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Conference Schedule

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Conference Program
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The 2020 PhysTEC Conference will be held February 29th & March 1st in Denver, Colorado.

The program includes time for networking (both structured and unstructured) and several types of sessions and workshops. A tentative list follows, with a schedule grid is farther below. They will be updated when the schedule is finalized.

Plenary sessions:

In Windows room:

  • Advice from the trenches: A panel of physics teachers discusses how they were (or were not) prepared by their teacher education programs.
  • Advocacy for physics teacher preparation
  • PhysTEC Awards Ceremony: The Teacher of the Year and The 5+ Club

Workshops and panels:

 In Tower Court A:

  • Building relationships between a physics department and a school of education
  • Department Action Teams: Facilitated Teams Supporting Change in Departmental Structures and Culture
  • Best Practices in Recruiting Pre-Service High School Physics Teachers Through Community College Partnerships
  • How to Start a Regional PhysTEC Network in Your State
  • How to Get and Run an NSF Noyce Scholarship Grant

In Tower Court B:

  • New Resources for Getting the Facts Out about STEM Teaching Professions
  • Program Sustainability: Building Institutional Commitment for Teacher Education
  • "If You Can't Measure It, You Can't Improve It." Use and Interpretation of the PTEPA Rubric
  • Periscope: Looking into Learning in Best-Practices Physics Classrooms
  • Cultivating an Inclusive Culture in the Physics Department Through a Learning Assistant Program

In Tower Court C:

  • The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project
  • Supporting Teachers in their Instruction and in MEeting Longer-Term PRofessional Goals with the PEER Physics Suite
  • Utilizing Teacher Communities to Strengthen Your Teacher Preparation PRogram
  • STEP UP Ambassador Program Workshop
  • Share-a-Thon: Get the Facts Out

Post-conference extended workshop: 

Essential Elements for Setting Up Your Learning Assistant Program

  • Between the 2020 PhysTEC Conference and the 2020 APS March Meeting, LA Alliance faculty, Valerie Otero, Laurie Langdon, Eleanor Close, and Brooke Evans, will host a nuts-and-bolts workshop about running a Learning Assistant program.
  • The workshop is free for anyone registered for the PhysTEC Conference or the APS March Meeting.


Full Schedule:

Friday, February 28
Time Title Location Presented by
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Dinner for Fellows and Supported Site Leaders (by invitation only). Hard Rock Cafe, Downtown Denver  
6:00 PM -
8:30 PM		 Registration Main Foyer  
Saturday, February 29
Time Title Location Presented by
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM Registration & Breakfast Main Foyer  
8:00 AM - 9:45 AM State of PhysTEC Address and PhysTEC Awards Ceremony Windows Monica Plisch
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM Building Relationships Between Physics Departments and Schools of Education Tower Court A Alice Churukian
Jennifer Docktor
Kurt Fletcher
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM New Resources for Getting the Facts Out about STEM Teaching Professions Tower Court B Drew Isola
Wendy Adams
Savannah Logan
Duane Merrell
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project Tower Court C Abigail Daane
Moses Rifkin
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM Networking Break Main Foyer  
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM Department Action Teams: Facilitated Teams Supporting Change in Departmental Structures and Culture Tower Court A Joel Corbo
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM Program Sustainability: Building Institutional Commitment for Teacher Education Tower Court B Stamatis Vokos
Ron Henderson
Scott Paulson
John Simonetti
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM Supporting Teachers in Their Instruction and in Meeting Longer-Term Professional Goals with the PEER Physics Suite Tower Court C Valerie Otero
Shelly Belleau
Emily Quinty
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM Physics Teacher Preparation: Helping Not Hurting Windows Brian Pyper
3:00 PM - 4:15 PM Best Practices in Recruiting Pre-Service High School Physics Teachers through Community College Partnerships Tower Court A Karen Magee-Sauer
3:00 PM - 4:15 PM “If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Improve It.” Use and Interpretation of the PTEPA Rubric Tower Court B Stephanie Chasteen
3:00 PM - 4:15 PM Utilizing Teacher Communities to Strengthen Your Teacher Preparation Program Tower Court C Jon Anderson
Cherie Bornhorst
Laura Henriques
Duane Merrell
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Poster Session and Reception Main Foyer  
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Meet with Your Mentors (for PhysTEC Fellows and Comprehensive Site Teams only) Meet in Tower Court A  
6:30 PM Dinner (on your own or with colleagues) Downtown Denver  
Sunday, March 1
Time Title Location Presented by
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Table Discussions: Problem Solving Around Physics Teacher Preparation Windows Facilitators
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM How to Start a Regional PhysTEC Network in Your State Tower Court A Laura Henriques
Ed Price
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM Periscope: Looking Into Learning in Best-Practices Physics Classrooms Tower Court B Rachel Scherr
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM STEP UP Ambassador Program Workshop Tower Court C Bree Barnett Dreyfuss
11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Lessons Learned in the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program: Winning and Servicing the Grant Tower Court A Gay Stewart
John Stewart
11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Cultivating an Inclusive Culture in the Physics Department through a Learning Assistant Program Tower Court B Eleanor Close
11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Share-a-Thon: Get the Facts Out Tower Court C Vince Kuo
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM Advice from the Trenches: A Panel of Physics Teachers Discusses How They Were (Or Were Not) Prepared by Their Teacher Education Programs Windows Matthew Blackman
Zach Armstrong
Cherie Bornhorst
Stephan Graham
Shannon Wachowski
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM Closing Session Main Foyer PhysTEC
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Essential Elements for Setting Up Your Learning Assistant Program Windows Valerie Otero
Eleanor Close
Brooke Evans
Laurie Langdon