POINTS OF PRIDE

Physics Teacher Education Program

Illinois State University

Mr. Kenneth Wester, Coordinator

Dr. Carl J. Wenning, Education Specialist

Here are some of the points of pride related to this program -- all good reasons why prospective high school physics teachers should seriously consider attending Illinois State University.

Illinois State University's Physics Teacher Education Program:

• is one of the largest Physics Teacher Education programs in the United States with more than 40 PTE majors.
• has perhaps the most complete undergraduate PTE program anywhere with six required physics teaching methods courses and one student teaching course:
  
  • PHY 209 -- Introduction to Teaching High School Physics
  • PHY 302 -- Computer Applications in High School Physics
  • PHY 310 -- Readings for Teaching High School Physics
  • PHY 311 -- Teaching High School Physics
  • PHY 312 -- Physics Teaching from the Historical Perspective (Inquiry!)
  • PHY 353 -- Student Teaching Seminar
  • STT 399 -- Student Teaching in Physics
    
• four regularly available independent study courses dealing with the Modeling Method of Instruction, CASTLE, Amusement Park Physics, and Physics by Inquiry.
• has a full-time coordinator who is dedicated to teaching the department's physics education courses, who is certified to teach physics at the secondary level, and who has more than 25 years of high school teaching experience.
• has a part-time retired teacher education specialist with more than 14 years of PTE experience and who currently is developing a National Institute for Physics Teacher Educators (NIPTE).
• typically graduates more physics teachers in one year for Illinois than 28 institutions with such programs combined.
• is accredited by the National Science Teachers Association as well as the Illinois State Board of Education.
• was chosen by the National Task Force on the Preparation of Teachers of Physics (a joint effort of American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and American Institute of Physics, with support from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition) for a November 5/6, 2008 site visit to learn more about the Physics Department's successes in teacher candidate recruitment, preparation, and retention, as well best practice and funding.
• was favorably reviewed by the American Association of Physics Teachers as an exemplary physics teacher education program (Preparation of Excellent Teachers at All Levels white paper)
• was chosen as one the first three national sites for development of the American Association of Physics Teacher's Rural PTRA Prototype program. First workshop was held during August 2001 and workshops were taught each year through 2005.
• provides state and national leadership in the ares of high school physics teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention through the Pipeline Project.
• is publisher of the Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online.
• has obtained more than one half million dollars in grant funding to host summer professional development workshops for in-service high school physics teachers since 2001.

Unique Aspects of Required PTE Courses:

• Service Learning Project, PHY 209
• Urban Studies Field Trip, PHY 209
• Capstone Research Project, PHY 302
• Case Studies in Tutoring, PHY 310
• Diagnostic Learning Environment Project, PHY 311
• Japanese Lesson Study Project, PHY 311
• Teaching at Juvenile Detention Center, PHY 311
• Classroom Management Role Playing, PHY 311
• Theory-into-Practice Project, PHY 311
• Social Context Project, PHY 353
• Little Village Lesson, PHY 353
• Student Teaching Effectiveness Reporting System, STT 399.72
• plus many others...

People:

• Rebecca Wenning-Vieyra, 2007 PTE graduate, was recognized as a Board certified master teacher by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards during November 2011
• Rebecca Wenning-Vieyra, 2007 PTE graduate, was publiclyy recognized an outstanding Illinois High School Science Teacher by the Illinois Science Teachers Assocation during its annual meeting in Tinley Park on October 28, 2011.
• Rebecca Wenning-Vieyra, 2007 PTE graduate, was named a Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA) by the American Association of Physics Teachers during the spring of 2011.
• Carl Wenning and Ken Wester were project leads on the CeMaST Commission on NIPTE that will soon publish recommendations for the preparation and professional development of physics teacher educators nationwide.
• Erin Stefanik, 2009 PTE graduate, was named a 2010 New Science Teacher Academy Fellow by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Details here.
• PTE major Andrew Gillespie, along with physics major Mike Sawyer, competed in The 2010 University Physics Competition and were named Silver Medal winners. Fifty-eight two-member teams from across the USA participated in the competition. Their research challenge was "Trebuchet - The Dynamics of a Medieval Siege Engine." Details here.
  
• Carl Wenning held all-day discussions and presented a colloquium talk in the Physics Department at Wright State University in Dayton, OH, on April 23, 2010.
  
• Carl Wenning and Ken Wester obtained "up to" $5,000 in support from the Illinois Science Teachers Association to hold a meeting for leaders of 12 statewide zones associated with Local Physical Science Alliances developed by the Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Carl Wenning, President, spring 2010.
  
• Rebecca Wenning-Vieyra, 2007 PTE graduate, gave the keynote address to some 1,000 students at the 2010 Expanding Your Horizons conference at Illinois State University on Saturday, March 20.
  
• Sarah Pfluger, PTE major, received the only 2009 Barbara Lotze National Scholarship for Future Teachers conferred by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award recognized her as one of the top two Physics Teacher Education candidates in the U.S.
  
• Dr. Carl J. Wenning and Kenneth Wester received a $5,000 Innovations grant from ISU's Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST) to develop the 2010 CeMaST Commission on NIPTE (National Institutes for Physics Teacher Educators).
  
• PTE major Andrew K. Gillespie has his poster selected for the Department of Energy’s Science and Energy Research Challenge (SERCh)!  He, along with his advisor Dr. Wenning, will attend the 2009 SERCh poster competition at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on November 8-9, 2009.
  
