Harish Moni Prakash
Education
- Ph.D., Ohio State University, 2025
- BS-MS Dual Degree, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune
Research Interests
My primary area of research is Physics Education (PER), including student response time on tasks, math preparation, assessment design and validity, effective use of AI, and different aspects of pedagogy.
Currently, my focus is trying to understand how student response times on tasks can provide insights into student familiarity with content, and potentially even psychological stress on timed tasks like exams. This could have important instructional implications. For example, if two people score the same on a test, but one person takes much longer, did one of them 'do better’ on the task? We have found evidence that faster students are on average awarded higher grades in introductory physics courses. Does this align with instructional goals, or is this an artefact of timed assessments?
If you’re interested in these topics, or any other aspects of teaching or physics education, please feel free to reach out to me (hmonipra@calpoly.edu), I’m happy to chat! I typically have a few smaller and larger research ideas I’d love to collaborate with students on.
About
I grew up in India and completed school and college before I moved to the US to do my PhD. In high school and college, I was drawn to theoretical physics and worked in general relativity and nuclear physics before I found my love for teaching and physics education. Outside of my work, I enjoy the outdoors and nature photography.