Professional Concerns
Research in Physics Education
Science Education for the Public
Space Science and Astronomy
Teacher Preparation
Women in Physics
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2005 Committee on Professional Concerns
The Committee’s primary goal for the past year has been to find a proactive way to serve the members of our organization better.
The committee decided to cosponsor and facilitate cracker-barrels (CBs) on the “Professional Concerns of...” the various subsets of the AAPT community. The intent of the PCC is that these CBs be solution-focused not just open-ended opportunities for complaining. The committee cosponsored one of these CBs at WM06 (Anchorage) and four more at SM06 (Syracuse); certainly common areas of complaint were identified but more importantly, solutions were shared, ad hoc committees were formed, and action plans were created. Typically, Committee Chairs associated with the group were present; they took notes to monitor follow-through and collected information for future use by their committees. These CBs have proven more popular than we ever imagined with most groups requesting the CBs be held at least annually. Much has been accomplished and many positive results have come from these CBs; I found it personally satisfying when real life solutions to long-standing issues were shared member to member.
In addition to the “Professional Concerns of...” CBs the PCC sponsored:
- Session T03: The SENCER Project and Civic Engagement in the Physics Curriculum at WM06 (Anchorage). It appears there was only one participant. We intend to advertise this session better for future meetings.
- Session AJ: Applications of Physics in Medicine at SM06 (Syracuse). There were three knowledgeable and interesting speakers and the session was well attended.
Recommendations for the Board- As the result of a discussion on dealing w/being graded by students, we recommend that the board offer or promote faculty-teaching awards that are voted on by students at their fifth-year reunion.
- After discussing how to attract more university faculty to AAPT we recommend that the board seek NSF funding to cover awards to be given to REU and RET mentors so they can present at AAPT national meetings.
- Other recommendations for the board were discussed at the various CBs. It was left to the committee responsible for that group to contact the board.
The PCC will continue sponsoring the CBs and to mine them for session ideas for future meetings. We conducted two CBs WM07 (Seattle). We are scheduled to conduct nine CBs at SM07 (Greensboro) and five more CBs at WM08 (Baltimore) plus a panel discussion and two tutorials. In addition, we are in the process of rewriting our mission statement.
The PCC wishes to thank Lila Adair and Harvey Leff for their invaluable support of the committee’s new CB approach to addressing professional concerns.
—Dean Hudek, Chair
Review Board Response
The initiative by this committee to develop a series of cracker-barrel sessions at national meetings in cooperation with other area committees appears to have been well received by AAPT members and area committees. This initiative reflects good collaboration among our committees with our members as beneficiaries of this effort.
The suggestion that AAPT encourage faculty teaching awards based on alumni feedback would be an interesting new effort for the organization. This idea needs more discussion by the committee with some attention being paid to any existing efforts at universities to obtain alumni feedback on the quality of their teaching and educational experiences.
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2005 Committee on Research in Physics Education
This year the Physics Education Research community continued the vibrant growth and development it has enjoyed for some time. Several ideas were realized this year that will significantly benefit the PER community. These changes call for renewed collaboration between AAPT and the PER community to best serve the interests of both. As always, the Research in Physics Education (RIPE) committee serves as a valuable forum for discussion and a conduit between the two bodies.
The Physics Education Research Conference held this summer in Salt Lake City was titled "Connecting Physics Education Research to Teacher Education at All Levels: K-20." Organized by Kastro Hamed and Rebecca Lindell, and assisted by N. Sanjay Rebello, the conference had 210 attendees, of whom 134 presented posters or talks. Lillian McDermott delivered the keynote address on "How Can Physics Education Research Contribute to K-12 Teacher Preparation?" Invited speakers included Valerie Otero, Ted Hodapp, Ron Thornton, and Harold Himmelfarb. Innovative session formats included targeted poster sessions, workshops, and roundtable discussions. We hope these alternate formats become more common at AAPT national meetings as more of us recognize their advantage.
Last year the AAPT Executive Board endorsed the formation of a PER Topical Group (PERTG). More than 150 AAPT members have already enrolled in PERTG, and in the coming months will vote to elect a PER Leadership and Organizing Council (PERLOC). PERLOC will take a leading role in many of the duties currently managed by the RIPE committee that lie outside the committee's charge (e.g., decisions involving PER community projects outside of AAPT). This will allow the RIPE committee to focus its efforts on those duties specific to AAPT.
