Center for Nanoscale Systems Institute for Physics Teachers

1. Center for Nanoscale SystemsInstitute for Physics Teachers CNS Educational Mission: To assist and support K-12 physical science teachers Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

2. Needs of High-School Physics Teachers • Intellectual community • Relatively little contact with university scientists • Isolation from peers (typically one physics teacher/school) • Professional development • Few appropriate resources to learn about modern physics and technology • Need to increase confidence with scientific concepts • Lab enhancement • Few hands-on activities for teaching modern physics • Few resources for equipment (~$20 per pupil per year) • New learning standards require more inquiry labs • Stimulation for most advanced students • Need access to university-level scientists and resources Source: Conversations with and surveys of physics teachers. Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

3. Building Solutions to TeacherNeeds CIPT Physics Teachers CNS Institute for Workshops and Summer Institute Lab Kit Development Interactions with Scientists • Updates on advances in physics/technology • Building a community of physics teachers • Develop new effective activities for teaching physics/technology • Commercialize kits • Build “lending library” of lab kits • Scientists help to lead • workshops/courses • Scientists and teachers work together on lab development HS lab enhancement Teacher professional development Intellectual community of teachers & researchers Stimulating advanced students Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

4. K-12 target population Number of workshops teacher attended 1, 178 56.2% 2, 71 22.4% 3, 24 7.6% 4, 18 5.7% 5 to 12, 26 8.2% • Initial focus • High school physics teachers • New York State • NY science teachers who attended at least one workshop since inception • Year 1: 105 teachers • Year 2: 181 teachers • Year 3: 239 teachers • Year 4: 365 teachers • Year 5: 475 teachers Location of New York physics teachers who have attended at least one CIPT workshop. Marker color indicates the number of workshops attended. 18% New York State HS physics teachers attended at least one workshop 44% of these teachers attended two or more workshops Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

5. Satellite Communities • Satellite Locations • New York (146 teachers) • Cleveland (35 teachers) • Los Angeles (82 teachers) • Salt Lake City (35 teachers) • Singapore (150 teachers) • Jackson, MS (30 teachers) New York Jackson, MS Los Angeles Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

6. Summer Teacher Institute • Teacher support • Cornell academic credit • Housing, tuition, stipend • Classroom lab equipment • Participants (2003 - 2005) • NY (78), other U.S. (10), Singapore (5) • 9 teachers returned in 2004 • 17 teachers returned in 2005 Course Descriptions PHYS 501 Contemporary Physics for Teachers (2 weeks, 2 credits) A lecture and lab course with a theme of nanoscale science and engineering. Topics include electronics, photonics, nanoscience and particle physics. PHYS 502 Topics in Physics for Teachers (1 week, 1 credit) A lecture and lab course that changes each year to address the needs of teachers and provide alumni an opportunity to keep updated. Teachers learn how to use a scanning tunneling microscope to image atoms Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

7. Summer Institute Evaluation Summer 2005 Contemporary Physics graduating class • Pre/post test results • Median score increased (40% to 82%) • Post-course written evaluation • Enthusiastic response (see below) • All teachers planned to use most labs at end of courses • Follow-up survey (end of school year) • 67% return rate for June 2005 survey • Overall effect of participation? (1 = no effect, 5 = enormous effect) • 2003 class: 4.2 (one year later) • 2004 class: 4.6 (one year later) • Average lab implementation rate: 40% Typical teacher comments from Summer 2005: “Learning new things from leaders in their fields was the best part” “Apart from specific content, I’ve been very energized by the experience” “[This experience will] improve quality and quantity of hands on experiences in areas of modern physics, waves and electronics that I haven’t been able to provide in the past” Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

8. Short Workshops LED lab • Short workshop stats: • Average 10 per year, various locations • Average 40 teachers per Cornell workshop • Average rating for Cornell workshops: 4.8 (1 = waste of time, 5 = extremely useful) McEuen lab tour Lipson lecture “Awesome lab for modern physics—a rarity!” Most interesting scientific concept: “how nanotubes are made” • Lecture topics included: • Michal Lipson, “Nanophotonics” • George Malliaras, “Organic light emitting devices” • Melissa Hines, “Using surface chemistry to improve tiny resonators” “Excellent talk – good for enrichment and extensions” Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

9. Assemble a suite of ~50 lab kits Themes Nanoscale science and engineering Fundamental physical concepts Targets High-school curriculum Introductory college courses Overview of CNS Lab Development Effort Teacher CNS Faculty CNS Grad Student Intro Nanotechnology Course Hands-on activity Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

10. New CNS Labs The Phantastic Photon • Atomic force microscopy • Imaging atoms with a STM • Resistance of gold nanowires • Light emitting diodes • Thin films and interference • Communicating with light • The phantastic photon • Pinball analogy to Bohr model • Rutherford scattering • Quantum socks • Superconductivity and resistance • Exploring wave phenomena • Water analogy to electric circuits • Resonance • Physics of rock climbing • Chaos • Vortex rings • Rollercoaster kinematics • Discovering Ohm’s law • There’s the Rub Labs in blue available at www.westhillbio.com Water Analogy to Electric Circuits Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

11. CNS Lending Library Lending library activity: 2003/04 Cornell – 24 requests 2004/05 Cornell – 40 requests CA – 14 requests 2005/06 Cornell – 64 requests CA – 17 requests UT – 3 requests More than 3400 students used lending library kits in 2005/06 school year Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006

12. Next steps • Continue workshops and summer institute for physics teachers • Maintain two-week course “Contemporary Physics for Teachers” • New one-week course each year to update alumni • Continue offering one-day workshops in a variety of locations • Continue building suite of physics lab kits • Goal: 5-10 new kits per year • Commercialize additional kits as appropriate • Develop middle school level programs • Poorest, minority-serving districts infrequently offer physics • Many students lose interest in science in middle school • Pursue additional funding for development of middle school level activities and workshops Preparing Future Physics Teachers - June 19, 2006