Regional Workshops to Improve Teaching of High School Physics

南密西西比大学和杰克逊州立大学将分别为20名交叉和认证的物理教师举办为期四周的夏季研讨会。这些研讨会将重复进行三年，参与者将从密西西比州和邻近州的学区中选出。工作坊参加者将会用容易获得的材料制作出高品质的实验仪器，这样每位参加者就可以把一系列的模型实验带到他们的高中。包括一个木制的力台，它有一个电脑生成的纸度圆，带滑轮的鱼竿眼尖，一个独特的动力学车，当它沿着纸轨移动时，会留下一个定时的笔迹，一个利用磁性安装组件的光学工作台，以及使用廉价交流电源适配器作为电源的欧姆定律装置。交叉教师将与有资格的物理教师一起，围绕已构建的设备设计实验。每个设备的实验活动将由团队中的一名成员撰写，另一名成员将扮演高中生的角色进行实验。然后，每个团队将向小组展示他们的结果，以供批评和改进。只有在所有团队提出建议和改进后，才能确定最终的实验。这个过程将产生超过25个经过测试和证明的实验，强调引导发现方法。通过这种方式，跨界教师将通过构建、实践和分享来训练物理概念。同时，将为高中提供一种有吸引力的工具，以提高其物理实验室的质量。学区将通过以下方式参与：支持同侪主导的研讨会，指定教育主管和物理资源人员，代表出席学年研讨会，并承诺帮助构建和执行研讨会开发的实验。费用分摊相当于NSF奖金的20%。

The University of Southern Mississippi and Jackson State University will each host a four-week summer workshop for twenty cross-over and certified physics teachers. These workshops will be repeated for a total of three years with participants being selected from school districts in Mississippi and neighboring states. Workshops participants will construct high-quality experimental apparatus from kits of easily obtained materials so that each participant can deliver a series of model experiments to their high schools. Included will be a wooden force table having a computer-generated paper degree circle with fishing rod eye tips for pulleys, a unique kinetics car which leaves a timed pen trace as it moves along a paper track, an optical bench which utilizes magnetically mounted components, and an Ohm's law apparatus which uses an inexpensive AC power adaptor as its power supply. A cross-over teacher will work with a certified physics teacher to design experiments around the constructed apparatus. Experimental activities for each apparatus will be written up by one member of the team, and the other member, in the role of a high school student, will perform the experiment. Each team will then present their results for critique and improvement to the group. The final experiments will only be defined after all teams have contributed their recommendations and improvement. This process will generate over twenty-five tested and proven experiments which emphasize the guided discovery approach. In this manner, cross-over teachers will be trained in physics concepts by building, doing and sharing. At the same time an attractive vehicle will be provided for high schools to improve the quality of their physics laboratories. School districts will participate by supporting peer-led workshops, by designating educational supervisors and physics resource persons, by representative attendance at academic year workshop conferences, and by committing to help construct and perform experiments developed by the workshop. Cost sharing equals 20% of the NSF award.