Monthly Archives: October 2017

The number of Florida students taking the AP Physics 1 exam this past May continued last year’s decline by dropping 5% from 2016, giving a total 10% decline since the exam debuted in May of 2015, according to state AP … Continue reading →

Once each week, I will update progress (or lack thereof) in addressing Florida’s decline in the number of new teachers certified to teach all high school math courses.  That certification is called “Math 6-12”. As you can see above, the … Continue reading →

Seven thousand copies of a brochure giving advice to middle school parents about preparing their students for STEM and life will be distributed to parents of Bay District middle school students in the coming weeks. The brochure was developed by … Continue reading →

FSU Physics Professor Susan Blessing has been awarded the 2017 George B. Pegram Award by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (APS).  The Pegram Award was established in 1971 to honor excellence in physics education in the southeastern … Continue reading →

Nobel Laureate in Physics and Science Education Crusader Carl Wieman recently weighed in on the value of laboratories in introductory-level lecture college physics courses on the discussion group of the American Physical Society’s Topical Group on Physics Education Research.  Our … Continue reading →

Last week, Florida’s State Board of Education expressed its support for a legislative initiative to train more K-12 teachers in computer coding education.  If enacted, such an initiative would provide a broad population of students access to programming careers at … Continue reading →

The Orlando Sentinel’s series on Florida’s private school scholarship programs addressed a broad range of issues, including facility safety, financial fraud and even child abuse. But I keep coming back to this paragraph about how students are taught from the first installment … Continue reading →

A team of journalists from the Orlando Sentinel demonstrated this week beyond any doubt whatsoever that dramatic reform in Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program is desperately needed, and that it should be implemented quickly, before any more students in the … Continue reading →

I visited with about 200 students and spiritual leaders at FSU’s Catholic Student Union last night to discuss life as a Catholic scientist.  I opened by professing the Apostles Creed, with an emphasis on the word creator.  The rest of my … Continue reading →

My blog posts and tweets generally get more attention than they deserve, but not enough to make a difference. So when a friend pointed out this morning while I was in class that next week’s meeting of the Education Committee … Continue reading →