UH Team Selected as Inaugural PhysTEC Fellows

UH One of Five University Teams Selected

A group from University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics was selected for the inaugural class of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) Fellows. Members of the NSM team are Reggie Bain, Rebecca Forrest and Donna Stokes, from the Department of Physics, and Paige Evans from teachHOUSTON.

PhysTEC Fellows:
PhysTEC Fellows: Paige Evans, Donna Stokes, Reggie Bain and Rebecca Forrest.

The first group of PhysTEC Fellows includes 15 faculty members from five universities across the country. The Fellows will work with their institutional teams and their Fellows cohort to develop and implement changes to their institution’s physics teacher preparation program. The fellowship spans two academic years.

Other university teams in the first PhysTEC cohort are Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Wright University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The PhysTEC Program is led by the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers with support from the National Science Foundation. A news release from the APS stated: “Each of these institutions not only showcased a strong desire to grow and improve their physics education program, but also provided compelling plans to do so.”

“This exposure to physics education leaders, tools and strategies will help us increase the number of physics majors at UH while also increasing the number of physics majors who become teachers,” said Rebecca Forrest, an instructional professor of physics.

The UH PhysTEC Fellows will build on current collaborations between the physics department and teachHOUSTON to expand recruitment activities within university physics courses and to promote teaching as a respected career choice.

- Kathy Major, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics