Physic teachers will be at Buffalo State College in April to discuss how students learn, who may not be disposed to learning.

• Dr. Dan MacIssac of the physics department and his wife, Kathleen Falconer of the education and reading department at BSC, will close the conference by discussing a hands-on approach to learning that they have developed. Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) uses streaming video as a tool for teacher change, using extraordinary levels of student dialogue to produce better conceptual learning of science and mathematics.

“For many people they've never had a chance to actually learn, they practice bulimic learning, memorization and regurgitation,” said MacIssac. RTOP is a way to “break the cycle, showing different ways to teach, to optimize student learning.”

“Teachers go into teaching because they want to help people, but you have to look at things critically to make change,” stated Falconer.

Buffalo State College will host a joint conference on physics and science education. “What Physics Education Research Says to Physicists and Physics Educators,” will be a combination of the 88 th Topical Symposium of the New York State Section of American Physical Society and the Spring 2004 Symposium of the New York State Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

The two-day event will be held in the Bulger Communications Building, where a dozen professionals and physics educators will speak on various aspects of science, mathematics and conceptual learning styles.

Professor Mike Zeilik, of the University of New Mexico, will give the free keynote lecture, April 16 from 8-9 pm at the Buffalo Historical Society. His lecture, “Assessment and Achievement: True Confessions of a Reformed Practitioner” will discuss several teaching alternatives to lecture. Zeilik was the winner of the 2002 Education Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the 2003 Excellence in Introductory College Physics Teaching Award of the American Association of Physics Teachers and is the author of four textbooks.

For more information on Zeilik and his work:

www.unm.edu/news/releases/02-08-05zeilil.htm

www.flaguide.org

The symposium will be broken down into three sessions:

Session I: Recruiting and Retaining Under-represented Populations

• Dr. Eugenia Etkina from the graduate school of education at Rutgers University will discuss increasing the retention of under-represented students, for example women and minorities, in physics. Her main research is in cognitive ability pertaining to physics learning. Etkina has taught astronomy at middle through high school levels and science methods for elementary through high school teachers.

For information on Etkina:

www.gse.rutgers.edu/faculty/

• Ewart Leblanc, manager at Xerox Corp, who is noted for his effort in community science outreach programs. He works with the Xerox Science Consultant Program designed to use a hands-on approach to stimulate interest in science, math and technology.

For information on Leblanc:

www.buffalostate.edu/depts/
physics/symposium04/

• Dr. Michael Neuschatz of the American Institute of Physics will focus on employment trends. He will explore how physics majors are using their degrees based on statistical analysis of industry employment data, called the physics pipeline. Neuschatz's lecture will deal extensively with expanding minority presence in physics departments across the country.

For more information on the physics pipeline:

www.aip.org/statistics/

• Dr. John Lacek of Kodak Corp will be talking about the cultural divide between university and industry values. He is involved with Kodak's Image Science Career Development Program, which provides mentoring to students to help them adjust to industry values.

For more information on Lacek:

www.buffalostate.edu/depts/
physics/symposium04/

Session II: Research on Learning Physics

• Dr. Dewey Dykstra of the physics department at Boise State University will discuss physics comprehension in the classroom. He will illustrate an alternative physics teaching method, which enhances the development of understanding, based on research data.
• Dr. Ronald K. Thornton of the Center for Science and Mathematics Learning, and professor of physics and education at Tufts University, will focus on observed behaviors of group activity in conceptual learning. He will explore the use of microcomputer based laboratory tools to teach force and motion concepts.

For more information on Thornton:

www.trykor.com/page28.html

•  Dr. Richard Steinburg, associate professor of physics and education at the City College of New York, will talk about interactive strategies to instruction in a multicultural setting. He will describe these strategies and their effectiveness.

For more information on Steinburg:

www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~rstein/rnsbio.htm

•  Dr. Karen Cummings, assistant professor of physics at Southern Connecticut State University will, deal with assessing student problem solving ability. She will be presenting a survey she developed to evaluate student learning.

For more information on Cummings:

Lists.pkal.org/people/cummings.html

Session III: Applying Research in the Physics Classroom

•  Dr. Robert Beichner of the department of physics at North Carolina State University works with the Student Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs. This program's main goal is to create a highly collaborative, hands-on, computer-rich, interactive learning environment for large enrollment courses. He uses such tools as hypothesis driven labs and Socratic dialogues to enhance student learning.

For more information on Beichner:

www.physics.ncsu.edu/people/beichner.html

Full registration costs $25 or less, and letters of attendance for teacher professional development will be available. For more information about the conference, registration forms and details: www.buffalostate.edu/depts/physics, or contact Professor Mike DeMarco at 716-878-5004.