Alma Robinson, Virginia Tech

The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC)[1] has been instrumental in helping colleges and universities build effective high school physics teacher preparation programs, and many of those institutions have been able to sustain thriving programs after the PhysTEC funding period. This issue of the Teacher Preparation will focus on one such legacy site, my home institution of Virginia Tech.

John Simonetti will describe the programs that were implemented at Virginia Tech in conjunction with becoming a PhysTEC Comprehensive site and explain how, six years post funding, they’ve been successful in keeping their program strong.

Ethan Kantz, a pre-service physics teacher at Virginia Tech, offers a student’s perspective of how his student-centered introductory physics course paired with multiple undergraduate teaching opportunities led him from wanting to become an aerospace engineer to having a deep passion for physics teaching.

[1] https://www.phystec.org

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.