Jeff Morgan
Associate Professor of Physics and Science Education
Dr. Morgan received his undergraduate training in physics at Walla Walla College in southeastern Washington. After teaching high school physics and physical science for three years in suburban Chattanooga, Tennessee, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Maine. There, he worked with Dr. Michael Wittmann and other members of the Physics Education Research Laboratory in developing instructional materials for a course introducing basic ideas of quantum physics to non-science students. His dissertation work focused on how students learn and reason about the phenomena of quantum tunneling.
Currently, Dr. Morgan's work involves examining how physics students learn some of the foundational ideas, such as potential energy diagrams and wave equations, needed to understand systems discussed in quantum physics courses. He is also interested in studying to what extent elementary school teachers' science activities in their classrooms are influenced by their college science background.