Students from Brigham Young University-Idaho presented original scientific research at the Utah-Idaho regional meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers held March 28 and 29 in Nampa.

The participating students, led by BYU-Idaho Department of Physics faculty member Bryan Pyper, are members of the university's Research in Science Education group (RISE) and Society of Physics Students.

"The RISE group has given me a priceless opportunity to do original research in physics education that I would be hard pressed to find anywhere else," said London Jenks, a BYU-Idaho student and member of the RISE group. "It has also opened up a new world of education research to me and has provided me with a great opportunity to make connections and affiliations with many other professionals in this field. It is an experience that has greatly strengthened my desire to teach physics." 

Pyper and several of his students made presentations, including student Rebecca Bodily, who presented well-received research featuring interviews with several prominent physicists about their background and preparation for a career in modern physics.

The RISE group's research, conducted during Winter Semester 2008 in several introductory physics courses at BYU-Idaho, examined how students' beliefs about learning and their scientific reasoning ability affect their conceptual understanding in science. The research also probed how previous physics experience, previous math experience, and gender correlate with understanding of physics concepts and the development of scientific reasoning.

Pyper also took part in a panel symposium on physics teaching and a demonstration on fun ways to teach physics concepts through lecture demonstrations. "This is an exciting part of teaching because it frequently involves things that explode, light on fire, make loud noises or involve some non-negligible danger to the participants," he said.

Pyper and his students will also present their ongoing research at the national meeting of the American Physics Society in April, the Northwest area meeting of the American Physical Society in May, and the national meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers in July.

RISE provides students in physics and other fields the opportunity to gain experience in physics education research, introduces them to the environment of the research field, and exposes them to other professionals in the field.

The Society of Physics Students provides physics majors around the country with opportunities to present original research at national and local meetings, encourages collegial involvement in physics activities, and offers scholarship and internship opportunities at the local and national level.