Edward "Joe" Redish:
"Generalization in Physics: Perspectives from Practice and Theory

Abstract
Children learn many basic components of their adult knowledge by forming patterns and generalizing - grammar, counting, basic math, and physical phenomenology. The question addressed in this talk is: what role does generalization play in scientists developing new knowledge and students learning existing complex science? This talk has three parts. In the first part, I will demonstrate a pedagogical example from introductory physics that shows how generalization and specialization take turns leading in an intricate, interactive dance in the construction of new scientific knowledge. In the second part, I will show how we applied a similar process of moving between generalization and specialization to understand how students approach problem solving in introductory physics. Analyzing ethnographic data of students solving physics problems, we conclude that much of their behavior can be described by a cognitive structure we refer to as an epistemic game - a local coherence in behavior. The games they choose can be either productive or counterproductive in helping them solve a problem. In the third part, I will raise the question whether the concepts of generalizing and specializing, which were useful in describing the processes in the first two parts of the talk, are the best way to describe what students are doing as they learn. A more useful language might be to talk about activation, association, binding, and contextual framing.
Brief Bio
E. F. (Joe) Redish is a Professor of Physics and an affiliate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Maryland. For over twenty-five years he was an active researcher in theoretical nuclear physics. He always had a strong interest in teaching, and, upon discovering that a classroom was an even more complex strongly-interacting many-body system than a nucleus, switched his field of research to physics education. For more than a decade, Joe has been a leader in helping to establish a discipline-based education research community within physics. He has researched a variety of topics ranging from the implications of student expectations for their behavior in introductory physics to the difficulties advanced students have with quantum mechanics. His current interest is in building theoretical models for science education with ties to neuroscience, cognitive science, and the behavioral sciences. He is the winner of numerous awards for his education work including the Millikan Medal from the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Director's Distinguished Teaching Scholar award from the National Science Foundation, and a Distinguished Scholar- Teacher award at the University of Maryland.