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Apr09-Letter.pdf

RE: EDITORIAL - "The Evolution of Teaching and the Role of Teaching-only Faculty in Physics Departments"
January-March 2009 65(1) Issue

Dear Prof. Joos:

I would like to comment on your timely Editorial in the latest PiC issue.

1) I agree that as soon as teaching-only positions are converted into tenure-track appointments, the role of teaching faculty within the Department will change. I see at least three reasons why it should happen. First, tenure-track teaching positions will attract not only higher-caliber, but also different candidates. Nowadays a number of students in North America pursue graduate degrees in physics education. The Physics Education Research (PER) groups at major research American universities have graduated by now dozens of PER researchers. Secondly, PER faculty, at least in the US (Canada still has very limited PER funding), often bring significant research funding to their Departments. As a result, they have a potential to make a broad impact on the quality of physics teaching. Unlike “teaching-only faculty”, they establish research groups to investigate the effectiveness of different teaching methods on student learning. This is a paradigm shift from teaching-only faculty to researchers in the physics education. Thirdly, 52 years after Sputnik and almost 20 years after the end of the cold war, we are witnessing a renewal of interest in the level of science, engineering and mathematics education. As the universities compete for better students, the quality of undergraduate student experiences plays a more prominent role. The contribution of PER faculty here can be invaluable.

2) I would also like to respond to the concern regarding the age-evolution of the teaching-only faculty. If the universities hire PER faculty instead of the teaching-only faculty, the concern regarding their lack of ability to inspire and stimulate students as they age will significantly diminish. One thing that certainly does not apply to PER community is the lack of an exuberant and enriching research environment. Just for the information of PiC readers, the American Association of Physics Teachers has more than 10,000 active members (www.aapt.org). It holds two annual meetings, attended by about 1000 national and international members. Canada has four active AAPT sections (BC, Alberta, ON and Quebec). In addition, PER community in North America has an annual Physics Education Research Conference (this year organized by Canadians); it is represented in the APS conferences and at a number of other events. The community supports a number of peer-refereed journals: the American Journal of Physics, Physics Review Special Topics (Physics Education), The Physics Teachers, Physics Education, etc. In Canada, the events sponsored by the CAP Division ofPhysics Education at the 2008 Congress had very high attendance, and both PiC and CJP recently opened PER sections. Additionally, the most scientifically prolific years for many (albeit not all) science faculty happen during their 30s and 40s; this often does not apply to PER faculty who often continue their research over the entire span of their careers.

Sincerely,

Marina Milner-Bolotin
Department of Physics, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada