Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2006 73rd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the APS
Thursday–Saturday, November 9–11, 2006; Williamsburg, Virginia
Session MA: Rising Above the Gathering Storm |
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Chair: David G. Haase, North Carolina State University Room: Williamsburg Hospitality House Empire A/B |
Saturday, November 11, 2006 8:30AM - 9:00AM |
MA.00001: Revitalizing Support for the Physical Sciences: The American Competitiveness Initiative Invited Speaker: In January 2006, during his \textit{State of the Union Address}, President Bush announced a renewed commitment on the part of his Administration to funding math and science education, and science and engineering research. Two weeks later, in February 2006, the President submitted his budget request to Congress, including \textit{The American Competitiveness Initiative }(ACI), a budget initiative that proposes to double federal investments in fundamental research in the physical sciences at three civilian science agencies---the Office of Science in the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)---over ten years. To date, ACI has fared well in Congress. The House of Representatives has already approved the increases for the Office of Science (up 14 percent), NSF (up 8 percent), and NIST (core laboratory research and infrastructure up 24 percent). Key Senate Subcommittees have approved similar increases. Of equal significance to the budget proposal, the President's pronouncements represent an effort to change the public perception of the value of science. This is the capstone of a fifteen-year effort on the part of the scientific community, including the American Physical Society, to develop a new rationale for funding physical science research in the post-Cold War era. 30 years of economic research suggests there is a strong correlation between the government investments in education and research, particularly physical science and engineering research, and future economic performance. The President made this connection explicit for the public in his \textit{State of the Union Address} and in subsequent speeches and town hall meetings. The author will discuss these trends and the outlook for ACI going forward. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 11, 2006 9:00AM - 9:30AM |
MA.00002: The Changing Landscape of Undergraduate Physics Invited Speaker: The National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics was convened by APS, AAPT and AIP to study the steep decline in the number of physics majors that occurred during the 1990s. The Task Force conducted project SPIN-UP (Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics) to investigate why some departments were thriving while others are losing majors. With support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, we conducted site visits to 21 ``thriving'' departments and have worked with the AIP statistics program to survey the 562 departments that grant undergraduate degrees in physics. The results of the study identified key ingredients in thriving departments and essential elements needed to make changes that respond to the changing environments in which physics departments find themselves. Today, enrollments in undergraduate physics are climbing again. We need to ensure that this positive trend continues and ensure that we attract women and members of underrepresented groups to the study of physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 11, 2006 9:30AM - 10:00AM |
MA.00003: Physics Majors: Where do they come from? Where do they go? Invited Speaker: Physics majors represent a small but important part of the physics education system in the United States. They also make up an equally small but important part of the workforce and supply post secondary institutions with students pursuing graduate level degrees in physics. This paper will give an over view of the backgrounds of undergraduate physics majors, the types of institutions and departments they attend, and their experiences as undergraduates. It will outline the types of employment new physics bachelors accept including employment sectors, work activities and the fields in which they are employed. Finally, it will give an overview of the physics majors (and others) who pursue graduate level physics education and their initial employment outcomes. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 11, 2006 10:00AM - 10:30AM |
MA.00004: Seeds and Sparks: Cultivating Children's Interest in Physics through Public Outreach Invited Speaker: The National Academies' ``Rising above the Gathering Storm''\footnote{The report can be read online at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11463.html{\#}toc.} report names the improvement of K-12 science and mathematics education as its highest priority recommendation. This recommendation includes enlarging the pipeline of students preparing to study STEM\footnote{Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics} subjects at university by increasing the number of students who take (and pass) advanced high school level science courses. To this end, the American Physical Society's Public Outreach department offers PhysicsQuest, a free program designed to engage middle school science students in a learning adventure. The core idea of the program is to provide a fun and exciting way for students to encounter physics, thereby eliminating some of the fear often associated with the subject and making them more likely to take high school physics courses. In the end, the students do learn some physics, but, more importantly, they have a fun experience with physics. This talk further describes the PhysicsQuest program, including feedback and results from the 2005 project, and also gives an overview of other K-12 programs offered by APS Public Outreach. [Preview Abstract] |
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