Important new venues for publication have been arranged, and existing ones strengthened. In March 2005, the American Physical Society (APS) announced the start of a new peer reviewed electronic-only journal: Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research. This is the second “Special Topics” journal published by the APS. It is distributed without charge and sponsored and partially supported by AAPT and APS. The journal resulted from discussions between APS, AAPT, and the APS Forum on Education and reflects the need for a wide ranging and widely distributed peer review journal for researchers in this field. Robert J. Beichner is the editor, David Maloney, associate editor, and Vince Kuo and Debbie Broadbar, assistant editors. Thirty-five papers were submitted in 2005 with 13 accepted or in the process of revision. Importantly, the median time between submission receipt and acceptance is 95 days. The “Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference” continues to be published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), and a CD containing all the articles will accompany next year’s proceedings. Thanks to AIP’s involvement, copies of past proceedings are now available for purchase.
A new conference, the Foundations and Frontiers in Physics Education Research (FFPER), was held August 15, 2005, in Bar Harbor, Maine. Attended by 60 physics education researchers, the meeting presented a unique forum for examining and articulating the current state of the field and exploring future directions. Plenary lectures synthesized major accomplishments in the field and/or speculated on important and promising future avenues for research. Afternoons were unscheduled, modeled after the Gordon Research Conferences, and provided ample time for informal discussions and developing collaborations. Evening sessions included topical groups for specific research issues, a contributed poster session, and working groups on subjects of community-wide interest. Participants expressed tremendous satisfaction with the format, setting, and content of the meeting; and several described collaborations, papers, and projects that were created or revitalized at the meeting. The conference was partially funded by a grant from the APS Forum on Education, and endorsed by APS and AAPT. There was very strong support for holding a similar conference in 2007, and we hope APS and AAPT will reaffirm and increase their support for such ventures.
The appearance of PERLOC, the new Physical Review Journal, and the FFPER conference are natural outcomes of the vitality and growth of the PER community. As the community grows larger, it naturally seeks to develop it’s own elected leadership, publication venues, and conferences. As these continue to evolve, so to will the relationship between AAPT and the PER community.
-Scott Franklin, Chair
Review Board Response
The PER committee continues to be one of the most active area committees. Its role is still evolving with the emergence of the PERLOC organization. The committee has a large and positive impact on AAPT meetings. In the organization of AAPT meetings it could come up with a model to both focus some PER sessions and make others so that PER is more accessible to the members of AAPT who could use the results in their classes. It could also take the lead in instigating workshops that address specific needs of the AAPT community.
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2005 Committee on Science Education for the Public
The Committee on Science Education for the Public (CSEP) is committed to conveying physics concepts and the importance of science instruction to the general public. Committee members have been especially active in 2005 in support of the World Year of Physics (WYP). Our primary method for achieving our goal is to provide AAPT members and the physics community information and support through workshops and sessions organized by committee members. To this end, the CSEP has organized sessions, workshops, and crackerbarrels to address societal issues, and to support science outreach efforts and science education for the general public. Events focusing on societal issues include the ever-popular sessions and crackerbarrels on “Physics and Society Education,” as well as sessions on “Art in Physics” and “Physics in Art”; “Physics and the Media”; “Energy and the Environment”; and a session on “Physics of Winter, Snow, and Ice.” Workshops on societal issues include “The Population Game,” based on the problems associated with the exponential growth of the human population, and a workshop on “Science of Information Technology.” Events focusing on science outreach and public education include sessions and crackerbarrels on “WYP Projects,” “Real Examples and Help,” “WYP Outreach in Progress,” and “WYP Outreach Retrospective.” Workshops on outreach and public education include “Teaching Physics with Toys,” “Teaching Physics with Magic,” and “Physics on the Road.” CSEP members have also been involved in public physics demonstration shows at the 2005 AAPT Winter and Summer meetings.
