Announcements

2013 Colorado Learning Assistant Workshop

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Learning Assistant program is an integral part of the PhysTEC project. It is a highly supported peer teaching experience that has been shown to improve students' learning and attitudes toward science in undergraduate lecture classes and recruit talented science and math students into teaching careers.

2014 PhysTEC Conference

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

2013 PhysTEC Conference

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 EST

The PhysTEC Conference is the nation's largest meeting dedicated to physics teacher education. It features workshops, panel discussions, and presentations by national leaders, as well as excellent networking opportunities. The 2013 conference is an official satellite conference of the 2013 APS March Meeting.

Call for Manuscript Proposals

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EST

Manuscript proposals are currently being solicited for Effective Practices in Preservice Physics Teacher Education: Recruitment, Retention, and Preparation. This peer-reviewed book, which is being sponsored by the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), the American Physical Society (APS), and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), will be co-edited by Dr. Eric Brewe and Dr. Cody Sandifer. Effective Practices in Preservice Physics Teacher Education is scheduled for publication in 2015. More information and to download the Call for Papers:

2012 Colorado Learning Assistant Workshop

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EST

APS Webinar: Landing Your First Physics Teaching Job

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EST

This APS Webinar was held Thursday, June 14, 2012. For many recently licensed high school physics teachers, it can be difficult to chart out the first steps towards securing a teaching job. What should be on your resume? How do you best present yourself in an interview? What are schools looking for in a new hire? In this webinar, experienced master teachers and PhysTEC project mentors Marc Reif and B Lippitt discuss tips and suggestions for recently licensed high school physics teachers who are out on the job market. Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, APS Teacher Education Programs Manager—and former high school physics teacher—moderated the discussion. A recording of the webinar is available for viewing on aps.org:

PhysTEC Site Leader Andrew Duffy Wins Top Teaching Award

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 EST

Andrew Duffy, PhysTEC site leader at Boston University, won this year's Metcalf Cup and Prize, the University’s top teaching award. Dr. Duffy has been a professor at BU since 1995 and is known for his interactive teaching style. Read more about Dr. Duffy's award:

PhysTEC Announces Seven New Funded Sites

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 EST

The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) recently announced that it would fund seven universities to develop their physics teacher education programs into national models. The new awardees are Arizona State University; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Central Washington University; James Madison University; University of Alabama; University of Missouri; and University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. The winning institutions were selected during a two-stage review process that began with a pool of 35 applicants. Awardees demonstrated a capacity for large increases in the number of physics teachers graduating from their programs, as well as strong departmental and institutional support for teacher preparation efforts. Funding for these sites will begin in Fall 2012. The seven awardees will join the twenty-two other institutions that have already received money from the project since it began in 2001. Many of these institutions have doubled, or more, the number of high school physics teachers graduating from their programs. PhysTEC sites have achieved these successes by increasing teacher recruiting efforts; hiring master teachers to work within physics departments; developing engaging early teaching experiences; improving content and pedagogy courses; and fostering collaboration between physics departments, education schools, and local school districts. Most PhysTEC sites have implemented an early teaching experience called Learning Assistants, that also serves as a powerful teacher recruitment program. Learning Assistants are talented prospective teachers work with faculty members to make large-enrollment courses more collaborative, student-centered, and interactive. All newly awarded sites already implement this program in some form, or have plans to do so. PhysTEC is a joint project of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers, and is now funded by a five-year, $6.5-million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation in Fall 2009, as well as APS's 21st Century Campaign.

