Active Teachers and PhD Programs in Physics Education

[Birkeland]

Seeing how dead the educators and teaching forum is, I was just wondering how many active members of the forums are current teachers, and what level?

I am currently a high school physics teacher, with some experience as a class TA during undergrad. I am starting on a master in science education, and want to find a doctoral program in physics education with the eventual goal of start a physics education program at a university.

Anyone else?

 

[eumyang]

High school math/music teacher here. Certified in math, but not in music. (I teach at a private school where certification is encouraged but not required.) I had thought of teaching math at a community college, but I don't have a master's in math. I have no desire to get a PhD in any subject. ;)

 

[Andy Resnick]

I'm University faculty (Physics department) and I participate in the local UTeach program on the side.

 

[ZapperZ]

I don't teach (anymore), but I do supervise graduate students and teach them "experimental skills" and how to be a physicist.

Zz.

 

[physics girl phd]

I am currently a lecturer at a large state flagship (in its Department of Physics and Astronomy), but (in a previous "life") I taught high school physics and chemistry.

I also teach our kids (ages 2, 12 and 18) stuff all the time (what parent doesn't?).. and I think I'm going to get roped into working with our middle school son's Science Olympiad team. He really connected with his science teacher this past year (the first ever male teacher he had, finally!) so he thus decided to be on the team this coming year since that teacher is one of coaches... and unfortunately I was used as additional "bait" to make sure of his position on the team).

 

[sin2beta]

I am a teacher and certified for high school mathematics, physics, and computer science. I also am a graduate student at Oklahoma State University in Mathematics Education (research in cognitive architecture (ACT-R) informing math reform). I did some experimental methods teaching for physics REU students at the University of Colorado - Boulder.

@OP - I would recommend UC - Boulder or Maryland - College Park very strongly for physics education. Both schools have very strong enthusiastic departments. Both are very good for physics as well. I received my B.A. in math and physics from UCB and it was my experience there that directed me toward education. Here are some example dissertations. http://www.colorado.edu/physics/EducationIssues/research/dissertations.htm

 

[George Jones]

I have taught about 30 different courses at the university level in Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. I also spent a year teaching high school chemistry, computer programming, mathematics, and physics.

 

[mikelepore]

I taught high school physics just once, 8th grade physical science just once, and college algebra-based physics 2 just once. Now I have been asked to come back in the fall semester to teach college calculus-based physics 1. So I'm really a novice. In my former career I was an electrical engineer in private industry, and I 'm choosing to take this big pay cut because I enjoy it a lot more.

 

[daveb]

I've taught chemistry and physics at the local community college and was just shy of getting licensed for teaching high school physics before I got the job I'm at now. I was also (technically) an adjunct faculty member at Ohio State through my previous employer's job training, teaching radiation physics to nuclear pharmacists.

 

[turbo]

I took 3 "theory of education" courses in my junior year, thinking that a double-major in English Literature and Philosophy might not give me many job opportunities. As it turned out, my freshman engineering courses and some civil engineering background got me into the pulp and paper industry, and when I got sick of that shift-work grind and bailed out, I found myself teaching. Developing, writing, and presenting educational materials to adults is not all that easy. When you have to school a bunch of DuPont's industrial electrical supervisors in electrical safety, for instance, it's a good idea to find ways to keep stuff interesting so that they are still paying attention when you present information about the lethality of low-amperage hand-to-hand shocks, grounding, personal protection, etc.

 

[mathwonk]

I have taught at university in math for over 40 years (retired in 2010), and briefly volunteer taught high school and second grade. This summer I was a geometry teacher for the Epsilon Camp, an intervention for exceptionally/profoundly gifted 8-10 year olds. We discussed most of the first 4 books of Euclid in 12 days, at about the level of my university classes on the same topic.

 

[hunt_mat]

I am a teaching assistant at a university. I teach basic calculus.