Florida International site leader Laird Kramer and physics students study the results of a computer-assisted momentum experiment.

 

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Florida International University

Read APS Forum on Education Newsletter article about Florida International’s program.

Florida International University (FIU) in Miami educates more Hispanic students than any other institution in the country, and that diversity is reflected among FIU’s physics majors. Site leader Laird Kramer has built a thriving learning community within the department, and is now seeking to expand these efforts to include educating teachers. The PhysTEC project has been able to build on FIU’s Center for High-Energy Physics Research, Education, and Outreach (CHEPREO), which includes a Physics Learning Center targeting underserved students. Project leaders have launched a Learning Assistant program that included eight undergraduates in its first semester of operation, and has grown since then. In 2008 FIU graduated its first physics teacher in a decade, and has more in the pipeline. The university is poised to provide the lion’s share of highly qualified physics teachers to the southern tip of Florida, and especially to Miami-Dade County, one of the largest school districts in the country.

Project Report 2008

Faculty

Eric Brewe	Laird Kramer

Teachers-in-Residence

Leanne Wells 2007-2008	Jorge Gibert 2008-2009