Ithaca College

The Physics Faculty are pleased to welcome Dr. Karen Cummings, noted expert in Physics Education Research, to act as a consultant for a series of workshops in which they are participating this spring.

Karen Cummings is a Professor of Physics at Southern Connecticut State University.  Before moving to Southern Connecticut State, she spent five years as the Edward Hamilton Clinical Assistant Professor of Physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she helped to develop and run their Studio Physics program.  Dr. Cummings’ research focuses on the learning and teaching of physics including assessment of learning outcomes, the effective use of technology, development of problem solving ability in introductory students and development of curricular materials for use in modern learning environments.  She has served as the Physics Education Research editor for the American Journal of Physics, a member of the Executive Board for the national American Physical Society Forum on Education and a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers National committees on Undergraduate Education and Research in Physics Education. She has given over 70 invited presentations on promising practices in science education including two recent presentations to the National Academy of Science’s Board on Science Education.  Dr. Cummings earned her Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from the University of Albany.