Comments from the Chair
Since this is my last time to address the membership as chair of
the FED, I have decided to take the opportunity to provide a summary
of the major things that have happened this year. At the beginning
of the year, we had some 3400 members. We had sponsored some symposia,
but we did not yet have permanent newsletter editors nor any on-going
projects for member involvement. We were a new organization, still
getting off the ground. the process takes time-- usually more than
we'd like.
Naturally, we have continued our sponsorship of symposia in 1994.
At the March meeting, that job was facilitated this year by a very
conveniently situated group at Carnegie Mellon, who had much to tell
us about physics education research. The symposia and workshops they
helped us develop were well received, and very well attended. We have
also made progress on other fronts, though. As I write this, we are
preparing for our third newsletter issue under our permanent editors.
We have our first member project underway, with the August launching
of the database for undergraduate research opportunities. We still
need your help in gathering the information (see below), but the project
is underway and working. And, of course, we have continued to grow,
with our membership now approaching the 4000 mark. In terms of organization,
we have also now staffed the program, nominations, and fellowship committees
called for in our bylaws.
Since the database project is our main new addition for 1994, I would
like to remind you what it's about, and to invite you once again to
get your information in. Due to the timing of the newsletter mailing
in August and the deadline in september, there has been little time
for me to assess the number of responses we are getting. As you may
recall, the idea is to collect information on summer research opportunities
for undergraduates in a form that allows searching and widespread electronic
access. At this writing, we have very few entries (fewer than 300 positions
are represented on the database at this time). I hop that will expand
considerably in the coming weeks. We ask you to think about the possibility
that you could employ an undergraduate next summer. If that sounds
like something you might lie to do (or if you know of an ongoing summer
program at your institution), then please go through the registration
procedure--it's easy to do. The full instructions were given in my
column in the August newsletter. In short, you can get a template file
with embedded instructions by simply sending the one-line message
- ### get_template [e-mail return address]
to FedReg@aps.org. The template will be returned in the usual reply fashion,
or to the address you specify in the command, if any. You edit the template
file to insert your information and mail it back--and you're done. Once
we have information installed, it can be searched and retrieved using
a similar procedure. To obtain the search template, send the message
- ### get_search [e-mail return address]
to FedReg@aps.org. [Ed. note: We anticipate that this database will
be accessible via mosaic by mid-December. Details will appear here soon.]
Looking to the future, we anticipate that the database program will be
expanded to encompass a mentoring project for high school students. We
are making progress on the Media Fellowship idea mentioned in my column
last month. The FEd is cooperating in the planning of a conference on graduate
physics education, sponsored by APS. Ruth Howes, as our Chair- Elect and
head of our program committee, is planning our symposia for the spring
meeting as I write this--and if any of you have ideas for symposia of interest
at the sectional meetings in the fall, I hope you will contact her (rhowes@nsf.gov).
As the variety of our activities expands we hope to find more of you taking
an active role.
The Forum is only as strong as its members. We need your ideas, your
support, and most of all your involvement. I continue to invite any of
you with specific questions or ideas to contact me by e-mail (kbl@physics.att.com).
I won't be chair next year, but I'll definitely still be on board helping
Ruth as she takes over. I am glad to have had the opportunity to be a part
of the effort to get the Forum on Education off to a good start. We're
making progress.
Sincerely,
Ken Lyons, Chair 1994
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