 9 April 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L022040

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

• Research Areas

Authors & Affiliations

• 1 Integrated Quantum Optics Group, Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS), Paderborn University, 33098 Paderborn, Germany
• 2 Advanced Technology Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
• 3 E. L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, 348 Via Pueblo Mall, Stanford, California 94305, USA
• 4 Theoretical Quantum Science, Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS), Paderborn University, 33098 Paderborn, Germany
• * [email protected]

Article Text

Vol. 6, Iss. 2 — May - July 2024

Subject Areas

• Quantum Physics

Authorization Required

Other options.

• Buy Article »
• Find an Institution with the Article »

Download & Share

Concept of our scheme. (a) Conventional approach: a multimode input state | ψ 〉 evolves under the action of a unitary operation U ̂ and is subject to a POVM Π ̂ . The resulting probabilities p are given by Born's rule, p = 〈 ψ ′ | Π ̂ | ψ ′ 〉 . (b) Our approach: we prepare a multimode input state | ψ 〉 . We then apply the unitary operation U ̂ to Π ̂ and obtain a rotated POVM Π ̂ ′ = U ̂ † Π ̂ U ̂ , which yields probabilities p = 〈 ψ | Π ̂ ′ | ψ 〉 = 〈 ψ ′ | Π ̂ | ψ ′ 〉 . (c) Schematic of our experimental setup. The inset illustrates an example of a projector onto frequency-bin superpositions. For details, see the text; titanium sapphire oscillator (Ti:sapph), optical parametric oscillator (OPO), neutral density filter (NDF), dichroic mirror (DM), delay line (DL), periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN), silicon avalanche photodiode (SiAPD).

QW on a four-dimensional hypercube. (a) We encode the nodes of the four-dimensional hypercubes as binary numerals, 0 , ... , 2 4 − 1 = 15 . The walker is initialized at position x ⃗ = 0 in a coin-superposition state, with all four coin degrees of freedom uniformly populated. (b) Comparison between experimental data and theory predictions for the position distribution P ( x ⃗ , n ) for different QW steps n . During each step, a four-dimensional Grover coin is applied to all positions. Perfect state transfer occurs within a period of 12 steps.

Bounded QWs over large step numbers. (a) Position distribution of a Hadamard QW on a circle with 21 positions. We measure the evolution up to the 400th step (note skips on the horizontal axis) and see no degradation in similarities. (b) Coin-resolved position distribution of the 400th step of the Hadamard walk. We find a mean similarity of S ¯ ≈ 98 % . Error bars indicate statistical uncertainties and are hardly visible. (c) Same as (a) but for a noninteracting walk with reflecting boundaries. The walk was initialized with a walker in a position superposition. (d) Same as (b) but for the noninteracting walk. Because of the noninteracting nature of the walk, a population of the c = 1 coin state is neither expected nor observed. The mean similarity yields S ¯ ≈ 99 % .

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

• Forgot your username/password?
• Create an account

Article Lookup

Paste a citation or doi, enter a citation.