The new PhysTEC program at Boston University*

The Boston University Physics Department was recently awarded a three-year grant from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC). PhysTEC's main aims are to improve the education of future physics teachers, and to increase the number of qualified physics teachers in the school system. Although there have been over 20 PhysTEC-funded sites across the country, BU is the first PhysTEC site in New England. Our goals with this poster are to raise awareness about PhysTEC, and to talk about what we are doing and what we plan to do at BU with our PhysTEC funding. A key part of the PhysTEC program is the teacher-in-residence (TIR), an experienced physics teacher who comes to campus for a year to promote physics teaching as a profession and to lend their experience to education-related efforts. Our first TIR is Juliet Jenkins. The poster will discuss Ms. Jenkins' role in the Department of Physics and in the School of Education as we move forward with new efforts to promote teaching, including a Learning Assistant program, a pilot studio section of one of our introductory physics courses, and a new education course that allows undergraduate students to observe teachers in the classroom.