• Dr. Carl J. Wenning obtained a $2,000 grant from the AAPT during the autumn of 2009 on behalf of the Illinois and Chicago Sections of the AAPT for presenting two workshops geared toward new and crossover teachers of high school physics.
  
• Dr. Carl J. Wenning and 2002 PTE graduate Shannon Mandel co-authored (along with four others) the AAPT publication The Role, Education, Qualifications, and Professional Development of Secondary School Physics Teachers (Summer 2009)
  
• Rebecca Wenning-Vieyra, 2007 PTE graduate, was named a 2009 New Science Teacher Academy Fellow by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). She has also been selected to be 2010 keynote speaker for Expanding Your Horizons through Mathematics and Science program at ISU.
  
• PTE major Andrew K. Gillespie won the Robert C. Shears Departmental Scholarship during spring 2009.
  
• Mr. Kenneth Wester, our program coordinator, is a NBPTS Board Certified master high school physics teachers of 25 years experience, a Presidential Award Winner, and an AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA).
  
• Dr. Carl J. Wenning, retired program coordinator, was recognized by the ISU College of Arts and Science as 2008 Outstanding College Teacher Award.
  
• Tom Holbrook at University High School and with whom all PTE majors first teach was named the 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics or Science winner for science in the state of Illinois. Tom traveled to Washington, DC, to receive the award from the President of the USA along with a $10,000 award in recognition of his exemplary service. Tom is also an AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA).
  
• Amy Erxleben, a PTE major, was named the 2008 Outstanding Teaching Assistant by the ISU Physics Department.
  
• Shane Hanson, 2008 PTE graduate, was named the 2008 Outstanding Graduating Senior by the ISU Physics Department.
  
• Gary Shepard, 2004 PTE graduate, was named 2006-2007 Teacher of the Year by the Osceola School District in Osceola, Florida.
  
• Rebecca E. Wenning, 2007 PTE graduate, was named the ISU Physics Department's 2007 Outstanding Graduating Senior on April 17, 2007.
  
• Charles Adamovic, 1977 PTE graduate, was named the 2007 Outstanding High School Physics Teacher of Illinois by the Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers on April 13, 2007.
  
• Carl Wenning received the third in a series of grant awards to fund the Chicago ITQ Science Project. The Project has received over $400,000 in funds from the Illinois State Board of Education since 2005, and more than $500,000 since 2001.
  
• Rebecca E. Wenning, PTE major, was named a Robert G. Bone Scholar during autumn 2006. The title "Bone Scholar" is the highest academic accolade awarded by ISU to undergraduates and recognizes exemplary scholarship, leadership, and service.
  
• Rebecca E. Wenning, PTE major, was awarded the inaugural Laurine B. Reiske Scholarship on March 1, 2006, by the College of Arts & Sciences. This is the largest cash award given to undergraduate majors within the college.
  
• Carl J. Wenning, program coordinator, received the inaugural Outstanding University Teacher Award - Category II - Administrative/Professional during the 1999-2000 academic year "in recognition of exemplary achievements in teaching."
  
• Carl J. Wenning received the first ever A/P Service Award from the College of Arts & Sciences during February 2005.
  
• Carl J. Wenning was named one of three initial PTRA Rural Coordinators by the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2000. He has subsequently been funded by the AAPT to host 5 summer PTRA Rural Institutes from 2001-2005.
  
• From 2005-2007 Carl J. Wenning received $400,000 in grant funding to operate the Chicago ITQ Project through which 62 in-service high school physics teachers learned the Modeling Method of Instruction.
  
• During the 2004-2005 academic year Carl J. Wenning received nearly $250,000 in funds to support three workshops/projects. Support was provided by the NASA-Space Telescope Science Institute, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the American Association of Physics Teachers.
  
• Carl J. Wenning is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online, a publication with an international following started in June 2002.
  
• Carl J. Wenning heads the Illinois Pipeline Project dealing with high school physics teacher candidate recruitment, preparation, and retention.
  
• Rebecca E. Wenning, PTE major, received the only 2004 Barbara Lotze National Scholarship for Future Teachers conferred by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award recognized her as the top Physics Teacher Education candidate in the U.S.

Other aspects of the program that are worthy of note include the following. The ISU Physics Teacher Education program:

• has over 85% of its program graduates from 1995-2008 currently teaching. This compares quite favorably with a national drop out rate approaching 50% after only five years.
  
• has interfaced with about 25% of all Illinois high school physics teachers through their professional development programs since 2001.
  
• is one of 28 Physics Education degree granting institutions in Illinois, and yet it has graduated 15%-20% to all majors in the field over the past five years.
  
• has had a 800% rise in the number of students enrolled in its physics teacher education program over the past ten years making it the largest such program in the nation.
  
• is by far the largest such program in the state of Illinois with 40+ Physics Teacher Education majors; the state average is less than five with most programs having zero to two.
  
• is large enough to provide the most extensive high school physics teacher preparation of any program in the nation.
  
• has a well-thought-out teacher preparation philosophy and plan of study
  
• has innovative clinical experiences such a the Service Learning Project (PHY 209) and Social Context Project (PHY 353)
  
• has on-line physics teacher education course content
  
• has an on-line student advisement manual
  
• provides many opportunities for teacher candidates to teach and grade laboratory work and get involve in physics research.

(Last updated 11/29/2011, cjw)

Return to Physics Teacher Education Program Overview.

Return to Physics Teacher Education Main Menu.