Rachel E. Scherr

Research Assistant Professor

Physics Education Research Group

University of Maryland

College Park, MD  20742

(301) 405-6179

rescherr@umd.edu


Curriculum vitae Publications Presentations



Presentations

(last updated January 2008)


AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2008. Baltimore, Maryland

Invited:  “Student behavior and epistemological framing: Examples from tutorials,” R. E. Scherr and D. Hammer.

Invited:  "Students' mathematical and physical reasoning," B. W. Frank, R. E. Scherr, and D. Hammer.

Contributed:  “Gestures as evidence of student meaning,” R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “Framing and reasoning in tutorials over the course of a semester,” L. D. Conlin, A, Gupta, R. E. Scherr, and D. Hammer.

Foundations and Frontiers of Physics Education Research, August 2007. Bar Harbor, Maine

Contributed:  “ Learning about physics graduate TAs using case studies,” R. M. Goertzen, R. E. Scherr, and A. Elby.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, July 2007. Greensboro, North Carolina

Contributed:  “Learning about physics graduate TAs using case studies,” R. M. Goertzen, R. E. Scherr, and A. Elby.

New Jersey AAPT Section Meeting, March 2007. Princeton, New Jersey

Invited:  “Recognizing valuable student thinking in physics,” R. E. Scherr, D. Hammer, A. Elby, and E. F. Redish.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2007. Seattle, Washington

Contributed:  “Understanding graduate teaching assistants as tutorial instructors,” R. E. Scherr and A. Elby.  Slides  Poster

Contributed:  “Graduate TAs as tutorial instructors:  A case study,” R. M. Goertzen, R. E. Scherr, and A. Elby.  Slides

Contributed:  “Sensemaking:  Conceptualizing and coding for ‘good’ student reasoning,” A. Elby, R. E. Scherr and T. Bing.  Slides

Contributed:  “Modeling student thinking about motion in tutorial,” B.W. Frank and R. E. Scherr.

NSF REESE Principal Investigators Meeting, December 2006 Washington, DC

Contributed:  “The role of gestures in productive epistemological framing,” R. E. Scherr and D. Hammer.

Contributed:  “Understanding graduate teaching assistants as tutorial instructors,” R. E. Scherr and A. Elby.  Poster

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2006. Syracuse, New York

Invited:  “Enabling informed adaptation:  Open-source physics worksheets integrated with implementation resources,” R. E. Scherr and A. Elby.

Contributed:  “Observing students’ framing of tutorials,” R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “Relationships of mechanistic reasoning and empirical results during student inquiry,” R. S. Russ, D. Hammer, and R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “The cognitive blending of mathematics and  physics knowledge,” T. J. Bing, E. F. Redish, and R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “Epistemic games in upper-division physics problem solving,” E. F. Redish, T. J. Bing, and R. E. Scherr.

Gordon Conference on Physics Research and Education, June 2006. S. Hadley, Massachusetts

Invited:  “Student resources for problem-solving in electricity and magnetism: Implications of a model of learning,” R. E. Scherr.

NARST Annual Meeting, April 2006. San Francisco, California

Contributed:  “How do students frame collaborative active learning activities?” R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2006. Anchorage, Alaska

Contributed:  “The initiation of student-TA interactions in tutorial,” R. E. Scherr, R. S. Russ, T. J. Bing, and R. A. Hodges.

NSF REC Principal Investigators Meeting, December 2005. Washington, DC

Contributed:  “Toward a new conceptualization of progress in learning physics, K-16:  Resources, frames, and networks,” D. Hammer, E. F. Redish, A. Elby, and R. E. Scherr.

Foundations and Frontiers of Physics Education Research, August 2005. Bar Harbor, Maine

Contributed:  “How do students frame tutorials?” R.E. Scherr, R. A. Hodges, and D. Hammer.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2005. Sacramento, California

Invited:  “Resources, framing, and transfer,” D. Hammer, A. Elby, R. E. Scherr, and E. F. Redish.

Contributed:  “A graduate course in PER for PER graduate students,” R. E. Scherr and L. A. Atkins.

Contributed:  “Newton’s zeroth law: An unnoticed symmetry in how we think about mechanics,” E. F. Redish and R. E. Scherr.

Gordon Conference on Physics Research and Education, June 2004. S. Hadley, Massachusetts

Invited:  “Properties of student reasoning in special relativity,” R. E. Scherr and S. Vokos.