In addition to direct service to the AAPT membership, CSEP is committed to providing the physics community with resources to support physics outreach. During the national meeting in Albuquerque CSEP members were tasked with determining what resources are available in print that provide information on how to set-up, organize, and fund a physics outreach program. Very few resources were found, and none of them addressed all of the areas the committee agreed were necessary for a comprehensive resource. As a result, the CSEP will host a crackerbarrel at the 2006 Summer Meeting in Syracuse on the drafting of a how-to guide for physics outreach, and seek funding to support one or more meetings of physics outreach experts to draft such a guide.
-Steve Shropshire, Chair
Review Board Response
The CSEP has served AAPT well with its numerous sessions and workshops at our meetings. The committee’s current efforts in promoting the WYPO5 have been laudable. We especially note their next project of providing a how-to guide for physics outreach. The Review committee encourages the committee to submit a proposal to the Board to help fund this project.
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2005 Committee on Space Science and Astronomy
The Committee on Space Science and Astronomy (SSA) continues to progress towards a goal of facilitating access to both space science and astronomy research content as well as innovations in teaching space science and astronomy for AAPT members. In working toward this goal, the committee sponsors the following regular events: “Frontiers of Astronomy” content sessions at national meetings, featuring presentations by active researchers; “Innovations in Teaching Astronomy” sessions that highlight pedagogical techniques, including those based on astronomy education research; and opportunities for the greater space science and astronomy education community to network and share ideas through venues such as Share-a-Thons, Town Meetings, and crackerbarrel sessions. In addition to these regular events, the SSA sponsors topical sessions as opportunities present themselves.
SSA regularly receives an abundance of requests from members of the Space Science and Astronomy research and education communities who wish to offer workshops that demonstrate ways to integrate astronomical topics and modern observations into high school and college courses. As evidence of the wealth of opportunities in this area, the SSA consistently fields more workshop requests than AAPT can accommodate, and we believe this will continue for the foreseeable future. SSA sponsored the following sessions and workshops in 2005:
Winter Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
Workshops:
*Radio Astronomy in the Undergraduate Classroom
*NASA’s High Energy Vision: Chandra and the X-ray Universe
*Seeing the Universe with a New Set of Eyes
*Using Science Fiction To Teach Science
*CLEA in the 21st Century: Observational Astronomy Simulations in the Instructional Laboratory
*Teaching Cosmology with Data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Sessions:
*Space Weather: Science and Tools of the Trade (co-sponsored with the Committee on Women in Physics)
*Astronomy Teaching Share-a-Thon
*Physics and Astronomy in Native American and Hispanic Cultures (co-sponsored with the Committee on Minorities in Physics)
*Astronomy Education Research Town Meeting
Summer Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT
Workshops:
*Chandra’s High Energy Vision: Imaging the X-ray Universe
*Learner-Centered Astronomy Teaching I & II
*Class Action: Interactive Classroom Materials for Introductory Astronomy
*Simulation Environments for Introductory Astronomy
Sessions:
*Space Science and Astronomy Education in Informal Settings
*Astronomy Education Research Town Meeting
*Astronomy Teaching E-Community Crackerbarrel
*Innovations in Teaching Astronomy
*Frontiers of Astronomy
The committee is pleased to report that interest in space science and astronomy remains strong among the AAPT membership as evidenced by workshop, session, and committee meeting attendance. Astronomy topics continue to be recognized as a way of teaching physics concepts in an exciting context.
-Michelle Larson, Chair
Review Board Response
The Committee on Space Science and Astronomy (SSA) continues to work with a wide variety of groups, personnel, and resources to bring pedagogical advances in astronomy education, teaching, and outreach to our members. Space science and astronomy are natural applications of many topics addressed in our introductory physics courses, as well as research opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate majors. SSA does not hesitate to collaborate with other AAPT area committees or other professional organizations to bring new content to our national meetings. The Board looks forward to the work SSA will initiate when AAPT meets with the American Astronomical Society at the AAPT 2007 Winter Meeting in Seattle.
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2005 Committee on Teacher Preparation
Committee on Teacher Preparation has an active, vibrant committee with a strong mission statement that was approved by the AAPT board last year. The Committee on Teacher Preparation had open meetings at the 2005 national meetings in Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. Attendance at the meetings (30 and 40 in Albuquerque and in Salt Lake City, respectively) included most of the committee members and many new faces and friends of the committee. Meetings began and ended on time and agendas were distributed through our listserv before each meeting.
