DrJon Fenton

I am interested in physics education research including evaluating innovative teaching. I have developed a particular interest in the interaction between the social and cognitive dimensions of learning and the transition of students from school to university.

In Autumn 2022 I completed an MEd in University Learning and Teaching which I studied for part-time at Imperial from 2019-22, receiving a distinction and being awarded a prize for my dissertation which was an investigation of factors influencing problem-solving in first-year physics students.

I have also carried out studies on our courses using both quantitative (concept inventories) and qualitative (focus group) methods. One of these was a focus-group-based project on students' views of one of the department's courses which built in active learning elements, and I gave a talk about this at the ESLTIS 2019 conference, and I also investigated the operation of group dynamics in a third-year course by focus group.

I have worked with several summer students via the StudentShapers and UROP programmes. These have included:

-four projects (and five students) developing the Lambda Feedback software (Summers 2022-25) which aim to give students 'just in time' and 'just enough' feedback and hints as they solve the course problems. 
-evaluation of our use of PeerWise "Student-generated questions: How effective a learning resource was PeerWise in this year's first-year relativity course?"