Ontario APT Meeting, May 2004. Oshawa, Canada

Invited:  “Research-based pedagogies: Beyond content, Part 1: Epistemology,” A. Elby, E. F. Redish, and R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2004. Miami Beach, Florida

Contributed:  “Student patterns of knowledge construction,” R. E. Scherr and J. Tuminaro.

Contributed:  “Two kinds of student mathematical errors in physics:  A theoretical perspective,” J. Tuminaro, E. F. Redish, and R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2003. Madison, Wisconsin

Contributed:  “Gestures as evidence of student thinking in physics,” R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “An epistemological intervention with big results,” D. Hammer and R. E. Scherr.

International School of Physics “Enrico Fermi,” July 2003. Varenna, Italy

Invited:  “Gestures as evidence of student thinking in physics,” R. E. Scherr.

Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, March 2003. Columbus, Ohio

Invited:  “Gestures as evidence of student thinking in physics,” R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2003. Austin, Texas

Invited:  “Questioning the questions: Playing with constraints in physics education research,” R. E. Scherr.

Invited:  “The challenge of listening: Selective attention in clinical interviews,” R. E. Scherr and M. C. Wittmann.

Invited:  “Epistemology mediating conceptual knowledge: Constraints on data accessible from interviews,” M. C. Wittmann and R. E. Scherr.

Invited:  “The negotiation of relevance: student inference in clinical interviews,” N. Gillespie, M. C. Wittmann and R. E. Scherr.

Department of Physics, Rochester Institute of Technology, October 2002. Rochester, New York

Invited:  “Modeling student reasoning in physics:  An example from special relativity,” R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2002. Boise, Idaho

Contributed:  “Epistemological considerations in analogical modeling laboratories,” R. E. Scherr, A. Elby, and S. M. Snowman.

Contributed:  “Modeling student reasoning in physics: An example from special relativity,” R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “The challenge of listening: The effect of researcher agenda on data collection and interpretation,” R. E. Scherr and M. C. Wittmann.

Contributed:  “Epistemology mediating conceptual knowledge: Constraints on data accessible from interviews,” M. C. Wittmann and R. E. Scherr.

Center for Science & Math Education Research Summer Conference, June 2002. Orono, Maine

Contributed:  “The challenge of listening:  An individual student interview about current flow,” R. E. Scherr and M. C. Wittmann.

Department of Physics, University of Maine, May 2002. Orono, Maine

Invited:  “Modeling student reasoning in physics:  An example from special relativity,” R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 2002. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Invited:  “Coordinating theoretical models of student reasoning with evidence:  An example from special relativity,” R. E. Scherr.

Contributed:  “Bringing epistemological considerations to tutorial design,” R. E. Scherr and A. Elby.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2001. Rochester, New York

Invited:  “An implementation of Physics by Inquiry in a large-enrollment class,” R. E. Scherr.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 2000. Guelph, Ontario

Contributed:  “The multi-layered nature of student difficulties: An example from special relativity,” R. E. Scherr, S. Vokos, P. S. Shaffer, and L. C. McDermott.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 1999. San Antonio, Texas

Contributed:  “Identifying student difficulties with measurement in special relativity: Measuring the time of an event,” R. E. Scherr, S. Vokos, P. S. Shaffer, and L. C. McDermott.

APS Spring Regional Meeting, May 1999. Eugene, Oregon

Contributed:  “Applying the results of research to curriculum development in Galilean and special relativity,” R. E. Scherr, S. Vokos, P. S. Shaffer, and L. C. McDermott.

APS Centennial Meeting, March 1999. Atlanta, Georgia

Contributed:  “Identifying and addressing student difficulties in Galilean and special relativity: Length and length contraction,” R. E. Scherr, A. Boudreaux, S. Vokos, and L. C. McDermott.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 1998. Lincoln, Nebraska

Contributed:  “Identifying and addressing student difficulties in Galilean and special relativity: Simultaneity,” R. E. Scherr, A. Boudreaux, S. Vokos, and L. C. McDermott.

AAPT Winter National Meeting, January 1998. New Orleans, Louisiana

Contributed:  “Identifying student difficulties with relative motion,” A. Boudreaux, R. E. Scherr, S. Vokos, and L. C. McDermott.

AAPT Summer National Meeting, August 1997. Denver, Colorado

Contributed:  “Identifying student difficulties in Galilean and special relativity: Measuring length,” R. E. Scherr, A. Boudreaux, S. Vokos, and L. C. McDermott.