What does PhysTEC stand for?
PhysTEC stands for "Physics Teacher Education Coalition".
What is the mission of PhysTEC?
The mission of PhysTEC is to improve and promote the education of future physics teachers. The United States has a severe, long-term shortage of qualified physics teachers. In fact, in 2013, the National Task Force on Teacher Education reported that "the need for qualified physics teachers is greater now than at any previous time in U.S. history."
What is PhysTEC and what do they do?
PhysTEC is a partnership between the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). A significant amount of funding for the coalition comes from the National Science Foundation and APS's 21st Century Campaign. Using this funding, PhysTEC is able to provide resources for partnering universities that transform their physics teacher education programs into national models. Since implementing this program, the coalition has seen a significant increase in institutions engaging in teacher preparation as well as an increase in diversity, teacher retention rates, and content knowledge. PhysTEC is at over 300 institutions across the country and growing. To learn more about the resources PhysTEC has to offer visit: https://www.phystec.org/
Why PhysTEC?
PhysTEC offers lots of great resources to students and faculty all over the country. The coalition holds an annual conference each year as well as workshops.
How can you get involved?
Email the Director of Physics Education: Dr. Tonya Coffey at coffeyts@appstate.edu.