More than just the Teaching: A look at the field of Physics Education Research and the Transition into University

Whenever I mention to people I am doing a PhD in Physics Education Research (PER), one of the main responses I get is "so you want to become a teacher then". While this is a pathway many people take that is extremely important, PER is a quickly developing field that goes beyond just this focus, both in scope and opportunities. In this talk I will attempt to introduce and demarcate PER, including a look at aims of the field, an introduction to some of the associated theory and core research methods, and also touching on skills and opportunities it can provide people with. I will also present some of my own work, using focus groups to understand student experiences of the transition into taking an undergraduate Physics degree at the University of Bristol.