Article: Preparing Physics Teachers at Chicago State

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 EST

Site leaders at PhysTEC supported site Chicago State University (CSU) have published an article in the May 2012 edition of The Physics Teacher titled "A Collaboration Between University and High School in Preparing Physics Teachers: Chicago State University's Teacher Immersion Institute." CSU is now exploring exciting changes to its physics teacher preparation program by utilizing the expertise of Chicago Area teachers and early teaching experiences for students interested in, but not yet committed to, the physics teaching profession. View the abstract and article:

APS Webinar: Framework for Next Generation of Science Standards

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

Framework for Next Generation of Science Standards

Friday, April 27, 2012 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST In this webinar, Helen Quinn, Professor of Physics at Stanford University and Education and Public Outreach Manager at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), will outline the Framework for K-12 Science Education that is the basis of the coming Next Generation Science Standards. Helen will discuss aspects of the Framework that are of interest when thinking about physics teacher preparation. Noah Finkelstein, associate professor of physics and director of the Physics Education Research group at UC Boulder, will moderate the discussion. Please note: if you are not able to attend the live broadcast, we encourage you to still register for the event, so that we can contact you with a followup email containing a link to the archived recording. Space is limited! Register today!

APS Webinar: Relationships between Educational Outcomes and Poverty

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

Relationships between Educational Outcomes and Poverty

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Michael Marder, Assoc. Dean for Science and Math Education at UT Austin and co-director of the UTeach program, will discuss the relationship between educational outcomes and poverty concentration, dealing in turn with international comparisons, comparisons between states, and detailed studies of data from his home state of Texas. Monica Plisch, Associate Director of Education at the American Physical Society, will moderate the discussion. Space is limited! Reserve your Webinar seat today.

PhysTEC Project Synopsis Released

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program Workshop Registration Open

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

The American Physical Society in conjunction with the American Association of Physics Teachers invite you to attend a workshop June 10-12, 2012 at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD to assist departments in developing strategies for increasing the number of physics majors, and improving the vitality of undergraduate programs. Institutions are encouraged to come as teams of two or more to help develop effective, workable plans that can be implemented on their campuses. Workshop topics include recruitment and retention, advising and mentoring, changes to the introductory course that impact retention, fostering the education of high school physics teachers, and methods of creating a welcoming department culture. Plenary speakers Carl Wieman, Office of Science and Technology Policy and S. James Gates Jr., University of Maryland, will contribute their insights on these topics as well.

2013 Physics Teacher Education Conference

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program Workshop

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

CSU Partners with PhysTEC to Boost California Science Teacher Production

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

California's perennial shortage of qualified science teachers is nothing new. Addressing the shortage has long been a priority for the state, with both the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) spending considerable resources in recent years to improve the quality and quantity of credentialed science teachers. Despite these efforts, however, demand continues to exceed supply of qualified science and math teachers; in California today, as many as 18% of high school physical science teachers lack appropriate credentials. It is to help address this problem that the American Physical Society (APS) is proposing a systemwide partnership with CSU, aimed at assisting the CSU in reaching its goal of producing 1,500 science teachers a year over the next decade. Read the full article:

PhysTEC Noyce Scholarships Awarded

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Scholarships are available to future physics teachers at any of the six PhysTEC Noyce sites: Ball State University, Cornell University, Seattle Pacific University, the University of Arkansas, the University of North Carolina, and Western Michigan University. Scholarship support of up to $15,000 per year has been awarded to 4 students for the 2012-2013 academic year.

"Teacher Education in Physics" Book Published

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a project of the American Physical Society (APS) and American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), has published a compendium of research articles on the preparation of physics and physical-science teachers, Teacher Education in Physics. This book came about due to an increasing national recognition of a need for improved preparation of physics and physical science teachers. Although there is an extensive and growing body of research and research-based practice in physics teacher education, there has been no single resource for scholarly work in this area. In response, the PhysTEC project management selected Editors and an Editorial Board for the book based on recommendations from the physics education community. The editorial group worked to devise a set of guidelines regarding submission of manuscripts. This resulting book includes new reports that reflect cutting-edge research and practice, as well as reprints of previously published seminal papers.

PhysTEC Regional Conference of MSTI and CalTeach

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Math and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI) at the California State University and CalTeach at the University of California came together for the first time for a series of workshops and panel discussions on topics including physics and chemistry teacher preparation and an overview of California PhysTEC programs. This conference is open to members of CSU and UC, and is invitation-only. For more information, visit the PhysTEC Regional Conference of MSTI and CalTeach page.

