{"585515":{"#nid":"585515","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Reforming Physics Education ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo advance its efforts to improve the introductory physics courses at Georgia Tech, the School of Physics is launching the Physics Education Research (PER) colloquium series, beginning on Jan. 9, 2017.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The goal is to provide a summary of the current state-of-the-art, based on experiences at peer institutions that carried out successful reforms of their introductory physics courses,\u0026rdquo; says Assistant Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/tamara-bogdanovic\u0022\u003ETamara Bogdanovic\u003C\/a\u003E, who is organizing the talks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESpeakers are physicists who were closely involved in implementing online portals, redesigned laboratory and recitation sessions, and new teaching methods at their host institutions, Bogdanovic says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst up is \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.umn.edu\/people\/heller.html\u0022\u003EKenneth Heller\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy in the University of Minnesota. In his talk on Jan. 9, \u0026ldquo;Preparing Physics Graduate Students for Their Future,\u0026rdquo; he will describe a program that fully integrates teaching assistantship (TA) into physics graduate education.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the notes about his talk, Heller writes: \u0026ldquo;The good news is that people with physics graduate degrees are in demand.\u0026nbsp; Starting salaries are high and unemployment is low. However, studies show the skills traditionally associated with an academic research program are necessary but not sufficient for employment as it exists now and in their future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our graduate students need education in and practice of a well-documented set of so-called \u0026lsquo;soft skills.\u0026rsquo; The challenge is to provide both the research skills and the soft skills for all students in the graduate program without adding significant burdens on them, the faculty, or the department.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIntegrating TA into graduate education, Heller writes, \u0026ldquo;results in graduate students that are more satisfied with their TA experience, are better prepared to function in research groups, provide a better classroom experience for their undergraduate students, and have the soft skills necessary for employment.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOther speakers in the series are the following:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJan. 18, 2017, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.colorado.edu\/physics\/heather-lewandowski\u0022\u003EHeather J. Lewandowski\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder; an AMO (atomic, molecular, and optical) physicist; and developer of teaching methods for upper division physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJan. 30, 2017, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physics.illinois.edu\/people\/directory\/profile\/mats\u0022\u003EMats A. Selen\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), a high-energy physicist, and a chief architect of introductory physics reform at UIUC.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EApril, 3, 2017, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/physics\/people\/faculty\/pritchard_david.html\u0022\u003EDavid E. Pritchard\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an AMO physicist, and a leading innovator in online introductory physics instruction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"School of Physics surveys innovations in a series of colloquia"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo advance its efforts to improve the introductory physics courses at Georgia Tech, the School of Physics is launching the Physics Education Research (PER) colloquium series, beginning on Jan. 9, 2017.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"To advance its efforts to improve the introductory physics courses at Georgia Tech, the School of Physics is launching the Physics Education Research (PER) colloquium series, beginning on Jan. 9, 2017. "}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2017-01-04 18:21:57","changed_gmt":"2017-01-04 18:24:35","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-01-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-01-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"566411":{"id":"566411","type":"image","title":"Tamara Bogdanovic","body":null,"created":"1471904821","gmt_created":"2016-08-22 22:27:01","changed":"1531067147","gmt_changed":"2018-07-08 16:25:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231755","name":"Tamara Bogdanovic.sq250.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tamara%20Bogdanovic.sq250_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Tamara%20Bogdanovic.sq250_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":40247,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Tamara%20Bogdanovic.sq250_0.jpg?itok=DNedBvNk"}},"585510":{"id":"585510","type":"image","title":"Kenneth Heller","body":null,"created":"1483553688","gmt_created":"2017-01-04 18:14:48","changed":"1483553688","gmt_changed":"2017-01-04 18:14:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223202","name":"Kenneth.Heller.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kenneth.Heller.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kenneth.Heller.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":30375,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Kenneth.Heller.jpg?itok=PBd6sNGo"}},"585511":{"id":"585511","type":"image","title":"Heather Lewandowski","body":null,"created":"1483553738","gmt_created":"2017-01-04 18:15:38","changed":"1483553738","gmt_changed":"2017-01-04 18:15:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223203","name":"Heather.Lewandowski.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Heather.Lewandowski.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Heather.Lewandowski.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":14792,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Heather.Lewandowski.jpg?itok=7HA6afYH"}},"585512":{"id":"585512","type":"image","title":"Mats Selen","body":null,"created":"1483553783","gmt_created":"2017-01-04 18:16:23","changed":"1483553783","gmt_changed":"2017-01-04 18:16:23","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223204","name":"Mats.Selen_.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mats.Selen_.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mats.Selen_.png","mime":"image\/png","size":52439,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Mats.Selen_.png?itok=Z5yaROdd"}},"585513":{"id":"585513","type":"image","title":"David Pritchard","body":null,"created":"1483553830","gmt_created":"2017-01-04 18:17:10","changed":"1483553830","gmt_changed":"2017-01-04 18:17:10","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223205","name":"pritchard_david.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pritchard_david.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pritchard_david.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":25004,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pritchard_david.jpg?itok=9dT-tMEx"}}},"media_ids":["566411","585510","585511","585512","585513"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"173128","name":"Physics Education Research"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}