Announcements

PhysTEC receives over 50 new site proposals

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The 2009 request for new PhysTEC sites has closed. The project received over 50 letters of interest, and will announce final selections in early 2010. PhysTEC anticipates offering additional rounds of funding in Fall 2010 and 2011.

Texas A&M University Commerce Faculty Openings

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Texas A&M University Commerce announces two faculty openings: 1. Tenure-Track Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Science Education; and 2. Tenure-Track Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Astrophysics/Astronomy.

PTEC Conference Poster

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

Poster for upcoming conference

2010 Physics Teacher Education Coalition Conference

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EST

RSS Feeds

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST

RSS feeds to PTEC features are now available. Have new PTEC materials delivered to your desktop by subscribing to http://www.ptec.org/services/rss/recent.cfm in your browser. Additional feeds are available through the PTEC sitemap .

Student AAPT Memberships

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 EST

Student memberships in the American Association of Physics Teachers are available for pre-service teachers. Student member dues are only $25 per year ($0.07 per day) for which the students receive their choice of the American Journal of Physics or The Physics Teacher in print, electronic access to both journals, print and electronic access to Physics Today, discounts at the AAPT Store, and student registration at the two AAPT annual national meetings. In addition, student members can continue their student rate for three years after graduation to help launch their teaching career without an increased cost of membership. To join, students should go to the AAPT homepage, www.aapt.org and click on the join button in the top menu bar.

Wright State Teaching Position

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST

The Wright State University Physics Department is seeking to hire up to two instructors to begin Fall 2009 to teach courses in science education, general education and/or introductory physics. A master’s degree in Physics or closely related field is required. Experience in teaching science education courses to early/middle childhood education majors is preferred. The teaching load will be 3-4 classes per quarter. more..

Funding Opportunities

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST

The NSF just published (March 18, 2009) a statement on NOYCE and other funding relating to teacher education: The Foundation also expects to expeditiously award funds as specified in the Recovery Act for: the Math and Science Partnership program (funded at $25 million); the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (funded at $60 million); the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction Account (funded at $400 million); the Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI) program (funded at $200 million); and the Science Masters program, (funded at $15 million). Solicitations for these latter two programs will be posted this spring. more...

Job Opening - Texas A&M University-Commerce

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

The Department of Physics at Texas A&M University-Commerce invites applications for a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor position in Science Education starting August 2009 more...

Emporia State University

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Emporia State University Departments of Physical Sciences invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position beginning August 2009. more...

Wright State Physics Education Position

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST

Applications are invited for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Physics position, with a joint minority appointment in the Department of Teacher Education, at Wright State University to begin September 2009. Full listing

University of Arkansas Wins NSF MSP Grant

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST

The National Science Foundation has awarded University of Arkansas researchers Gay Stewart and Bernard Madison a five-year, $7 million grant for the “College Ready In Math and Physics Partnership,” an initiative that creates alliances between university faculty in the science, technology, engineering and math fields and K-12 teachers.

Hope College Science Education Position

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST

Hope College invites applications for a new tenure track assistant professorship in science education. more...

PTEC-Northwest Conference

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

AAPT Committee on Teacher Preparation Meeting

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

The AAPT Committee on Teacher Preparation will meet from 6:30-8:00pm Sunday July 20th at the AAPT meeting in Edmonton.

Arkansas Math Science Partnership (MSP)

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 EST

The University of Arkansas won a State of Arkansas Math Science Partnership Grant (MSP). Workshops will be offered this summer.

Presentations from the 2009 PTEC Conference are available for download.

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

PTEC Book: Collected Papers on Teacher Preparation

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

Thirty-five submissions for the book on teacher preparation have been received. The submission deadline has passed. The book, to be published jointly by the American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers, will include new reports reflecting cutting-edge research and practice, as well as reprints of previously published seminal papers. Printed copies will be distributed to chairs of all physics departments in the United States. The book will also be freely available online. Papers submitted for publication should focus specifically on physics and physical-science education research, or on research-based instruction and curriculum development, directed at pre-service or in-service teachers of physics and physical science. The primary intended audience consists of physics department chairs and faculty members at physics degree-granting institutions in the United States. It is intended that papers included in the book will also be published either in the American Journal of Physics (AJP) or in Physical Review Special Topics–Physics Education Research (PRST-PER). Prior to submitting any manuscript, prospective authors must submit an outline/prospectus to the book editors. Pre-submission discussion with the book editors is recommended. Click to open or download the Guidelines and Policies for Teacher Preparation Book. Deadline dates: Prospectus submission by March 1, 2008; manuscript submission by August 1, 2008. Contact Information for book editors: David E. Meltzer: dmeltzer@u.washington.edu Peter S. Shaffer: shaffer@phys.washington.edu Editorial Board: Karen Cummings, Southern Connecticut University Andy Elby, University of Maryland Fred Goldberg, San Diego State University Jill Marshall, University of Texas, Austin Valerie Otero, University of Colorado Richard Steinberg, City College of New York Stamatis Vokos, Seattle Pacific University Robert Beichner, North Carolina State University Gene Sprouse, American Physical Society Dan Kulp, American Physical Society Jan Tobochnik, Kalamazoo College

PhysTEC Workshop for North Carolina State Universities with Teacher Preparation Programs

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST

Workshop Agenda

The Physics Education Teacher Coalition (PhysTEC) project is collaborating with the University of North Carolina system to produce a one-day conference on best practices and modifications to teacher preparation programs that have proven successful in PhysTEC. The conference will be held at the University of North Carolina on August 3, 2007.

