Initial Publication Date: January 7, 2014

American Physical Society

50,000 members
Education staff lead: Theodore Hodapp, hodapp@aps.org
http://www.aps.org
APS MISSION STATEMENT

  • Be the leading voice for physics and an authoritative source of physics information for the advancement of physics and the benefit of humanity
  • Provide effective programs in support of the physics community and the conduct of physics
  • Collaborate with national scientific societies for the advancement of science, science education and the science community
  • Cooperate with international physical societies to promote physics, to support physicists worldwide and to foster international collaboration
  • Promote an active, engaged, and diverse membership, and support the activities of its units and members

Education and Diversity

  • Be a leading voice in physics education and diversity programs, creating and partnering in models that can be replicated by other scientific societies.
    • Serve physics departments by providing access to knowledge regarding best practices for teaching and learning physics, and for ensuring strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
  • Provide innovative programs that enhance student physics education for the 21st century.
    • - Raise the levels of physics competency among students by leading programs focused on increasing the quality of physics instruction.
    • - Provide leadership on policy issues involving STEM education.

Physics Teacher Education Coalition
http://www.phystec.org

The mission of PhysTEC is to improve and promote the education of future physics teachers.

  • PhysTEC Goals
    • Transform physics departments to engage in preparing physics teachers
    • Demonstrate successful models for increasing the number of highly qualified teacher of physics prepared at colleges and universities
    • Spread best-practice ideas throughout the physics teacher preparation community

Department Chairs Meetings
http://www.aps.org/programs/education/conferences/chairs/

The American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers jointly organize the Physics Department Chairs Conference. This conference is part of a series of conferences that have been organized biennially for the past three decades. Conferences are now organized annually. Topics are assembled by chairs and a steering committee including leadership from both APS and AAPT.

Education Conferences
http://www.aps.org/programs/education/conferences

APS sponsors a number of conferences and workshops on a variety of educational topics. These were stand-alone meetings, typically held at our headquarters building in College Park, MD. Past conference topics include:
  • Distance Education / Online Learning Workshop
  • Graduate Education Conference
  • Learning Assistants Workshop
  • Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program
  • SPIN-UP Workshops
  • REU Site Leaders Workshop

Premier Contribution to Faculty Development

New Faculty Workshop
http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/newfaculty/nfw.cfm
  • A focus on the introductory course along with lessons that apply to advanced undergraduate and graduate courses
  • Presentations surrounding effective teaching ideas that can be reproduced with minimum time and effort
  • Exploration of new developments in physics and astronomy curriculum and pedagogy
  • Materials provided for immediate application in the classroom
  • Facilitated discussions between new faculty, guided by a resource person. Popular topics include: promotion and tenure issues, dual-career couples, time management, and balancing professional and personal activities
  • Opportunities to meet with program officers from the National Science Foundation's research and education directorates

Additional Undergraduate Education Activities of APS