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U.Va.
offers nation's first Master of Arts in Physics Education
By
Nancy Hurrelbrinck
With
the recent introduction of a new program for high school physics
teachers, the University became the first school in the country
to offer a Master of Arts in Physics Education.
"There's
a tremendous need out there," said Richard Lindgren, research
professor of physics and the program's director, noting that less
than a third of high school physics teachers in Virginia have an
undergraduate degree in physics.
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Rebecca
Arrington
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| High
school physics teacher Trudy Gentry of Mecklenberg County and
recent Norfolk State graduate Daron Moore, who plans to teach
high school physics, give their presentation on transmitting
sound by light to faculty and fellow participants of U.Va.'s
new MAPE program Aug. 13. |
The
MAPE program is designed to give the teacher-students an opportunity
to learn the subject thoroughly, he said. It covers understanding
concepts and "learning to explain the physics of how things
work without using complex equations." This summer, 23 students
enrolled.
The
curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of adult students with
full-time teaching jobs. The three core courses, Classical and Modern
Physics I, II and III, are each begun during four intensive weeks
over three subsequent summers and then can be completed at a slower
pace during the rest of the year. MAPE students must take at least
21 credits in physics and up to nine in education courses to complete
their degree.
In
the fall, students will receive an assignment and meet for a discussion
section at U.Va. once a month, completing the course in December,
Lindgren said.
In
either the fall or spring semester, students take an independent
elective, "How Things Work," based on U.Va. physics professor
Louis Bloomfield's popular course, watching 40 lectures on videotape
and using a class web site to get their homework, which they submit
via e-mail.
The
new MAPE degree builds on the success of a summer program for middle
and high school teachers called RECET (Research Experience and Curriculum
Enhancement), that is funded by the National Science Foundation
and conducted by the U.Va. Physics
department, the School
of Engineering and the Curry
School of Education. For the last three years, RECET has offered
teachers the chance to conduct research with a professor or research
scientist for five weeks at one of nine laboratories scattered throughout
the state.
After
conducting research, the teachers gather at U.Va. for two to four
weeks to discuss pedagogy and develop labs for their students. Trudy
Gentry, who has a B.S. in mathematics and has taught physics at
Parkview High School in South Hill for 18 years, said participating
in RECET has greatly enriched her teaching.
"My
mentor [at Jefferson Lab in Newport News] was an expert in electronics,
and we measured the effect of radiation on electronics in one of
the lab's experimental halls," she said. "Since working
there, I've created labs on radiation that my students could do
with inexpensive materials."
Gentry
was one of 17 teachers who were enrolled in RECET last summer and
who plan to transfer credits from the program toward completing
the MAPE degree in December 2000, Lindgren said.
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