The College of Education and the College of Engineering at Auburn University (AU) propose to develop a comprehensive four part program to enhance physical science education at the K-12 level. The effort is based on a course entitled "Engineering Physics for Teachers" newly developed by the two principal investigators at AU. The course is designed to prepare teachers to meet national science standards via problem solving using dimensional analysis, appropriate graphing, logical reasoning and teamwork. The course theme of energy is taken from the 1995 "Alabama Course of Study: Science" developed by the State of Alabama Department of Education. Problems, demonstrations, and projects use energy-related technologies to which the general public can relate. The four efforts of this project are: (1) to refine and improve the existing course, (2) to expand the target audience to future and practicing teachers in Birmingham using real time video link with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, (3) to develop accompanying resource materials in the form of printed matter and CD-ROM, (4) to incorporate and integrate resources developed in the course into the "Science in Motion" van program, a successful state-wide K-12 outreach effort. The reform is aimed at: (1) providing teachers with information on state-of-the-art technologies so they can describe 21st century science in their classrooms, with special emphasis on energy usages in homes and automobiles, (2) integrating physics, mathematics and engineering with methods of teaching, (3) enhancing interest in science through projects that involve energy and engineering concepts, and (4) providing teachers with a systematic approach to quantitative problem solving. Implementation of the project tasks will benefit both pre-service and in-service science teachers throughout the state of Alabama.
