For physics departments that are considering sending a representative to
our U-HS Partnership workshop at the AAPT Winter meeting in San Diego,
below is a brief synopsis of our Arizona statewide partnership, AzSTEP, so
that you can see what a U-HS partnership can entail and accomplish.
(Although Modeling Workshops are a part of AzSTEP, our U-HS workshop isn't
about Modeling Workshops. It's "generic".)
For me, the chief motivation for building U-HS partnerships is to help
produce a citizenry who can think clearly - who can reason. And U-HS
partnerships can certainly result in better-prepared college students;
we're seeing that!
If a team of a faculty member and a high school physics teacher want to
apply for financial support, please reply. (Reminder: the AAPT early bird
registration discount ends this Friday.)
cheers,
Jane Jackson
The Arizona Science and Technology Education Partnership (AzSTEP)
A decade ago, the Modeling Workshop Project based at Arizona State
University (ASU) held 5-week long Modeling Workshops for two dozen Arizona
high school physics teachers. With National Science Foundation funding,
this project has evolved into a nationwide program to cultivate high school
physics teachers as leaders of science teaching reform and as local experts
on best use of technology in science teaching. Graduates of our Modeling
Workshops are in demand within their schools to assist in incorporating
technology into other science and math courses.
The Modeling Workshop Project has stimulated formation of the
Arizona Science and Technology Education Partnership (AzSTEP). AzSTEP aims
to institutionalize the reforms of the Modeling Workshops in a statewide
program. The formation of AzSTEP is well underway, owing to volunteer
efforts of physics faculty at the three state universities: David Hestenes
at ASU, Dan MacIsaac at NAU, J.D. Garcia and Ingrid Novodvorsky at the U of
A. ASU has guaranteed $50,000/year baseline funding for AzSTEP for the next
two years, and ASU plans to make it a permanent component of the Center for
Research on Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology
(CRESMET).
The mission of AzSTEP is two-fold; first, professional development
of inservice physics teachers to build a cadre of school leaders for
reform, and second, collaboration with school districts for science
education reform, using these leaders.
AzSTEP is building a strong presence in schools throughout Arizona,
but especially in the Phoenix area. AzSTEP has dominated statewide
competition for Eisenhower funds over the last three years, winning close
to $100K at each university for intensive 4-week summer modeling workshops.
More than half of the high school physics teachers in the state have
participated in at least one Modeling Workshop, resulting in documented
large increases in student understanding. About 2/3 of Arizona physics
students are now instructed by teachers who have been in modeling
workshops.
To provide physics teachers with a community of peers for mutual
support and collaboration, AzSTEP is promoting the formation and
strengthening of Local Physics Alliances (LPAs). Six LPAs span the state.
The enthusiastic participation of Arizona physics teachers in
Modeling Workshops and AzSTEP has provided justification and impetus for
expanding AzSTEP services to include a new graduate program of courses in
content and pedagogy. The program is designed expressly for physics
teachers, and it can lead to an interdisciplinary Master of Natural Science
(MNS) degree. The new program is unanimously supported by ASU physics and
astronomy faculty, and it has moved through channels to official adoption
in the ASU catalog.
AzSTEP is an example of how universities can support professional
development and science education reform in local schools.
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu