PROFESSOR TAKES PHYSICS EDUCATION REFORM TO THE NEXT LEVEL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A University of Arkansas professor plans to expand a successful physics education reform program to include preparing future secondary school teachers to teach physics.

Gay Stewart, associate professor of physics, will present initial information on the University’s involvement in the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) on Saturday, April 28, at the American Physical Society Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The U of A is one of six pilot institutions chosen by the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics to implement the first stages of improving the science preparation of physics, physical science and elementary teachers nationwide.

"Improved physics education is vital to our increasingly technology-dependent world," Stewart said. "But teachers avoid physics, a class they found hard in college themselves." This often leads to poorly prepared college students who perpetuate the cycle by avoiding physics themselves.

Stewart wants to break the cycle by actively educating kindergarten through 12^th grade teachers in the physical sciences, so that in turn they can confidently teach their students about physics. The PhysTEC program will allow the U of A to develop model teacher preparation programs that can then be used by universities nationwide.

PhysTEC will involve both the physics and mathematics departments and the College of Education and Health Professions through professor Mike Wavering, who specializes in secondary science education, and Caroline Beller, who specializes in middle level science education. A pilot course combining physics methods and the College of Education’s science methods classes will be offered this summer.

Stewart has a strong record in the field of physics education reform. Six years ago she implemented changes in the University’s introductory calculus-based electromagnetism and optics course. The teachers use everyday phenomena to introduce physical concepts in the classroom; students explore how lightning works and why the sky is blue. They spend four hours a week in the lab, working in groups doing experiments and operating demonstrations with instructions like "mess with it until it works."

An average of 2.5 physics majors graduated every year between 1990 and 1997. But starting in 1998, the first year that students who took the reformed introductory physics courses graduated, the average number of graduating physics majors shot up to 10. This year 15 physics majors are expected to graduate.

Stewart credits other changes in the undergraduate curriculum that also have helped boost the number of physics majors. In 1998, the department strongly revised its bachelor of science degree and also revised some upper division courses. The department also revised the bachelor of arts degree and some introductory courses, and added some new courses.

"Of course, more than just the faculty needs to be working toward the goal for physics education reform to work," Stewart said.

She is the director of the University’s Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program, one of four pilot sites in the nation, which helps prepare graduate students for all aspects of an academic career, including teaching. The physics department has offered teaching assistant training since 1996, but PFF, which is funded by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the National Science Foundation, has allowed the department to expand the program to offer different kinds of teaching opportunities. This program benefits the undergraduate students because graduate students who have teaching assistantships (T.A.s) often teach at least part of the introductory courses.

The T.A.s must learn how to ask questions, how to keep students’ attention and how to solve problems in the classroom setting, Stewart said.

"You can get people thinking about what situations can arise," she said.

T.A.s have lots of contact with the students, Stewart said. They need training so they can learn how to best help the students learn, and enhance their interest in physics.

"Our department is really leading the way in education, at the undergraduate level, for future K-12 teachers, and for graduate students," Stewart said.

In addition to her work to reform physics for undergraduates, graduate students and future teachers, Stewart also works with the Advanced Placement Physics program, helping to design and implement a curriculum that brings the results of physics education research to the high school classroom. The College Board that implements the AP programs is working to reform the exams so they evaluate what students should know, instead of assuming that if students can do the problems then they understand the concepts.

"This way, you can only have a positive impact on science education," Stewart said. She will be giving a second invited talk on this on Sunday, April 29, at the APS meeting.

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Editor’s note: Gay Stewart will be at The Rennaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The number is (202) 898-9000.