Attendance at committee sponsored sessions has been good with strong response to call for papers. In Salt Lake City, the committee sponsored three sessions: “Electronic Learning Across the Professional Continuum,” “Course Reform and the Improvement of Learning,” and “Supporting the Development of Pre-service and Novice K-12 Teachers of Physics.”
The committee continues to collaborate with other committees to showcase teacher preparation and to provide a strong and varied program for AAPT meetings. For the Syracuse meeting the committee has developed, with the cooperation of Carol Heimpel, AAPT director of Meetings and Exhibits, an experimental poster session that consists of an invited talk, introduction of poster authors, conversations with poster presenters, and a summative discussion all in one room. Our sponsored and co-sponsored sessions and workshops are:
Sessions:
Invited/contributed (co-sponsored with High School Committee)– “Innovations in Physics Teacher Preparation”
Contributed (all contributed papers with a 15 minute wrap-up by the presider)– “Teacher-in-Residence: A Reciprocal Learning Experience”
Onvited/contributed posters (Gay Stewart, presider) – “Engaging the Community in the Preparation of Teachers of Physics”
Invited/contributed (co-sponsored with Pre-High School committee) – “Successful Programs to Prepare K-8 Teachers to Teach Physics Topics”
Workshops:
As in the past we are pleased to co-sponsor workshops on “Physics for Elementary Teachers,” “Physics by Inquiry,” “Tutorials in Introductory Physics,” and the Dan & Kathleen’s RTOP workshop. We are also offering two “new” workshops: “Building Physics Teacher Pedagogical Content Knowledge” and “Piaget Beyond ‘Piaget’ for Physics Learning.”
Efforts by the committee to increase discussion and activities in teacher preparation at AAPT sections continue to be encouraged by the availability of some financial support for sessions on this topic. At the request of the section representative, the chair traveled to Flint, Michigan, to deliver the featured talk and co-lead a workshop on “Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)” at the Michigan Section meeting on October 15. Modest support from APS continues for education sessions and teacher days at their meetings.
The committee’s connection to the PhysTEC project remains strong with one member serving on the Advisory Board, one on the Leadership team, one as project consultant, and two acting as the project’s Co-PIs. Two members of our committee served on the Steering Committee to develop the framework for the 2009 Science NAEP assessments, and one member serves on the Audit Team for the NSTA/NCATE Science Teacher Preparation Recognition Program. We continue conversations with other organizations to increase collaboration where there is common interest and encourage them to present invited talks.
Finally, we continue the effort to keep committee members and friends of the committee informed by posting current articles and reports, reminders of deadlines and the minutes of the committee meetings to the CTP-l listserv. Over two hundred friends of the committee have joined the list that now includes many of our colleagues in other organizations and those serving on APS, COE, and the FEd. We are pleased that the Board has supported our request for permanent committee status.
-Paul Hickman, Chair
Review Board Response
The committee is commended for the quantity and variety of sessions, workshop, etc. sponsored to present the interest of Teacher Preparation. The unique and creative poster session should be evaluated and shared with other committees.
The committee should work with the Committee for Physics in High School and the PhysTEC leadership to bring to the Executive Board a plan for bringing together necessary AAPT leadership that will carefully consider proposal options for a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of the PTRA model for assisting and training physics teachers. What works or doesn’t? Why does it work? What is its long-term impact on physics teaching?
A supply-demand problem for high school physics teachers is fast approaching, in part due to the increase of the number of high school students studying physics and in part due to an increase in the retirement of “baby boomer” teachers. The committee could make a contribution by considering how best to assist crossover teachers as they prepare to fill this shortfall of teachers.
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2005 Committee on Women in Physics
Consistent with our goal of aiding women in physics in career development, the Committee on Women in Physics sponsored several sessions this past year focusing on achievements and research by women in physics-related fields. The Winter Meeting in Albuquerque included “Space Weather,” an invited session, which featured speakers Delores Kipp (USAF Academy), Gisela Dreschhoff (Univ. of Kansas), and Laura Peticolas (UC, Berkeley) discussing physics research in the near-earth environment. The Summer Meeting in Salt Lake City highlighted local women in a session entitled “Highlight on Women in Physics in Utah.” The invited session began with Heidi Wayment, a graduate of Utah State University with a B.S. in physics who works in the ceramics industry. She described the new fabrication and testing techniques she has learned, and she made connections between her physics training and important job skills.
