Bruce R - Department of Physics - The Ohio State University

Bruce R. Patton
Department of Physics
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
2042 Physics Research Building, (614) 292-8210
patton@mps.ohio-state.edu
Education
Swarthmore College, B.A. Degree with Honors in Physics and Mathematics, 1966
Cornell University, Ph.D. Degree in Theoretical Physics, 1971
University of California, San Diego, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics, 1971-1972
Appointments
1990-present, Professor of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1978-1990, Associate Professor of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1973 -1978, Assistant Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
1972-1973, Lecturer in Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Recent Grant and Contract Support
1. Seed Grant for Design of a Professional Development Program in Science for School-Year
Implementation, B R Patton, OSU-Hilliard Partnership, Ohio Department of Education,
01/01/2008 -6/30/2008, $25,000.
2. WeEXCEL Mathematics and Science Research Mini-Grant for Assessment of Conceptual
Learning in Introductory Science Classes, B. R. Patton, 4/1/08-12/31/08, $4500.
3. Inquiry-Based Professional Development Program in Science for School-Year
Implementation, B R Patton, PI, Ohio Department of Education, 08/06/2008 - 06/30/2009,
$235,902.
4. Inquiry-Based Professional Development Program in Science for School-Year
Implementation, B R Patton, PI, Ohio Department of Education, 07/01/2009 - 09/30/2010,
$220,294.
Recent Peer-reviewed Publications
1. Multidisciplinary Curriculum in Sensor Materials, S. A. Akbar, P. K. Dutta, Y. Wang, B.
R. Patton and M. J. Madou, Proceedings of ICEE-99, August 10-14, Ostrava-Prague, Czech
Republic, CD-ROM Edition (1999).
2. A Multidisciplinary Curriculum Based on Team Work and Industrial Partnership, S.A.
Akbar, P.K. Dutta, Y. Wang, B.R. Patton and M.J. Madou, Proceedings of ICEE-00, August
14-18, Taipei, Taiwan, CD-ROM Edition (2000).
3. Sensor Materials: A Multidisciplinary Approach, S.A. Akbar, P.K. Dutta and B.R. Patton,
Proceedings of ICEE-01, August 6-9, Oslo, Norway, CD-ROM Edition (2001).
4. Model standards-based core science program with integrated inquiry approach to
methodology and content, A. Roychoudury and B.R. Patton, Proceedings of Ohio Board of
Regents Math and Science Teaching Fellows Conference, September 11-12, 2003.
5. Critical thinking and reasoning skills of middle school students and teachers, Bruce Patton,
Anita Roychoudhury, and Mary West, chapter in Ohio Board of Regents Science and
Teaching Fellows Monograph, pp. 9-16, (2007).
6. Inquiry-Based Physics And Student Learning, Bruce R. Patton, Anita Roychoudhury
Proceedings of the NARST 2007 Annual Meeting (New Orleans).
7. Undergraduate Students’ Reasoning Skills and Conceptual Development in an Inquiry
Class, O Acar, A Roychoudhury, BR. Patton, Proceedings of the NARST 2008 Annual
Meeting (Baltimore).

8. The Development of Conceptual Thinking in Inquiry-Based Physics, Bruce R. Patton and
Jennifer Esswein, Proceedings of the NARST 2008 Annual Meeting (Baltimore).
9. Second Critical Point in First Order Metal-Insulator Transitions, I. Z. Kostadinov and B.
R. Patton, Physical Review Letters 101, 226407 (2008).
Invited talks at International Meetings:
1. Why a hands-on active learning approach works best: Experiences with a "Jackson by
Inquiry" electromagnetism course, Bruce R. Patton, Gordon Research Conference, 2006.
2. A simple model for why an active learning approach works best: Experiences with a
"Jackson by Inquiry" electromagnetism course, Bruce R. Patton, invited talk at the APS
Annual March Meeting, Denver (2007).
3. Inquiry-Based Physics And Student Learning, Bruce R. Patton and Anita Roychoudhury,
invited talk the NARST 2007 Annual Meeting (New Orleans, LA, United States).
4. The Role of Abstract Concept Formation in “Physics by Inquiry”, invited talk presented at
National Association of Research in Science Teaching Annual Conference, New Orleans,
April 15 – 18, 2007.
5. Content and Pedagogy for Mathematics and Science in Middle Schools and For Middle
School Teacher Preparation, Symposium on Mathematics and Science Teaching and
Learning, Columbus, April 26, 2007.
6. About some metal-insulator transitions in composites, Symposium in Honor of Valery
Pokrovsky on Statistical Physics and Quantum Field Theory, January 12-14, 2007, Texas
A&M University, (with Ivan Kostadinov).
7. The Development of Conceptual Thinking in Inquiry-Based Physics, invited talk presented at
National Association of Research in Science Teaching Annual Conference, Baltimore, April
2, 2008.
8. School Year Based Inquiry Learning (SYBIL) with Elementary and Middle School Teachers,
invited presentation at DOE Mathematics and Science Partnership Meeting, San Diego,
February 22 – 24, 2010.
Synergistic Activities
Innovations in teaching
• Course design and development of lab manual and teaching materials for hands-on graduate
electrodynamics course: Physics 834-835-836 Jackson by Inquiry reported in “Group Inquiry-
Based Approach to Graduate Education in Physics: Can you do Jackson in a hands-on way?”,
invited talk at APS/AAPT Joint Meeting, Indianapolis, 1996.
• Development of Physics 294: Hands-on problem solving lab for students underrepresented in
physics and engineering.
• Ohio Board of Regents Math and Science Teaching Fellow: identification, evaluation and
dissemination of exemplary teaching practices in the State of Ohio through surveys, workshops,
conferences, and resource monographs, 2003-current.
• Director of the Interdisciplinary Middle Childhood Education Program in the College of Arts and
Sciences at The Ohio State University, 2005-current.
Professional activities
• Referee: Physical Review, Physical Review Letters, National Science Foundation, Department of
Energy, Annals of Physics, Solid State Communications, Surface Science, Magnetism and
Magnetic Materials Conference, Journal of Applied Physics, Modern Physics Letters,
EuroPhysics Letters, American Journal of Physics, Journal of Research in Science Teaching
• Member of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, Materials Research Society, American Physical Society,
Division of Condensed Matter, American Association of Physics Teachers, American Ceramics
Society

Bruce R. Patton
Bruce R. Patton is Professor of Physics at The Ohio State University. He taught at the University of California,
San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before coming to Ohio State. He received the Bachelor
of Arts with Honors from Swarthmore College in 1966 and the Ph.D. degree in Theoretical Physics from Cornell
University in 1971. His research interests have included a number of areas in materials research, including
microstructural and electrical properties of metals, ceramics and gas sensors, high temperature superconductors,
liquid crystals, and Monte Carlo simulations of magnetic systems and glasses. He has received awards from
Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the National Science Foundation Fellowship and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
He and his students have been active in the development on novel kernel regression techniques to the data analysis
and pattern recognition in multi-sensor arrays and have introduced and defined the important concept of sensor
orthogonality. Recently he has been active in physics education research and teaching/learning innovation. He
developed the “Jackson by Inquiry” approach to graduate education which greatly improved the performance of
under-represented students. As an Ohio Board of Regents Math and Science Teaching Fellow he has been active
in identification, evaluation and dissemination of exemplary teaching practices in the State of Ohio through
surveys, workshops, conferences, and resource monographs. He is currently Director of the Interdisciplinary
Middle Childhood Education Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University.