UC Santa Barbara’s CalTeach Physical Sciences and Engineering presents Dr. Carl Wieman, Physics Nobel Laureate, giving the free public lecture “Taking a Scientific Approach to Engineering and Science Education.” This talk will be held in UCSB Corwin Pavilion at 4 pm on Tuesday, February 19. A reception for Dr. Wieman will follow immediately after the talk and a Q&A session. Although the lecture and reception are free, the organizers request an RSVP to help for event planning. Please do so to tara@education.ucsb.edu.
Dr. Carl Wieman is a Professor of Physics at the University of British Columbia, where he heads the Science Education Initiative, and at the University of Colorado – Boulder, where he founded the Physics Education Technology Project. In 1997, he received the Oersted Medal of the AAPT for his contributions to Physics teaching. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2001 for his work, with Eric Cornell, on Bose-Einstein condensates. In 2004, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named him United States Professor of the Year for doctoral and research universities. Dr. Wieman was the founding Chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Science Education. From 2010-2012, he served as Associate Director of Science in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The program CalTeach Physical Sciences and Engineering (CTPSE) encourages undergraduates in chemistry, engineering, and physics to pursue a secondary science teaching credential in chemistry or physics. Funded by a $1.19 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the program brings together UCSB faculty from Engineering, Education, and the Physical Sciences. CTPSE includes opportunities for students to learn to teach from award-winning science teachers at Dos Pueblos High School's Engineering Academy and Santa Barbara High School's Green Academy. Students receive stipends, course credit, or scholarships for these school placements. Students can also receive mentoring if pursuing the Undergraduate Minor in Science and Mathematics Education and/or applying to a teacher education program. CTPSE is part of the larger UCSB CalTeach program. Starting in Summer 2014 UCSB teacher candidates pursuing a credential in physics or chemistry can apply for a Noyce Teacher Scholar award of $20,000.
Dr. Wieman’s lecture is sponsored by the National Science Foundation: Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program; Acting Dean Gale Morrison, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education; Dean Pierre Wiltzius, Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences, College of Letters and Sciences; and, Dean Rod Alferness, College of Engineering.