Towson's PhysTEC project personnel consists of Dr. Laura Lising and Dr. Cody Sandifer, two full-time science education faculty, and a full-time elementary TIR. The 2004-2005 TIR was Ms. Lisa Tirocchi, a Baltimore County teacher. The current 2005-2006 TIR is Ms. Elizabeth Renwick, a Baltimore City teacher.

The main purpose of Towson's PhysTEC project is to improve our "Teaching Science in the Elementary School" practicum course (SCIE 376). "Improvement" in this project is represented by the degree to which the course becomes more uniform from section to section (in terms of the number of science lessons taught per intern, feedback on the interns' teaching, and a focus on inquiry) and the extent to which the undergraduate course interns (1) develop a better understanding of the principles of inquiry-based teaching, and (2) increase the amount and quality of inquiry in their elementary science lessons at the practicum school sites.

Other purposes of the project are: to assess and improve the science mentoring of pre- and in-service elementary teachers, to build a stable community of elementary science internship schools, to provide better pedagogical support for the instructors of the other science courses in the elementary education program (Physical Science I, Earth-Space Science), and to document successes and challenges that will be shared with other PhysTEC sites and the educational community at large.

Links related to the project:

PhysTEC 2004-2005 (Year 1) Annual Report (brief, full)

Workshop presentation at 2006 Conference on Physics and Physical Science Teacher Preparation

National PhysTEC Web site