2008 Conference on the Preparation of Physics and Physical Science Teachers

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

Conference Schedule Logistics Workshop Descriptions Workshop Presenters

Master Teachers - Change Agents for Teacher Preparation

The conference explored the critical roles that Master Teachers play in teacher preparation programs, including recruiting future teachers, mentoring pre-service and in-service teachers, co-teaching pedagogy courses, and building bridges with local school districts. Conference sessions also focused on the use of assessment in teacher preparation, including topics such as evaluation of teacher quality, implementation and interpretation of conceptual exams, and uses of formative assessment. The program featured seven 90-minute sessions of four concurrent workshops that actively engaged participants, in order to model an active learning environment. The program included considerable time to enable participants and presenters to network and share ideas informally. Conference Schedule Contributed Poster Abstracts

Conference Workshops Themes

The 27 conference workshops addressed the following themes:

Master Teachers
Learning Assistants
Curriculum & Instruction
Building Partnerships
Understanding Assessment Data
Formative Assessment
Program Elements
Science Methods

View individual workshop descriptions or biographies of the presenters.

Plenary Speakers

Tom Luce, Chief Executive Officer of the National Math and Science Initiative to replicate the UTeach program, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development
Julie Luft, Professor of Science Education, Arizona State University-Tempe; Principal Investigator on the NSF-funded project Exploring the Development of Beginning Secondary Science Teachers in Various Induction Programs; Past President, Association for Science Teacher Education

Free Pre/Post-Conference Workshops

The UTeach Curriculum and Courses February 28, 2008, 11 am - 4 pm, University of Texas at Austin Michael Marder and Jill Marshall, University of Texas at Austin UTeach is the program to prepare secondary mathematics and science teachers at University of Texas at Austin. UTeach has succeeded in doubling the number of math and science teachers graduating from UT Austin, and compact degree plans have played a role. During this workshop, participants had the opportunity to view some of the UTeach courses in action, meet with UTeach students, and explore design of courses and the course sequence with UTeach faculty. Interactions in Physical Science March 2, 2008, 8 am - 3 pm, Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark Fred Goldberg, San Diego State University and Robert Poel, Western Michigan University Interactions in Physical Science is an NSF-supported, standards-based, guided inquiry physical science curriculum that was built on research on the teaching and learning of science. In this workshop, participants were introduced to the Interactions curriculum, experience several activities, and worked through part of the accompanying professional development materials that support doing inquiry at the middle-school level.

RTOP Certification Workshop

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST

On Oct 13-15, at the Amercian Center for Physics in College Park, PTEC will offer a workshop featuring Dan MacIsaac, Kathleen Falconer, and Paul Hickman to prepare teams to use the RTOP (Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol) to evaluate interactive education classroom experiences. Participants will become "certified" RTOP scorers and be able to use the RTOP instrument knowing their inter-rater reliability is sufficient to satisfy standards for publishable work. Contact Mary Fehrs (fehrs@aps.org) if you are interested in attending this workshop. The coalition offers the workshop, meals, and lodging free of charge; participants will need to be responsible for their transportation.

Reform Teaching Observation Protocol Workshop

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST

PTEC is offering an RTOP (Reform Teaching Observation Protocol) workshop October 13-15, 2006, at the American Center for Physics in College Park, free to PTEC members on a first come-first serve basis. Participants must provide their transportation to College Park, but PTEC will pay for the accommodations, meals, and the cost of the workshop. To sign up for the workshop, and for more information, contact Mary Fehrs.

2007 Conference on the Preparation of Physics and Physical Science Teachers

Wed, 17 May 2006 00:00:00 EST

Conference Schedule Workshop Descriptions Workshop Presenters Logistics

Recruitment: A Critical Element in Addressing the National Shortage of Physics Teachers

The 2007 PTEC conference will explore the recruitment of physics and physical science teachers in the broadest context - how to recruit students into physics at the college level; how to interest them in high school physics teaching careers; and how to keep them in the classroom through ongoing support. In addition to recruitment, the conference offers relevant physics education research (PER) and its applications. The conference program features six sessions of four concurrent 90-minute workshops. The Conference will start with breakfast and a welcoming address on March 3 (Saturday), and will end at 3:30 on March 4 (Sunday). Beyond the scheduled sessions, considerable time has been built into the program to enable participants and presenters to share ideas. Conference Schedule Contributed Poster Abstracts

Planned Workshops

The 2007 PTEC conference will have 21 workshops on various aspects of the following topics:

Recruitment
Interactive Pedagogy
Institution Changes

View the workshop descriptions or information on the presenters.

Plenary Speakers

Carl Wieman - Nobel Laureate and advocate for physics department involvement in physics instruction reform and producing physics teachers Cherry Murray - Incoming APS Vice President and member of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, which authored the Rising Above the Gathering Storm Report

Poster Sessions

There was a contributed poster session.

Free Pre-Conference Workshops--Friday, March 2nd

Powerful Ideas in Physical Science Bob Poel (Western Michigan University) and Nancy Stauch (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) Friday, March 2nd: All day (9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.). University of Colorado's Learning Assistant Program Noah Finkelstein and Valerie Otero Friday, March 2nd: 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.