Sarah Rollins, a master’s candidate in physics at Brigham Young University, spoke about her research on the acoustics of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City; and Linda Walter, a 20-year-plus high school teacher from Payson High School in rural Utah shared her challenges and strategies for dealing with isolation, lack of funding, and the traditional family culture guiding women’s choice of careers in the role of encouraging students, especially women, in physics. We also helped sponsor a memorial session on Melba Phillips and her contributions to physics. A close friend, former student, and colleague, Sallie Watkins, delivered an address that focused on Phillips the person; Watkins related several amusing anecdotes in her address.
Several of the sessions sponsored by the committee focused on strategies for effective recruitment and retention of women in physics. At the Winter Meeting a panel discussion (co-sponsored with the Committee on Minorities), featuring Native American Women at Sandia who are involved in science and engineering, brought out a wide variety of experiences and routes to success. The courage and persistence displayed by each of these women in the face of cultural, and sometimes family, obstacles was inspiring. Suggestions from the panel on what the committee can do to help advance women and underrepresented minorities included: stress (especially to high school counselors) the need for continuing and advanced mathematics education in high school in order to prepare students for careers in science and technology; actively mentor students of all levels, since many good students do not seek help; collect and provide access to information on opportunities and scholarships for minorities; and advertise possible summer opportunities for students interested in the sciences. A well attended session (co-sponsored with the Committee on Minorities) entitled “What Do Teachers (K-20) Need to Know to Work with Underrepresented Groups in Physics?” looked at ways to make the science classroom more inclusive.
Once again at the national meetings, outreach activities were planned. At the Winter Meeting about 100 minority, K-12 students visited the Atomic Museum and took part in activities sponsored by Sandia Labs as part of the Students Experiencing Engineering and Science program organized by Betty Preece.
During the most recent committee meeting we discussed many issues of importance. Goals for the coming year include: more frequent communication among members and friends of the committee in order to build community and to carry out essential business; updating the committee’s website to include current information, issues, and links to other societies and resources for women in science; and planning sessions and events in collaboration with the Programs Committee to help coordinate AAPT’s 75th anniversary celebration with our own 25th anniversary.
To help communicate current issues involving women in physics the committee sponsored a crackerbarrel entitled “Attracting and Advancing Women in Physics,” led by Barbara Whitten of Colorado College and by Beverly Karplus Hartline, a member of the IUPAP International Working Group on Women in Physics and a co-leader of the U.S. delegation to the May 2005 International Conference on Women in Physics held in Rio de Janiero. They shared results of the conference and solicited ideas and contributions regarding difficulties women are facing and suggestions as to what is working to increase participation of women in the sciences.
In October, Barbara Whitten served as AAPT representative at the annual meeting of APS’s Committee on the Status of Women in Physics. She presented a short report on what we have accomplished this year and our plans for the future. Whitten will bring back information on what activities CSWP is involved in. We hope this communication between the societies develop further in order to focus on current issues affecting women in physics, so we may support each other in activities designed to promote the participation of women and girls in the sciences.
In addition, this November the committee was invited to send a representative to join the College Board’s Course Validation Panel, which will investigate and validate a set of “best practices” for teaching the introductory physics course based on current physics education research. It is hoped that this will lead to improved curriculum and methods for the AP Physics course. Lauren Jones of Gettysburg College has volunteered to be our representative. We are looking forward to being a part of this project.
-Margaret P. Hill, Chair
Review Board Response
This committee has been very active, especially in making many contributions to the national meetings. Our meetings have been richer for these contributions. Women are active and visible at the national meetings. They occupy prominent roles as speakers. The Review Board commends and encourages the committee to continue this kind of activity.
The committee’s recent involvement on behalf of AAPT with the parallel APS committee and with the College Board’s project to validate the AP physics tests is a healthy development. By reaching out to other groups with compatible interests, the committee spreads its ideas and influence and provides good visibility for AAPT and its members.
Given the strong activity of activity at national meetings, the committee might consider asking one or more of the women presenters to write articles for the American Journal of Physics, The Physics Teacher, or Physics Today. Such an effort would enhance the dissemination of the energy and good ideas that exist in the AAPT community regarding the role of women in physics.
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