Date:
PoLS-T Talk & Discussion Series | April 3, 2021
Title: ‘Physics for All: Teachers as advocates for policies that support students (and one another)’
Speaker: Kelli Warble, Arizona State University
DESCRIPTION
Physics is the gateway course for college majors in science and engineering. But how can we ensure all students have access to the physics courses they need to prepare for entrance into an increasingly STEM-heavy economy?
Ten years ago, when I was still in my high school classroom teaching mathematics and physics, I would not have considered policy advocacy to be part of my duties. More recently I have come to realize that teachers negotiate policy issues at the school, district, and community level more than commonly recognized. There are lessons to be learned from both successful and unsuccessful advocacy efforts by teachers.
This talk will share what I have learned while advocating for policies I view as critical to supporting my students. I will compare my solo advocacy failures with recent team successes. The follow-up Q&A session will be joined by a panel of my fellow educators, who convinced Arizona legislators to fund scholarships for teachers and subsequently influenced a national policy fellowship for physics educators.
BIO:
Kelli Warble became hooked on teaching after securing a part-time job running mathematics and science activities for 2nd through 9th graders at an after-school program in central Phoenix. She received early exposure to physics education research via the Methods of Teaching Physics course at Arizona State University, which was (and still is) anchored in Modeling Instruction pedagogy.
In 1994, Kelli started teaching mathematics and physics in the Phoenix metropolitan area. She spent 18 years as a high school teacher, primarily at Title I schools. In fall 2012 she became the full-time Physics Teacher in Residence for Arizona State University.
In 2017, Kelli enrolled in a masters' program in science and technology policy, where her applied project focused on the crisis in physics education in her home state of Arizona. Her graduate internship gave her the opportunity to consult for two AAPT programs: the AAPT/AIP Master Teacher Policy Fellowship and the STEP UP initiative.
At Arizona State, Kelli currently teaches courses focused on physics education, runs the Learning Assistant program, and is a member of the APS IDEA team focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is in her fourth and final year on the board of the American Modeling Teachers Association, currently serving as past president.
Speaker contact: kelliw@asu.edu
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YouTube
Watch full talk with discussion on the PoLS-T Network Channel
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Amanda Whitehurst |
Amanda spent thirteen years teaching 3rd through 8th grade in Arizona Schools. As a founding board member of STEMteachersPHX she has worked to provide support for Arizona's educators. Now president, she has steered the group to become one of the largest teacher-led STEM organizations in Arizona. Most recently, Amanda continues her focus on local education issues as a part of the AIP/AAPT Master Teacher Policy Fellowship and the OAS Inter-American Teacher Education Network. |
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Mike Vargas |
Mike spent 20 years teaching high school physics in Belgium and in Phoenix, AZ. He is a member of STEMteachersPHX, ASTA, AMTA, and was a AIP/AAPT Master Teacher Policy Fellowship Mentor. Mike was the Arizona HS Science Teacher of the Year in 2014, an Arizona Education Foundation Ambassador for Teaching Excellence, and the 2019 Rolls Royce Air Force Association National Aerospace Teacher of the Year. He is currently serving as an Einstein Fellow for the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Office in Washington DC and serves on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy - Strategic Partnerships Committee. |
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Melissa Girmscheid |
Melissa Girmscheid is in her fourteenth year of teaching high school physics. She has been developing and leading workshops on Computational Modeling in Physics First with Bootstrap since 2017. In 2019, she worked with a team of Arizona physics educators to successfully lobby for ongoing education funding for STEM and CTE teachers. She currently serves as an Ambassador with the American Physical Society’s STEP UP program, a coach in the Arizona Educational Foundation’s teachSTEM program, and as the Vice President of the American Modeling Teachers Association. |
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Nichole Spencer |
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