Newsletter Volume 2	Fall 1997

Perspective on the 1997 ACEPT Physics-Mathematics Workshop

Jennis Nedergaard
Mesa School District Science Specialist
Mesa Systemic Initiative Secondary School Coordinator

My preparation for my new position in the Mesa Public School System was enhanced by my participation in the ACEPT Summer Workshop.

The month that I spent at ASU in the ACEPT workshop has had a larger impact than I had originally anticipated. As a district science resource teacher, I have already implemented a series of workshops based directly on the knowledge and experience I gained during my ACEPT experience.

Jeff Turley compares the different tones produced by tuning forks of differenct lengths. His group used this information to build a glockenspiel.

In November together with two other ACEPT participants and Mesa secondary science teachers, Bill Edlebrock and Eugene Judson, I helped facilitate a workshop for one science and one math teacher from each junior high school in our district to expose them to the TI-82/CBL technology which we learned in the ACEPT Workshop this summer. Our district has purchased a classroom set of CBL equipment which is available to each school after the November workshop to be checked out for a two week period. It is our hope that teachers at each site will become so excited about this technology that they will purchase their own equipment the following year.

The contacts in the other school districts, the community colleges and at ASU that I made this summer at the ACEPT Workshop have been extremely helpful to me personally, and will continue to be beneficial to my school district. It was the starting point for a dialogue which we hope will continue to further extend reforms in teacher education in science. I anticipate that the partnership with ASU science and math faculty will benefit both our institutions. I very strongly endorse the continuation of the ACEPT program, and have already recommended that several of my colleagues participate in the program. I would encourage ACEPT organizers to consider new teachers next year that have not had the benefit of this learning experience yet. I would most certainly be interested in participating in future workshops, particularly those involving life sciences. However, I do strongly feel that other teachers in our district deserve the opportunity to participate. If five or six teachers each summer get as ranked up about technology-based science as I am now, my job as a district resource teacher would be an easy one!

Amanda Beasley, REU student and Pat Shontz, Math Collaborative Peer Teacher for the Phoenix USI, collaborate with Angie Chomokos, Math Chair/Instructor for Gilbert High School, in programming the TI-83 graphing calculator.

My overall experience with the ACEPT workshop was a positive one. However, if I were to improve it, I might consider the following:

1. The range of teachers was too varied. University faculty were usually on a "different page" from most of the K-12 teachers. The university faculty often seemed to have different teaching outcome goals from the "teachers in the trenches".
2. The addition of the university pre-service students was a real plus! Perhaps they could be included earlier during the Workshop, so that they felt more a part of the "team" ^*
3. The lack of computer availability at the end of the program was a real frustration.


*[Editor's note: The pre-service teachers who participated in the ACEPT Workshop were also participating in an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduate led by James Mayer, ASU Biochemical and Chemical Engineering,and could only participate in part of the Workshop.]

What was really right about the ACEPT Physics-Math Workshop :

1. The instruction and instructors were the best. No question or concern went unanswered.
2. The support system was phenomenal. No matter what equipment was requested, it was there - on time - and in perfect working order. A real treat for a public school teacher!
3. The sky seemed to be the limit as far as what we could do - creativity was encouraged and welcomed. As a result, we saw some very interesting and varied products.

So thank you for the opportunity to join the ACEPT program last summer! I can honestly say it was a turning point for me in my perspective on science education!

Jenny Nedergaard's group presents the results of their experiment to the other workshop participants. These presentations generated some excellent dialogue among the participants and also helped produce some very good modules that have already been implemented into classrooms.

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