There is a national need for qualified K-12 physics teachers who major or minor in physics.[1, 2] This problem is very pronounced in the state of Georgia. In 2008 the state of Georgia graduated one certified Physics teacher – in the entire state.[3] Data from the Professional Standards Commission indicate that this number has increased only slightly in recent years (averaging about 5 teachers per year from 2009 – 2011). The lack of qualified physics teachers is prominent in poorer schools, many of which are in urban settings.

We include selected teachers and high school students in a summer training program in our laboratory at UGA. The summer research activities have two components:

A. The first component of the summer activity involves exposing the team (high school teacher and student/s) to modern research, specifically to nanoscience/nano-optics. We engage the summer team in learning how to use AFM. The AFM is a ubiquitous instrument that has a robust capability to study surfaces and nanoparticles. Since our research is based on AFM learning and using this instrument will give them a good understanding and introduction of other related modern experiments, such as s-SNOM.

B. Develop a demonstration experimental setup that centers on very simple concepts in electricity, magnetism and optics. The goal of this exercise is to enable the teacher/student team to share their demonstration and experiences with their school as well as provide the teacher with an additional tool to use in class demonstration. Our group continues to hear feedback from the teacher/students team and we plan to visit their school during the academic year to sustain the relationship.

AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH IN THE ATLANTA AREA

A physics education and mentorship program specifically for African immigrant students and their families as well as African American youth in the Athens/Atlanta area. We are organizing an annual event of talks on physics topics to expose, educate, and increase interest. We will focus on education excellence: for parents on methods of leading their children to success in the path of science education, and for students on what is necessary to succeed in undergraduate and graduate science study in the US. More coming soon…

1. Neuschatz, M., McFarling, M., & White, S. , Reaching the Critical Mass: The Twenty Year Surge in High School Physics, Findings from the 2005 Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. AIP, College Park, MD. (Fig. 14, p. 17). 2008).
2. Tesfaye, C.L.M., P., Physics bachelor’s initial employment. Focus On (AIP, College Park, MD, 2012.
3. Committee, G.P.S., http://www.ciclt.net/ul/gael/KellyHenson_PSC_HR1103_20080827.ppt., 2008.

Recent (Summer 2019) activities of Westminster high school in our lab!

The students together with their science teacher used their 5 weeks of summer to perform macro and microscope experiments on RFID with a goal to adopt them to nanoscale optical devices. Our collaboration is continuing, we have posted a few pictures and more to come.