2011 Solicitation for New PhysTEC Sites

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) project is requesting proposals for new sites to develop model physics teacher preparation programs, beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year. Proposals will be solicited for two types of sites: - Comprehensive sites, which received a grant of up to $100k per year for three years. These sites are implementing the full PhysTEC program. - Targeted sites, which received a grant of up to $25k per year for three years to implement specific elements of teacher preparation programs. Institutions wishing to apply for 2012-2013 must submit an initial proposal by October 26. If you are interested in applying, note that applications are only considered from institutions that are PhysTEC members. Joining PhysTEC is free; please see "Join PTEC" for more information.

Now accepting PhysTEC 2012 Conference workshop proposals

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Physic Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) annual conference for 2012 will be held in Ontario, California February 3 & 4, 2012 in conjunction with the AAPT Winter meeting. PhysTEC invites proposals for 90 minute workshop sessions at the conference. The theme for the conference is New Paradigms for Physics Teacher Education, though proposals related to any aspect of physics teacher preparation will be considered. PhysTEC project management will form a committee to evaluate the proposals and select those that will be accepted. Submission does not guarantee a workshop slot, and project management will determine appropriate sessions based on a number of criteria. If a proposal is accepted, the presenters’ documented travel expenses will be reimbursed if requested. The proposal requires a 100 word abstract, a list of objectives, the intended audience, an outline of facilitation strategies, and a brief professional biography. The due date for proposals is October 10, 2011, and applicants will be notified by October 31st, 2011 if their proposal has been accepted. Applications should be submitted electronically to blickenstaff@aps.org. Download the submission form:

2011 Colorado Learning Assistant Workshop

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

2012 Physics Teacher Education Coalition Conference

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EST

PhysTEC Announces New Funded Sites

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) recently announced that it would fund four universities to develop their physics teacher education programs into national models. The new awardees are Boston University; California State University, San Marcos; State University of New York, Geneseo; and Virginia Tech. The winning institutions were selected during a two-stage review process that began with a record pool of 70 applicants. Awardees demonstrated a capacity for large increases in the number of physics teachers graduating from their programs, as well as strong departmental and institutional support for teacher preparation efforts. Funding for these sites will begin in Fall 2011. The four awardees will join the eighteen other institutions that have already received money from the project since it began in 2001. Many of these institutions have doubled, or more, the number of high school physics teachers graduating from their programs. PhysTEC sites have achieved these successes by increasing teacher recruiting efforts; hiring master teachers to work within physics departments; developing engaging early teaching experiences; improving content and pedagogy courses; and fostering collaboration between physics departments, education schools, and local school districts. Most PhysTEC sites have implemented an early teaching experience called Learning Assistants, that also serves as a powerful teacher recruitment program. Learning Assistants are talented prospective teachers work with faculty members to make large-enrollment courses more collaborative, student-centered, and interactive. All newly awarded sites already implement this program in some form, or have plans to do so. PhysTEC is a joint project of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers, and is now funded by a five-year, $6.5-million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation in Fall 2009, as well as APS's 21st Century Campaign. Read more in the June 2011 edition of APS News:

Cornell's PhysTEC Leader Rob Thorne Named Weiss Fellow

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Cornell professors Harry Greene, Paul Sawyer, Robert Smith and Robert Thorne have been chosen for this year's Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowships. Established by the board in 1993, Weiss fellowships recognize tenured faculty members who have "sustained records of effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students and of contributions to undergraduate education." The award comes with $5,000 per year for five years, to be used for any university-related purpose. Thorne, professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, drew praise for his "curricular innovations, effective classroom teaching and concern for individual students." Among his accomplishments cited were his "transformation" of the introductory physics curriculum that has resulted in improved student learning and dramatic gains in evaluations and enrollment. Thorne also developed a successful pre-med physics curriculum for Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, and is equally known as a "caring instructor who reaches out to students in need of help."