Noah Finkelstein is a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and conducts research is in physics education. He serves as a director of the Physics Education Research (PER) group at Colorado. Finkelstein is also a Director of the national-scale Center for STEM Learning at CU-Boulder, which has become one of eight national demonstration sites for the Association of American Universities’ STEM Education Initiative.
Finkelstein’s research focuses on studying the conditions that support students’ interest and ability in physics – developing models of context. These research projects range from the specifics of student learning particular concepts, to the departmental and institutional scales of sustainable educational transformation. This research has resulted in over 100 publications.
He is increasingly involved in education policy serving on many national boards including chairing the American Physical Society’s Committee on Education, and is a Technical Advisor to the Association of American University’s STEM Education Initiative. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits more than 1,000 institutions of higher education in the U.S.
He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a Presidential Teaching Scholar for the University of Colorado system.