Teaching Developments
The Department of Physics is an international leader in the development of
teaching & learning programmes for Physics.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the government body
that finances universities, established and funded a number of Centres of
Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Only one Physics-based CETL was
established. This is piCETL, the Physics Innovations Centre of Excellence in
Teaching and Learning, which involves jointly the University of Reading, the
Open University, and Leicester University, awarded in recognition of the
long-established record of excellence in physics teaching in these institutions.
The University of Reading has on its staff two winners of the Bragg Physics
Medal and a previous holder of a National Teaching Fellowship (the first awarded
in Physics). piCETL enables Reading to maintain its position at the cutting edge
of University physics education and to introduce new and exciting developments
to improve the learning experiences of physics undergraduates at Reading and
elsewhere.
The Physics Department will work with the other institutions to extend their established reputations as
innovators in areas such as problem-based leaning, skills-based lab teaching and
multimedia teaching. By harnessing the power of new technology, and sharing
science teaching resources, the Centre will offer students new learning
experiences that will make clear the power and fascination of cutting-edge
physics and astronomy. The Centre forms part of a £315 million funding
initiative by HEFCE
over the five years from 2005-06 to 2009-10 for CETLs which represents HEFCE's
largest ever single funding initiative in teaching and learning.
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Promoting Physics
Learning And Teaching Opportunities (PPLATO)
PPLATO
is producing resources to support the teaching of physics and maths at
university first year and foundation year levels. The materials will be
designed for teaching, assessment and diagnostics and may be studied within a
university course or in self study. Delivery will be via CD ROM and the
teaching support may vary from face-to-face to on-line. Flexibility of use for
both the teacher and the learner is a key feature of the resource.
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Teaching and Learning Programmes
The Department of Physics is continually reviewing the teaching & learning
programme. In the last year, new developments have involved the Group Project
Module where students experience working in team on physics projects and Great
Ideas in Physics, a development of a Part 1 course which introduces
students to the Great Ideas in Physics.
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staff
Research
