Ball State University
AAPT/PTRA Teacher Professional Development Intern
American Association of Physics Teachers
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agents (PTRA) aim to improve the teaching and learning of physics and physical science for all teachers and students in the United States. The PTRA program provides professional development on physics content, teaching techniques based on research in physics education, and integration of technology into curriculum. The program maintains a nationwide cadre of more than 150 accomplished high school teacher-leaders who are trained and continually involved in professional development. These teacher-leaders are certified as PTRAs by AAPT to lead workshops throughout the country.
Working with PTRA teacher-leaders and AAPT staff this summer, Patrick is revising and developing materials for the PTRA workshops. He is also working on developing and testing classroom activities that involve technology and engineering design activities to accompany workshop materials.
I am a physics education major and math minor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and when I graduate I plan on being a high school physics and math teacher. I am really looking forward to spending my summer in D.C. and it will be a great experience for all of us.
My chapter of SPS is very active at Ball State. We host several events at the university each year where we give children the opportunity to learn science in a fun environment, and we do our outreach demos in the community as well. I really enjoy doing this outreach not only to spread knowledge of science, but also because it is a growing experience as a future teacher. Outside of school I enjoy music, Netflix, hanging out with my friends and my family and my girlfriend and going home to see my dog.