BeattyWeb

Prof. Beatty earned a Ph.D. in Physics Education Research in 2000, the first PER doctoral degree awarded by the UMass Physics Department. He became a postdoctoral research associate and, in 2006, a research faculty member in the UMass Scientific Reasoning Research Institute. During this time he directed a large NSF-funded study that focused on how teachers learn to use clicker-based pedagogy. In early 2009 he joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNC Greensboro, where he helped found the UNCG Physics Education Research Group.

Prof. Beatty’s primary expertise lies in clicker-based pedagogy and other techniques for engaging students in active learning, on which he has conducted or co-conducted over 30 talks and workshops. His current interest, however, is broader: envisioning and exploring new, provocatively different ways to teach that might align better with how humans naturally learn and function. He wants to make learning physics as engaging and rewarding as playing a great video game, but in a deeply authentic rather than a gimmicky way.

Since 1992, Beatty has undertaken international outreach work in South Africa, Argentina, Cyprus, Uganda, Scotland, Singapore, and Switzerland. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina and the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. He likes travel, ethnic food, photography, wilderness sports, and finding new ways to think about things.