Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2010; Portland, Oregon
Session A42: Focus Session: Physics Teacher Preparation: Effective Strategies, National Models, and Challenging Issues |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Stamatis Vokos, Seattle Pacific University Room: D138 |
Monday, March 15, 2010 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
A42.00001: Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics: Findings and Recommendations Invited Speaker: In response to the national crisis in science education, including low performance in high school physical science and a critical shortage of highly qualified physics teachers, a National Task Force was convened to investigate the state of physics education in the United States. The Task Force spent one year collecting data from over 900 universities and conducting site visits at 13 universities that were identified as ``high producers'' of physics teachers. The final report of the Task Force will be published early in 2010 and will highlight the findings and recommendations that resulted from the study. In this presentation, the main findings and recommendations will be presented along with selected case studies that illustrate exemplary practices in physics and education departments. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 8:36AM - 8:48AM |
A42.00002: Becoming a physics teacher: A perspective on learning and teaching Physics by Inquiry Anne Alesandrini, Lillian C. McDermott For many years, the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington has been helping prepare preservice and inservice K-12 teachers to teach physics and physical science. The program includes special physics courses offered for undergraduates planning to pursue careers in teaching as well as an NSF-funded Summer Institute and academic-year Continuation Course for inservice teachers. These courses and institutes reflect the emphasis that the National Science Education Standards place on the role of inquiry in the K-12 science classroom and on the need for teachers to be prepared to teach using this instructional approach. They provide an opportunity for teachers to deepen their understanding of topics they are expected to teach and to experience a pedagogical approach that facilitates inquiry-based learning to the classroom. Physics by Inquiry, a research-validated curriculum, guides teachers in developing this understanding and serves as a model for addressing these ideas in their own instruction. Results of student learning will be presented as well as reflections on the ways that ongoing collaboration between teachers contributes to professional growth. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 8:48AM - 9:00AM |
A42.00003: Reforming the professional preparation of teachers of physics and physical science at Seattle Pacific University Lezlie DeWater Increasing the number and improving the in-depth preparation of precollege teachers to teach physics and physical science as a process of inquiry are major goals of the Physics Department at Seattle Pacific University. In close collaboration with the School of Education and partner school districts, we have embarked on a multi-pronged effort to recruit undergraduates into teaching through the SPU Learning Assistant program, to provide coherent and extensive professional development for teachers who teach physics out-of-field, to deepen the preparation in physical science of prospective and practicing elementary teachers, and to reform our content and methods courses for prospective teachers. Alignment of the program with regional and national projects has been extremely beneficial to our efforts. In this talk, the salient programmatic reforms will be outlined and results will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 9:00AM - 9:12AM |
A42.00004: Physics Teacher Preparation---Brigham Young Universities Physics Departments efforts in Physics Teacher Training Duane Merrell Following BYU's recent decision to shift shared responsibility of secondary science education programs into areas of each specific discipline, BYU's College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences has taken on the role of preparing future junior high and high school teachers. To prepare teachers and to enhance the college's physical science teacher education program the College of Physical Science was able to hire a full time faculty member. This position was made available with the shift of a faculty position from the McKay School of Education. This contributed talk will discuss the implementation of this shift of responsibility, the impact on physics and physical science teacher preparation and things we have learned along the way. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 9:12AM - 9:24AM |
A42.00005: Through the Eyes of a Student: Rutgers Physics Teacher Preparation Program Jonathan Chia, Chris D'Amato This talk will describe the course work and the teaching experiences in the Rutgers Physics Teacher Preparation Program that future physics teachers have before they enter the profession. The program is hosted in the Rutgers Graduate School of Education but works in close cooperation with the physics department. In addition to 5 courses in which we learn how to teach physics, we work as instructors in reformed introductory physics courses and then do student teaching in the schools where former graduates of the program teach. During the student teaching we have multiple opportunities to apply all of the ``theory'' in a real classroom and work in collaboration with those who share our views of how students learn. Jonathan is a student in the program and Chris is his cooperating teacher. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 9:24AM - 9:36AM |
A42.00006: Florida PROMiSE: the perspective of three physics faculty participants.* M.W. Meisel, S. Hershfield, J.S. Brooks Florida PROMiSE has a mission \emph{``to improve Florida student achievement in mathematics and science through professional development for Florida's Educators and to build capacity to sustain quality implementation of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS).''}[1]~~We have participated in the designs and inaugural deliveries (Summer 2009) of two institutes: {\bf Matter} for K-8 teachers and {\bf Force and Motion} for 6-12 teachers. These institutes will be revised and held again in Summer 2010, and our participation will continue. The goals of this brief presentation are to increase awareness of PROMiSE and to provide an overview of our participation, especially as it relates to \emph{increasing the content knowledge of the participants}. One outcome is our increased awareness of the ``misconceptions'' that K-12 students and teachers have about physics and chemistry.[2] \newline [1] PROMiSE = Partnership to Rejuvenate \& Optimize Mathematics and Science Education (http://www.flpromise.org/).\newline [2] {\bf Atlas of Science Literacy, Volumes 1 and 2: Mapping K-12 science learning} (http://www.project2061.org).\newline *Supported, in part, by NSF DMR-0701400 (MWM), NSF DMR-0654118 (NHMFL), and the State of Florida. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 15, 2010 9:36AM - 9:48AM |
A42.00007: Florida PROMiSE: How much Physics can one teach in two weeks? Selman Hershfield, Mark Meisel, James Brooks The Florida PROMiSE program is a set of intensive two week institutes designed to improve the science and math knowledge of K-12 teachers. Given the brevity of the workshops compared to an ordinary science class, one may ask what Physics can one effectively teach in two weeks. Based on our experience teaching K-8 teachers in a Force and Motion and in a Matter and Energy institute last summer, there were some topics which are accessible to well motivated participants with some prior background, and there are other topics which were not accessible. The topics which the participants were able to learn included: the qualitative relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration, the vector nature of forces including force diagrams, conservation of energy and different forms of energy, and the difference between random and systematic errors in scientific experiments. Topics involving mathematics such as breaking forces into components using trigonometry or using log-log plots to determine power laws were difficult to teach in two weeks given the background of the participants. [Preview Abstract] |
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