Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 APS April Meeting
Saturday–Tuesday, April 16–19, 2005; Tampa, FL
Session T11: Teacher Preparation and Public Outreach |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Hal Metcalf, SUNY @ Stony Brook Room: Marriott Tampa Waterside Room 7 |
Monday, April 18, 2005 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
T11.00001: UTeach: Teacher preparation at The University of Texas at Austin Invited Speaker: UTeach prepares secondary teachers of science, mathematics, and computer science at The University of Texas at Austin. It began with a pilot group of 28 students in the fall of 1997, and now has over 400 students enrolled, with over 70 new teachers graduating per year. Important features of the program include \begin{itemize} \item All students in College of Natural Sciences are invited to try out teaching at any time at no cost. \item All degree plans can be completed in 4 years. \item Students begin carefully supervised teaching in real classrooms within a few weeks of beginning the program. \item Close collaboration of Colleges of Natural Sciences and Education \item Many courses taught by a team of former secondary Master Teachers employed in College of Natural Sciences \item Emphasis upon inquiry instruction \end{itemize} Graduates are in heavy demand, and their retention rate after 4 years is over 80\%. However, one of the few dark spots in a generally bright picture is that the number of physics majors receiving certification remains small. See {\tt uteach.utexas.edu} [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 18, 2005 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
T11.00002: TOPS, A Program for Undergraduates to Stimulate Teaching Careers in Pre-College Physical Science Invited Speaker: TOPS$^{1}$ (Teaching Opportunity in Physical Science) is a six-week summer program for undergraduate physics and engineering majors who are considering teaching careers. The program is hosted by the Center for Ultracold Atoms (CUA) at MIT and Harvard. The goal is to provide these students with an experience that could be pivotal in leading them to choose a teaching career. Participants work in two teams of four, each team under the supervision of an experienced teacher. They design courses that emphasize hands-on experiences, which they teach to middle school students at the Museum of Science in Boston and to high school students at MIT. TOPS is now in its third year. The themes of this summer's courses will be light and heat. \newline \newline *Co-author: Dan Kleppner, MIT \newline $^{1}$TOPS is sponsored by the CUA which is funded by the National Science Foundation [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 18, 2005 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
T11.00003: The Cosmic Ray Observatory Project in Nebraska and Public Outreach for the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina Gregory Snow The Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP) is a statewide education and research experiment involving Nebraska high school students, teachers, and college undergraduates in the study of extensive cosmic-ray air showers. A network of high school teams construct, install, and operate school-based detectors in coordination with University of Nebraska physics professors and graduate students. The detector system at each school is an array of scintillation counters recycled from the Chicago Air Shower Array in weather-proof enclosures on the school roof, with a GPS receiver providing a time stamp for cosmic-ray events. The detectors are connected to triggering electronics and a data-acquisition PC inside the building. Students share data via the Internet to search for time coincidences with other sites. CROP has enlisted 26 schools in its first 5 years of operation with the aim of expanding to the 314 high schools in the state over the next several years. The presenter also serves as the Task Leader for Education and Outreach for the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory, and selected public outreach activities related to the experiment will be described. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 18, 2005 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
T11.00004: Bringing Technology into High School Physics Classrooms Nouredine Zettili In an effort to help high school physics teachers bring technology into their classrooms, we at JSU have been offering professional development to secondary education teachers. This effort is part of Project IMPACTSEED (IMproving Physics And Chemistry Teaching in SEcondary Education), a No-Child Left Behind (NCLB) grant funded by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, serving high school physics teachers in Northeast Alabama. This project is motivated by a major pressing local need: A large number of high school physics teachers teach out of field. To achieve IMPACTSEED's goals, we have forged a functional collaboration with school districts from about ten counties. This collaboration is aimed at achieving a double aim: (a) to make physics and chemistry understandable and fun to learn within a hands-on, inquiry-based setting; (b) to overcome the fear- factor for physics and chemistry among students. Through a two-week long summer institute, a series of weekend technology workshops, and onsite support, we have been providing year-round support to the physics/chemistry teachers in this area. This outreach initiative has helped provide our students with a physics/chemistry education that enjoys a great deal of continuity and consistency from high school to college. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 18, 2005 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
T11.00005: Learner-Centered Teaching and Improving Learning by Writing Down the Statement of Problems in an Introductory Physics Course Tarlok Aurora In a calculus-based introductory physics course, students were assigned to write the statements of word problems (along with the accompanying diagrams if any), analyze these, identify important concepts/equations and try to solve these end-of- chapter homework problems. They were required to bring to class their written assignment until the chapter was completed in lecture. These were quickly checked at the beginning of the class. In addition, re-doing selected solved examples in the textbook were assigned as homework. Where possible, students were asked to look for similarities between the solved-examples and the end-of-the-chapter problems, or occasionally these were brought to the students' attention. It was observed that many students were able to solve several of the solved-examples on the test even though the instructor had not solved these in class. This was seen as an improvement over the previous years. It made the students more responsible for their learning. Another benefit was that it alleviated the problems previously created by many students not bringing the textbooks to class. It allowed more time for problem solving/discussions in class. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700