High school science teachers in Region XV (San Angelo) are getting some much-needed training to improve their physics knowledge and teaching skills through the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant Program 
, the region’s secondary science consultant, and two professors at Angelo State University (ASU) .
Many universities in the state participate in the grant program, but ASU’s physics program is one of the few offered to science teachers in the rural area west of I-35 and it is sorely needed. The typical high school science teacher in the region is a woman who holds a composite science certificate and a bachelor’s degree in animal science or biology. Most often, she teaches every science course her high school offers. If she’s not already teaching physics, she’s aware that she will soon have to, due to the state’s four-by-four graduation requirements.
Since 2004, high school science teachers have been getting the training and equipment they need to teach physics through professors Andy Wallace and David Bixler at ASU and Region XV. Region XV’s secondary science consultant initially approached the professors to make them aware of the need and the grant money available, and in partnership with a high-needs school district, they applied for their first grant. Wallace’s expectations were not high. “I honestly thought the first [grant] wouldn’t get funded because what we were going to do was work on ways to remove the hurdles that would prevent teachers from participating and buy classroom equipment,” Wallace said.
They’re working on their fifth grant now with no end in sight. “After we finished the first grant we were really tired, but we saw the value so we wanted to continue,” Wallace said. “David Bixler and I have just told each other that we’re going to do this as long as we can get the money.”
Wallace’s first step was to call teachers and informally survey them about what they would need to be able to attend the summer training and participate in conferences and other events. Some needed funds for child care to attend training outside of school hours. Some needed to be reimbursed for the cost of a substitute teacher or their principal wouldn’t allow them to attend a conference. They all needed a place to stay during training and conferences and wouldn’t be able to afford the expense themselves. Grant funds pay all of those costs.
The heart of the program is a two-week summer workshop at ASU where teachers learn what they need to know to teach physics. Topics covered include force, motion, energy, electricity, magnetism, and light. Wallace, Bixler, and Region XV secondary science consultant Amy Rutherford provide the training. The participating teachers do some hands-on learning, too, conducting experiments and building a classroom set of some tool—for example, conductivity probes—for future use at their school.
Wallace, Bixler, and Rutherford keep the training on track by regularly asking for feedback from participants. When the professors realize that participants don’t understand a particular topic—optics, for instance—they overhaul their lesson to be sure the teachers get it. Also, if teachers come in with a good understanding of a particular topic and don’t need much help, they don’t spend as much time on it. “We do value their time and we make adjustments according to their needs,” Wallace said.
Their physics education continues with occasional Saturday training sessions and attendance at state and national conferences for science teachers. Again, the grant covers all expenses. In the fall, some participants attend the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching . Others attend an American Association of Physics Teachers Conference .
In addition to getting a significant dose of professional development—the program shoots for 112 hours per year for each participant—the long-term goal is to build a strong “community of practice” in the region so physics teachers can network and support each other as needs arise. Meeting each other at the ASU workshops and attending state and national conferences together certainly helps to build that community.
ASU is fostering that community by offering an online information sharing Web Site to program participants to allow them to chat with other participants about physics teaching. It gets plenty of use, even from teachers who attended the very first training session. Anyone who has attended the training can log in to share what’s working well for them, ask for help with some topic, or offer advice to a colleague.
Schleicher County ISD Teacher Angela Case sees the value in networking with her peers. “The other teachers have really helped my self-confidence when they’ve said, ‘You really do understand the physics you are teaching, even if it’s just one little thing they’re talking about.’” Case said. “You can’t top that compliment.”
Case has nothing but praise for the program. “It has helped a great deal,” she said. “Bixler and Wallace are very congenial and laid back and the atmosphere is casual, so it is easy to learn and not feel intimidated by the physics being taught.”
One of the things the teachers like best about the training is that they don’t leave empty handed. In addition to the tool they build, they receive physics curriculum that they can use when they get back to their districts.
An even bigger hit is the equipment the program provides them for use in their classrooms. The most recent group of teachers received laptops and flip video cameras so they could easily record lessons and send the video to ASU for post-workshop review. Case has also benefitted from a telescope, a Geiger counter, cars to teach speed and acceleration, books, and other materials to demonstrate physics concepts, all tools that have helped student comprehension.
One measure of program success is that Wallace and Bixler had to turn 18 teachers away in selecting the last cohort. Thirty-four teachers wanted to participate for the current grant cycle but the grant’s parameters limit the number of participants to 16 per cycle.
Pre- and post-training surveys show that participating teachers gain confidence in their physics skills. “They teach things they wouldn’t have taught in the past. We see gains in content knowledge, confidence, and significant gains in instructional skills, everything from how to work in the lab to methods of inquiry,” Wallace said.
Perhaps the most significant sign that the program is working is that on the whole, student achievement in physics has improved among students whose teachers have attended the training.
Certainly, Wallace and Bixler are pleased that the training is making a difference for local teachers and students, but they also see a possible upside not too far down the line for ASU. “We wanted to improve secondary science teaching in our part of the state because these kids may come to ASU and want to major in science,” Wallace said.
They’ve certainly done what they can to help those students become college ready.
