Self-Assessment of Physics Knowledge & Skills
with Professional Development Plan

Note: Please take the entire professional development plan seriously. Most students tend to do well on parts 1 and 2, but some do miserably on part 3. Please provide all due diligence, especially for part 3.

Physics majors preparing to teach in physics are required to pass all sections of a test of physics content knowledge before being admitted to Student Teaching. In partial fulfillment of this requirement, all students (including ESS and MATH) enrolled in PHY 310 take an Introductory Physics Examination during the second meeting of the class. This is a standardized test prepared by the American Association of Physics Teachers. It is a 95-minute, multiple-choice timed test covering five areas of physics.
Section A: Mechanics 24 questions 25 minutes Multiple choice
Section B: Waves, Optics, and Sound 16 questions 20 minutes Multiple choice
Section C: Heat and Kinetic Theory 8 questions 10 minutes Multiple choice
Section D: Electricity and Magnetism 20 questions 25 minutes Multiple choice
Section E: Modern Physics 12 questions 15 minutes Multiple choice

A sheet of physical constants will be provided, as well as a sheet of formulas.

Professional Development Plan

Following the completion and scoring of the standardized examination by the course instructor, the students will perform a self-assessment of physics content knowledge and skills, and prepare a Professional Development Plan to remediate the identified deficiencies. The Professional Development Plan will contain the following enumerated components:

  1. Section-by-section statement of score stated as a percentage (label each section 1A-1E).
  2. Section-by-section analysis of problem-solving knowledge (label each section 2A-2E).
  3. Detailed (what needs to be done) and specific (how, when, where, and how long) professional development plan for remediation of identified deficiencies. Be certain to include reference to use of the one of the two test frameworks (as appropriate to your major) below used to prepare the state's content examination:

Example

1A. Mechanics 45.9%
1B. Waves, Optics, and Sound: 63.3%
1C. Heat and Kinetic Theory: 36.7%
1D. Electricity and Magnetism: 39.5%
1E. Modern Physics: 49.5%


2A. I seem to have a fair understanding of the concepts, but had trouble identifying the correct kinematics equation to use in many cases. I suspect that this is just a result of not remembering as much as I should from my earlier course work. I seem to be confused about the nature of elastic and inelastic collisions.
2B. I really thought I knew this stuff, and was surprised at the low score. I suspect that the main reason is from a number of stupid errors I made -- probably due to overconfidence in my ability in this area. My introductory physics courses did not include sound, so this will be a new area of study for me.
2C. I never really knew this stuff that well, and my grade in PHY 111 reflected as much. It's clear that my poor score in this section stems from just not knowing what I need to know.
2D. This area of study has always been a problem for me. I don't think that I have a good conceptual understanding of flux, and how it relates to induction.
2E. Many of these areas were entirely new to me, having never seen them before. Clearly, something has been missed in my education. It has mostly to do with my PHY 112 course where we only touched on a few topics included in this area.


3. I've decided that in order to prepare for the state competency exam, I really need to review, re-learn, and even learn for the first time what evidently for me is new subject matter. I plan to put 2-3 hours aside each weekend to review my PHY 110-112 physics textbook. I clearly need to spend most of the time in the areas of heat, and electricity and magnetism, but all areas would benefit from study. So, here is my plan for this semester in preparation for the ICTS content examination: Study 2-3 hours each Saturday between now and June 6th when I'm scheduled to take the ICTS physics content (certification) exam. I will focus on both conceptual understanding and numerical problem solving. I also think that I might want to spend some time with the Physics Club tutoring program tutoring students to help serve as a refresher. I will use the state's content exam framework to guide my preparation for the state content examination. I see that the ICTS certification exam contains the following areas: Physics Skills, Motion, Forces, Waves, Heat, Electricity, Magnetism, and Modern Physics. I realize that I must pass this exam with approximately a 70% minimum score in each section. If I fail any one section, it am liable to failing the entire test and will have to retake it at a considerable cost of time and money.

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(Last updated 1/25/2012)