PhysTEC Logo

About PhysTEC

PhysTEC Members comprise a national network of institutions committed to developing and promoting excellence in physics and physical science teacher preparation.

Vision: That every high school student has the opportunity to learn physics from a highly qualified teacher.

Mission: To improve and promote the education of future physics teachers.

Why Do Physics Teacher Preparation Programs Need PhysTEC?

The United States has a severe, long-term shortage of qualified physics teachers, largely because most institutions of higher education—those traditionally best-equipped for the task—rarely prepare even a single physics teacher per year.

Colleges and universities still bear the responsibility for preparing physics teachers. In particular, physicists and physics departments must be involved in this preparation.

Since 2001, PhysTEC has helped colleges and universities transform their physics teacher education (PTE) programs by providing funding, professional conferences, resources, and other support. Many of these institutions are now preparing greater numbers of highly-qualified teachers of physics, and some have become national models.

Before PhysTEC … I was the lead person for all worrying about education. Having this APS- [and AAPT-]sponsored program … really raised awareness — Gay Stewart

PhysTEC disseminates its results and reaches out to the physics community through publications and presentations, conferences and workshops, and a monthly newsletter. To expand its reach, the program has developed collaborations with other organizations, including UTeach, the Learning Assistant Alliance, the American Association for Employment in Education, the American Chemical Society, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in PhysTEC-affiliated published material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Sign Up to Stay Informed

You’ll get PhysTalk, our monthly newsletter, and other occasional updates from PhysTEC.

Sign Up