John King papers

This collection documents the professional activities of John King, professor emeritus of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His papers, spanning from 1935 to 2015, comprise curricula, notes, publications, video, speeches, correspondence, and photographic materials. The bulk of the material concerns the teaching of physics through experiments on both a high school and college level. Course materials in the collection are primarily from introductory physics courses, but also include curricula from an interdisciplinary course on religion and science. Recorded lectures from 8.01X Physics I and 8.02X Physics II are among the videos in the collection. Also included are films produced by the Physical Science Study Committee with the intent of teaching science to high school students. Notes and photographs in the collection largely document King’s work developing the Corridor Laboratory and take-home experiments that were part of the curriculum at MIT in 8.01x, 8.02x, and Technology-Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) courses. These experiments were also included in texts co-authored by King, including ZAP! A Hands-on Introduction to Electricity and Magnetism and Physics Project Labs. Publications in the collection include manuscripts for these texts and writings on the teaching of Physics. Additional materials documenting King’s work for TERC concern improving math and science education. The collection also documents other professional interests of King, including molecular beams, fuel efficiency in automobiles, and humanitarian demining.