• Open Access

Educational trajectories of graduate students in physics education research

Ben Van Dusen, Ramón S. Barthelemy, and Charles Henderson
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 10, 020106 – Published 21 July 2014

Abstract

Physics education research (PER) is a rapidly growing area of PhD specialization. In this article we examine the trajectories that led respondents into a PER graduate program as well as their expected future trajectories. Data were collected in the form of an online survey sent to graduate students in PER. Our findings show a lack of visibility of PER as a field of study, a dominance of work at the undergraduate level, and a mismatch of future desires and expectations. We suggest that greater exposure is needed so PER is known as a field of inquiry for graduates, that more emphasis should be placed on research beyond the undergraduate level, and that there needs to be stronger communication to graduate students about potential careers.

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  • Received 12 November 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020106

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 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

Authors & Affiliations

Ben Van Dusen

  • School of Education, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

Ramón S. Barthelemy

  • Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, USA

Charles Henderson

  • Department of Physics and Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA

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Issue

Vol. 10, Iss. 2 — July - December 2014

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