Supporting teachers in their instruction and in meeting longer-term professional goals with the PEER Physics Suite

PEER Physics offers a curriculum-supported, teacher-facilitated model for physics teacher learning and professional growth. The PEER Physics community engages teachers in all stages of their careers in a variety of ways. The PEER Physics suite provides training and resources that support teachers and administrators with creating classroom conditions where students use evidence from experimentation to collaboratively build evidence-based models of scientific concepts and develop scientific discourse skills. The professional learning activities mirror the same inquiry approach in which students engage in the PEER Physics laboratory activities. This allows teachers to engage deeply with the philosophy, pedagogy, practices and content associated with the PEER Physics units. Since reform is a challenging process, teachers need space and collaborators for working out problems of practice that emerge from reform. In this session, participants will analyze video and transcripts to observe how a PEER Physics course integrates scientific practices and concept development. They will have opportunities to discuss both success and challenges associated with reform efforts such as PEER Physics. Participants will learn about the activities of the PEER Physics community and how to get involved, or help other teachers get involved.