Innovative teaching in physics: what works, what doesn't, and how we know

As physics educators, we would all like our students to develop secure knowledge, deep understanding and flexible skills in our discipline. In the last few decades, a number of innovative teaching strategies have been developed. Many scientists (myself included) are innately sceptical of trends for the sake of trendiness and want to know: do these things work, do they work for the specific disciplinary challenges of physics, and what is the rigorous evidence for it? In this seminar, I will discuss some reformed teaching practices, including the flipped classroom and peer learning, and give perspectives both from the literature and from my own personal experience. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I will try to highlight both successes and hard-learned lessons, and suggest how innovative practices might be fruitfully employed in physics.