Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 1 Center for Nanoscale Systems Institute for...
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Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 1
Center for Nanoscale SystemsInstitute for Physics Teachers
CNS Educational Mission: To assist and support K-12 physical science teachers
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 2
Needs of High-School Physics Teachers
Intellectual community Relatively little contact with university scientists Isolation from peers (typically one physics teacher/school)
Professional development Few appropriate resources to learn about modern physics and technology Need to increase confidence with scientific concepts
Lab enhancement Few hands-on activities for teaching modern physics Few resources for equipment (~$20 per pupil per year) New learning standards require more inquiry labs
Stimulation for most advanced students Need access to university-level scientists and resources
Source: Conversations with and surveys of physics teachers.
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 3
Workshops and Summer Institute Interactions with
Scientists
Lab Kit Development
• Updates on advances in physics/technology
• Building a community of physics teachers
• Scientists help to leadworkshops/courses
• Scientists and teachers work together on lab development
• Develop new effective activities for teaching physics/technology
• Commercialize kits
• Build “lending library” of lab kits
CIPTCNS Institute CNS Institute forfor Physics TeachersPhysics Teachers
Building Solutions to Teacher Needs
Intellectual community
of teachers & researchers
HS lab enhancement
Teacherprofessional development
Stimulating advanced students
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 4
K-12 target population
Initial focus High school physics
teachers New York State
NY science teachers who attended at least one workshop since inception
Year 1: 105 teachers Year 2: 181 teachers Year 3: 239 teachers Year 4: 365 teachers Year 5: 475 teachers
Location of New York physics teachers who have attended at least one CIPT workshop. Marker color indicates the number of workshops attended.
18% New York State HS physics teachers attended at least one workshop44% of these teachers attended two or more workshops
Number of workshops teacher attended1, 178 56.2%2, 71 22.4%3, 24 7.6%4, 18 5.7%5 to 12, 26 8.2%
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 5
Satellite Communities
Satellite Locations New York (146 teachers) Cleveland (35 teachers) Los Angeles (82 teachers) Salt Lake City (35 teachers) Singapore (150 teachers) Jackson, MS (30 teachers)
New YorkJackson, MS Los Angeles
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 6
Summer Teacher Institute
Teacher support Cornell academic credit Housing, tuition, stipend Classroom lab equipment
Participants (2003 - 2005) NY (78), other U.S. (10), Singapore (5) 9 teachers returned in 2004 17 teachers returned in 2005
Course DescriptionsPHYS 501 Contemporary Physics for Teachers(2 weeks, 2 credits)A lecture and lab course with a theme of nanoscale science and engineering. Topics include electronics, photonics, nanoscience and particle physics.
PHYS 502 Topics in Physics for Teachers(1 week, 1 credit)A lecture and lab course that changes each year to address the needs of teachers and provide alumni an opportunity to keep updated.
Teachers learn how to use a scanning tunneling microscope to image atoms
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 7
Summer Institute Evaluation
Pre/post test results Median score increased (40% to 82%)
Post-course written evaluation Enthusiastic response (see below) All teachers planned to use most labs
at end of courses Follow-up survey (end of school year)
67% return rate for June 2005 survey Overall effect of participation?
(1 = no effect, 5 = enormous effect)• 2003 class: 4.2 (one year later)• 2004 class: 4.6 (one year later)
Average lab implementation rate: 40%
Typical teacher comments from Summer 2005:
“Learning new things from leaders in their fields was the best part”
“Apart from specific content, I’ve been very energized by the experience”
“[This experience will] improve quality and quantity of hands on experiences in areas of modern physics, waves and electronics that I haven’t been able to provide in the past”
Summer 2005 Contemporary Physics graduating class
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 8
Short Workshops
“Excellent talk – good for enrichment and extensions”
Most interesting scientific concept:
“how nanotubes are made”
McEuen lab tour
Lipson lecture
LED lab
“Awesome lab for modern physics—a rarity!”
Short workshop stats: Average 10 per year, various locations Average 40 teachers per Cornell workshop Average rating for Cornell workshops: 4.8 (1 =
waste of time, 5 = extremely useful)
Lecture topics included: Michal Lipson, “Nanophotonics” George Malliaras, “Organic light emitting devices” Melissa Hines, “Using surface chemistry to
improve tiny resonators”
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 9
Overview of CNS Lab Development Effort
Assemble a suite of ~50 lab kits Themes
Nanoscale science and engineering Fundamental physical concepts
Targets High-school curriculum Introductory college courses
Teacher
Hands-onactivity
CNS FacultyIntro
NanotechnologyCourse
CNSGrad Student
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 10
New CNS Labs
The Phantastic Photon Atomic force microscopy Imaging atoms with a STM Resistance of gold nanowires Light emitting diodes Thin films and interference Communicating with light The phantastic photon Pinball analogy to Bohr model Rutherford scattering Quantum socks Superconductivity and resistance Exploring wave phenomena Water analogy to electric circuits Resonance Physics of rock climbing Chaos Vortex rings Rollercoaster kinematics Discovering Ohm’s law There’s the Rub Labs in blue available at www.westhillbio.com
Water Analogy to Electric Circuits
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 11
CNS Lending Library
2003/04Cornell – 24 requests
2004/05Cornell – 40 requestsCA – 14 requests
2005/06Cornell – 64 requestsCA – 17 requestsUT – 3 requests
Lending library activity:
More than 3400 students used lending library kits in 2005/06 school year
Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006 12
Next steps
Continue workshops and summer institute for physics teachers Maintain two-week course “Contemporary Physics for Teachers” New one-week course each year to update alumni Continue offering one-day workshops in a variety of locations
Continue building suite of physics lab kits Goal: 5-10 new kits per year Commercialize additional kits as appropriate
Develop middle school level programs Poorest, minority-serving districts infrequently offer physics Many students lose interest in science in middle school Pursue additional funding for development of middle school level
activities and workshops