JULY 2013
CIERA Leads NU to PTEC Membership
Northwestern University, led by CIERA, has just been named as a member institution of The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PTEC). PTEC is a network of institutions - more than 250 in number - committed to improving the education of future physics and physical science teachers. PTEC is a major component of the PhysTEC project, which is led by the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers.
PTEC added NU as a new member because of our NSF-funded Computing Education for the 21st Century Project to develop computational thinking and computational modeling curricular materials for high-school science and math classrooms (including physics) and provide teacher training and professional development in implementing these materials. The project PIs include members of CIERA, faculty in computer science, science education, and the Office of STEM Education Partnerships. NU CIERA is also running an NSF GK-12 program partnering NU STEM graduate students with local middle and high school teachers (including physics teachers) to incorporate cutting edge research and mentoring into their classroom curricula.
Membership in PTEC will help facilitate attendance and dissemination of results from NU projects at PTEC conferences and workshops, provide access to information about new funding opportunities and related programs to our current efforts, and fresh ideas about new ways to support physics teacher preparation. We also expect that membership in PTEC will help fuel interest and ideas for how to increase the number of NU undergraduates pursuing the degree in secondary education with a focus in physics.
-Laura Trouille