Physics Department Pilot Program Prepares Future Faculty

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas physics department has been chosen as one of four universities for a pilot program to better prepare physics doctoral students for teaching jobs at institutions other than research universities.

The University of Arkansas joins the University of California - San Diego, Howard University and the University of Colorado at Boulder physics departments as part of a Preparing Future Faculty Program of the Council of Graduate Schools and the Association of American Colleges and Universities with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF awarded a $1,309,000 grant to support the project Shaping the Preparation of Future Science and Mathematics Faculty, which supports the physics portion of the program.

"This program will help our students become more marketable in what they want to do," said Gay Stewart, assistant professor of physics and principal investigator for the program.

The university will lead the program with a cluster of institutions, including the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Northwest Arkansas Community College. Kansas State University has a physics education research group that will provide some resources for the program. Graduate students at the different institutions will have opportunities to experience faculty work at different places, Stewart said.

The Preparing Future Faculty concept contends that doctoral students who desire faculty positions should be prepared not only to conduct research but also to teach and render service in various settings. Faculty at different institutions balance these three aspects of their work in different ways. Through this program, the students will experience different work environments through exchange with different departments.

Not all physics graduate students seek university faculty positions. Some will teach at community colleges or high schools. Others will get jobs in industry, Now students will have opportunities for internships in some of these different settings, Stewart said.

The physics department has already worked towards some of the goals the PFF program seeks to achieve. They started offering teaching assistant (T.A.) training in 1996, Stewart said.

"Getting this proposal funded allows us to expand that," she said.

The T.A.s must learn how to ask questions, how to keep students’ attention and how to solve problems in the classroom setting, Stewart said.

"You can get people thinking about what situations can arise," she said.

T.A.s have lots of contact with the students, Stewart said. They need training so they can learn how to best help the students learn, and enhance their interest in physics.

Communication assists in everything from planning quizzes in different class sections to answering questions in class.

"The communications skills are also useful in industry," Stewart said.

Through the program, Ph.D. candidates who have completed their course work will have the opportunity to teach different types of courses under a professor’s supervision.

"They gain experience and they can say on their resume, 'I taught this course,’" Stewart said.

The Preparing Future Faculty Program also calls for a service component, which may involve outreach to local schools, judging science fairs or acting as resources for local teachers.

"These are important things to do," Stewart said. "Physics is interesting. It applies to your life."

Departments that have participated in Preparing Future Faculty Programs in other areas have found their graduate students have better chances at getting a faculty position and their departments often recruit better graduate students.

For more information on the Preparing Future Faculty Program please see http://www.preparing-faculty.org.

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