Physics Education Seminar

A report called Rising Above the Gathering Storm gathered an
unusual amount of attention when the National Academy released it in 2007, and its conclusions have guided discussion in Washington DC and elsewhere since. The report makes the case that the future of the country depends upon strengthening the national infrastructure for mathematics and science, and particularly emphasizes the importance of improving science and mathematics education in public schools.

I began working to improve teacher education in mathematics and science at UT Austin in 1997 with a program called UTeach. We were highlighted in the Gathering Storm report, and are now the nucleus of a national effort. I will describe data from across the nation indicating the scope of the problem we face if we wish to increase access of citizens from many economic and demographic groups to mathematics and science. Then I will describe the steps we took at UT Austin, the accomplishments that generated national attention, and some of the problems that are still
unsolved.

UTeach is a project at UT Austin to recruit, prepare, and retain secondary teachers in science, math, and computer science. This seminar is an opportunity to discuss UTeach and its implications with one of the project co-directors, Michael Marder. For more information about UTeach visit the Web site: http://www.uteach.utexas.edu/