| Dr. Beverley A. P. Taylor | Faculty Profile » |
Research Area:
Physics Education
Experiment / Theory:
N/A
Research Summary:
Dr. Taylor has a variety of interests in field of physics education. Much of her published work (five books and numerous articles) involves using toys as both demonstration and laboratory equipment to teach physics concepts at the middle school level. Science should be a very interactive process between teacher, student, and material objects. Toys are an excellent choice for these objects because they are familiar, interesting, and encourage experimentation outside the classroom. In 1999, she was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition of the quality of this work. In the last few years, her interests have shifted to teaching and learning at the college-level including working on several research projects related to improving undergraduate critical thinking abilities and collaborating on a national project to determine effective methods to attract and retain female undergraduates as physics majors.
Last 3 Publications:
“Full-Cycle Assessment of Critical Thinking in an Ethics and Science Course,” Beverley Taylor, J. Blue and J. Yarrison-Rice, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 2, 2008.
“What Works for Women in Undergraduate Physics and What We Can Learn from Women’s Colleges,” with B. Whitten, et al, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 13, 37-76, 2007.
Teaching Physics with Toys: Easy Guide Edition, Beverley Taylor, D. Portman, S. Gertz, and L.Hogue, Terrific Science Press, Ohio, 2005.