Marcos Caballero

I’m a physics education researcher who studies how tools and science practices affect student learning in physics, and the conditions and environments that support or inhibit this learning.
I earned my B.S. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. I worked on opto-microfluidics transport and control experiments at the Georgia Institute of Technology earning my M.S. in physics before shifting my research focus to physics education. I helped found the Georgia Tech Physics Education Research group in 2007 and earned the first physics education focused Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 2011 working on computational modeling instruction and practice. I moved to the University of Colorado Boulder as a postdoctoral researcher and helped transform upper-division physics courses to more active learning environments.
I conduct research from the high school to the upper-division and am particularly interested in how students learn physics through their use of tools such as mathematics and computing. My work employs cognitive and sociocultural theories of learning and aims to blend these perspectives to enhance physics instruction at all levels. My projects range from the fine-grained (e.g., how students understand particular elements of code) to the course-scale (e.g., how students learn to model systems in electromagnetism) to the very broad (e.g., how does computing affect learning across a degree program?). Presently, I am an associate professor at Michigan State University and at the University of Oslo.
Publications
- Aiken, John Mark; De Bin, Riccardo; Hjorth-Jensen, Morten & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2020). Predicting time to graduation at a large enrollment American university. PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. . doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242334 Full text in Research Archive.
- Bain, Kinsey; Bender, Lydia; Bergeron, Paul; Caballero, Marcos Daniel; Carmel, Justin H.; Duffy, Erin M.; Ebert-May, Diane; Fata-Hartley, Cori L.; Herrington, Deborah G.; Laverty, James T.; Matz, Rebecca L.; Nelson, Paul C.; Posey, Lynmarie A.; Stoltzfus, Jon R.; Stowe, Ryan L.; Sweeder, Ryan D.; Tessmer, Stuart H.; Underwood, Sonia M.; Urban-Lurain, Mark & Cooper, Melanie M. (2020). Characterizing college science instruction: The Three-Dimensional Learning Observation Protocol. PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. 15(6), s 1- 20 . doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234640 Full text in Research Archive.
- Odden, Tor Ole; Marin, Alessandro & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2020). Thematic analysis of 18 years of physics education research conference proceedings using natural language processing. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 16 . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.010142 Full text in Research Archive.
- Pawlak, Alanna; Irving, Paul W. & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2020). Learning assistant approaches to teaching computational physics problems in a problem-based learning course. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 16(1) . doi: 10.1103/PHYSREVPHYSEDUCRES.16.010139
- Aiken, John Mark; Henderson, Rachel & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2019). Modeling student pathways in a physics bachelor's degree program. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 15(1), s 1- 17 . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.010128 Full text in Research Archive.
- Funkhouser, Kelsey; Martinez, William M; Henderson, Rachel & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2019). Design, analysis, tools, and apprenticeship (DATA) Lab. European Journal of Physics. ISSN 0143-0807. 40(6), s 1- 20 . doi: 10.1088/1361-6404/ab2f0d
- Odden, Tor Ole & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2019). Computational Essays: An Avenue for Scientific Creativity in Physics. Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. ISSN 1539-9028. . doi: 10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Odden Full text in Research Archive.
- Odden, Tor Ole; Lockwood, Elise & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2019). Physics computational literacy: An exploratory case study using computational essays. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 15(2), s 020152 . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.020152 Full text in Research Archive.
- Young, Nicholas; Allen, Grant; Aiken, John Mark; Henderson, Rachel & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2019). Identifying features predictive of faculty integrating computation into physics courses. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 15(1) . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.010114 Full text in Research Archive.
- Caballero, Marcos Daniel & Merner, Laura (2018). Prevalence and nature of computational instruction in undergraduate physics programs across the United States. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 14(2), s 1- 10 . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020129 Full text in Research Archive.
- Funkhouser, Kelsey; Caballero, Marcos Daniel; Irving, Paul W. & Sawtelle, Vashti (2018). What counts in laboratories: Toward a practice-based identity survey. Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. ISSN 1539-9028. 2018, s 1- 4 . doi: 10.1119/perc.2018.pr.funkhouser
- Laverty, James T & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2018). Analysis of the most common concept inventories in physics: What are we assessing?. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 14(1) . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010123 Full text in Research Archive.
- Leary, Ashleigh; Irving, Paul W. & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2018). The difficulties associated with integrating computation into undergraduate physics. Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. ISSN 1539-9028. 2018, s 1- 4 . doi: 10.1119/perc.2018.pr.leary
- Pawlak, Alanna; Irving, Paul W & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2018). Development of the Modes of Collaboration framework. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 14(1), s 1- 14 . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010101 Full text in Research Archive.
- Sand, Odd Petter; Odden, Tor Ole; Lindstrøm, Christine & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2018). How computation can facilitate sensemaking about physics: A case study. Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. ISSN 1539-9028. s 1- 4 . doi: 10.1119/perc.2018.pr.Sand Full text in Research Archive.
- Caballero, Marcos Daniel; Doughty, Leanne; Turnbull, Anna M; Pepper, Rachel E & Pollock, Steven J (2017). Assessing learning outcomes in middle-division classical mechanics: The Colorado Classical Mechanics and Math Methods Instrument. Physical Review Physics Education Research. ISSN 2469-9896. 13(1) . doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010118
- Irving, Paul W; Obsniuk, Michael J & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2017). P3: a practice focused learning environment. European Journal of Physics. ISSN 0143-0807. 38(5) . doi: 10.1088/1361-6404/aa7529
- Laverty, James T; Underwood, Sonia M; Matz, Rebecca L; Posey, Lynmarie A; Carmel, Justin H; Caballero, Marcos Daniel; Fata-Hartley, Cori L; Ebert-May, Diane; Jardeleza, Sarah E & Cooper, Melanie M (2017). Comment on "analyzing the Role of Science Practices in ACS Exam Items". Journal of Chemical Education. ISSN 0021-9584. 94(6), s 673- 674 . doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00170
- Sand, Odd Petter; Odden, Tor Ole; Lindstrøm, Christine & Caballero, Marcos Daniel (2018). How computation can facilitate sensemaking about physics.