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The State University of New York, Geneseo

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo is a nationally recognized, primarily undergraduate institution with approximately 5,000 students, located south of Rochester in the rural village of Geneseo. As a highly-recognized public liberal arts college with very strong programs in both physics and education, Geneseo is uniquely positioned to develop a five-year bachelor’s/master’s program, an innovative model for the education of highly-qualified physics teachers. The limitations of the current certification program create a barrier for some who would otherwise seek teacher certification. This has led Geneseo to propose a five-year program leading to a B.A., M.Ed., and initial Adolescence (AD) certification in science.

Project Goals

• Double the number of physics majors at Geneseo recommended for certification in Physics, an increase from an average of 3 per year over the last 4 years to 6 per year.
• Develop and test a model of collaborative Activity Teams, bringing together upper level teacher candidates, 1st and 2nd-year physics majors, and area high school students as a way to encourage physics majors to understand and consider careers in high school teaching.
• Develop two new courses that integrate physics content courses with physics pedagogy to support the new 5-year masters program in physics education.

As a targeted PhysTEC site, SUNY Geneseo will use a significant portion of their funds to hire a part-time Teacher-in-Residence (TIR). Mr. Robert Sells, a high school science teacher at nearby Mount Morris Central School, was selected for his wealth of experience, his personal charisma, and his commitment to physics. With experience teaching in both high school and college settings, Mr. Sells will serve as an outstanding mentor for students interested in physics teaching and will be a colleague respected by the faculty in the Physics and Astronomy Department. The TIR will focus his efforts on recruitment by providing office hours, tutoring and presenting physics teaching as a career option to undergraduates, among other activities.

SUNY Geneseo will also use PhysTEC funding to implement a more active early teaching experience for physics teacher candidates, providing higher quality experiences and increasing the interactions with area high schools. Under the guidance of the TIR, teams of physics teacher candidates – Physics Activity Teams - will design and build inexpensive demonstration equipment, prepare a brief presentation on the physics related to the demonstration, teach the lesson in an area classroom, and donate the demo to that classroom.

Additionally, the success of the proposed 5-year certification program depends in part on integrating content and pedagogy in several upper-level courses, which do not currently exist. PhysTEC funding will be utilized to design and implement a physics pedagogical component that will be added to existing upper-level physics courses: Classical Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism I, and Quantum Mechanics. This model will enhance the preparation of physics teacher candidates while meeting New York State requirements.

Project Recruitment and Publicity

Read The Lamron article about the SUNY Geneseo program