Summer Workshop for High School Teachers of Physics and Physical Science

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This project will provide an opportunity for three weeks of con- centrated study of electricity and magnetism for 30 Wisconsin high school teachers of physics and/or physical science. The schedule calls for lecture/discussion sessions as well as laboratory work. The instructional staff includes two University physics professors and one master teacher from a nearby high school; in addition, scientists from local industries will participate. As part of the follow-up activities, the workshop director will visit the classrooms of the teacher participants during the spring following the summer workshop. In addition the participants will meet during the spring meeting of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers to discuss their experiences in implementing the new material covered during the workshop into their regular courses. The evaluation plan calls for several different activities. First, the workshop will be visited and assessed by the Science Supervisor from the State Department of Public Instruction. Second, an opinion survey will be completed by participants near the end of the workshop. Third, the project director will assess the impact of the workshop on teaching practices during the on-site visits and the spring meeting. Finally, a questionnaire completed by participants during the academic year after the workshop will determine the extent to which ten specific project goals were achieved. The dissemination plan will also be completed in four steps: 1) The project director will report results at a convention of the Northwest Wisconsin Education Association. 2) Reports will also be given at meetings of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and the American Association of Physics Teachers. 3) The instructional materials used during the workshop, all developed locally specifically for this workshop, will be supplied to interested teachers on request. 4) Participants will be encouraged to write articles about the influence of the workshop on their teaching for professional journals. This is a well-designed project. It promises to make a major impact on high school physics teaching in Wisconsin. In addition, it includes several innovative features, and the evaluation plan is sufficiently thorough to allow assessment of the effectiveness of these innovations.