Students in North Carolina's science pedagogy course do an experiment as lecturer Alice Churukian looks on.
PhysTEC Project Contacts
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Laurie McNeil
Physics & Astronomy Dept
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Phillips Hall CB #3255
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255
Tel: 919-062-2078
Fax: 919-962-0480
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s (UNC) goal as a PhysTEC institution is to establish a program in which science majors prepare to become high school science teachers as they pursue their undergraduate degrees, and graduate in four years with teaching certification. This program, called UNC-BEST (UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching), is a partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education, which began with the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Biology. It is now expanding to Geological Sciences and Mathematics, and project leaders hope to involve Chemistry in the future. UNC-BEST’s first graduating class, in 2009, included one physics teacher and seven biology teachers. As part of the program, the UNC TIR worked with a Physics Education Research (PER) specialist to design a physics methods course for students interested in teaching. The project leader is planning to implement further reforms in introductory physics courses, including a classroom based on North Carolina State University’s NSF-funded SCALE-UP program.
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| Alice Churukian | Jennifer Coble | Laurie McNeil |
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| David Green 2007-2008 |
Liz Woolard 2008-2009 |
Sharon Cooke 2009-2010 |
