Recent calls from a variety of sectors including some
funding agencies and professional societies encourage
physicists to take a more active interest in the education
of K-12 students and their teachers. Although there are a
broad range of possible activities, finding time to
participate is always a challenge for the researcher. How
does the busy physicist ensure that the time devoted to
education or outreach activities produces meaningful results
without adversely affecting his or her research program?
Project Fulcrum, a NSF-funded program that teams science and
math graduate students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
with 4th -8th grade teachers in the Lincoln Public Schools,
presents a case study of how research scientists can be
meaningfully involved with K-12 education. Project Fulcrum’s
preliminary results indicate that the impact scientists have
in the classroom goes far beyond providing expertise in
physics, and turns out to be very different than originally
anticipated. There are a wide variety of models for
involvement in education and outreach that cover a broad
span of time and energy commitments. Careful project choice,
establishing administrative infrastructure, collaborating
with other departments and colleges, and involving
colleagues can optimize the impact-made-to-time-spent ratio.
Challenges such as project evaluation, overcoming the
negative attitudes of some physicists towards anything not
related to research, and ensuring that participants get
appropriate credit for their efforts will also be discussed.
The conclusion will address the personal and professional
rewards of involvement in education and outreach. This work
is funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF-DGE0086358). The author wishes to acknowledge the
contributions of co-PIs G. Buck, S. Kirby, R. Kirby and P.
Dussault, and all of the Project Fulcrum Fellows and
Teachers.
[T6.002] LAPTAG-A Physics Outreach Program at UCLA
Walter Gekelman (University of California, Los Angeles)
LAPTAG was founded in 1993 during a meeting sponsored by the
APS, which encouraged high schools and Universities to form
alliances. There are currently about twenty high schools,
several community colleges and two Universities (UCLA and
USC) involved. At first LAPTAG organized tours of
laboratories at UCLA, USC, JPL, General Atomics and the Mt.
Wilson Observatory and had meetings in which issues on
curricula were discussed. It became obvious after awhile
that in order for the group to last that projects were
necessary. An early project involved having the high school
faculty and students create Websites for most of the
schools. This was before most the schools could afford
Internet connections and Web authoring tools did not exist.
Then with funding from the UC Office of the President, a
seismology project was initiated and ten schools received
seismometers. There were lectures by geologists and staff
members of the Southern California Earthquake center;
results were reported on the Web. In the spring of 1999
LAPTAG gave seven posters at the Condensed Matter APS
meeting in Los Angeles. A web based astronomy course was
created and high school students controlled the Mount Wilson
telescope remotely and studied a variable star. Our latest
project, funded by the Department of Energy resulted in the
construction of a plasma lab dedicated to LAPTAG. The lab
has equipment that is used by practicing plasma physicists
(tone-burst generators, digital scopes, digital data
acquisition and computerized probe drives) as well as
software (LabView, PVwave). The high school students and
teachers built the machine and all the associated
diagnostics. Examples of the experiments will be given,
however it is not a cookbook lab. As new experiments are
introduced the same difficulties we all face must be
overcome; the students take part in this. In the November
2001 APS-DPP meeting in Long Beach, CA the high school
students presented five posters on the plasma device and
wave experiments. The LAPD laboratory is now a National User
Facility and LAPTAG is a key component of its outreach
program.
[T6.003] An Elephant in the Room: Broadening the Dissemination of Science
Susan Wyckoff (University of Arizona)
This abstract not available.
[T6.004] Moving Engineering out of the lab and into the elementary school with LEGO bricks
Chris Rogers (Tufts University)
This abstract not available.
[T6.005] Expanding the PhysTEC Coalition
Fredrick Stein (American Physical Society)
The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) is a community of physics departments representing scientists and educators at institutions dedicated to improving the science preparation of future K-12 teachers. Now in its second year, PhysTEC requires physics and education faculty to work together to provide an education for future teachers that emphasizes interactive engagement and a student-centered approach to learning science. The first six Coalition members are the physics departments at Ball State University, Oregon State University, University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, Western Michigan University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. PhysTEC is creating a broad, active Coalition of physics departments that have implemented or are interested in implementing one or more of the PhysTEC Program Components. · A long-term, active collaboration among the physics department, the department of education, and the local schools. · A Teacher-in-Residence (TIR) program that provides for a full-time participant in assisting faculty in course revisions. · The redesign of physics courses based on results from physics education research. · The redesign of elementary and secondary science methods courses with an emphasis on inquiry-based teaching and learning. · The establishment of a mentoring program to provide a valuable induction experience for novice science teachers. · The participation of physics faculty in the improvement and expansion of school experiences. www.phystec.org