Through the Eyes of a Student: Rutgers Physics Teacher Preparation Program

This talk will describe the course work and the teaching experiences in the Rutgers Physics Teacher Preparation Program that future physics teachers have before they enter the profession. The program is hosted in the Rutgers Graduate School of Education but works in close cooperation with the physics department. In addition to 5 courses in which we learn how to teach physics, we work as instructors in reformed introductory physics courses and then do student teaching in the schools where former graduates of the program teach. During the student teaching we have multiple opportunities to apply all of the ``theory'' in a real classroom and work in collaboration with those who share our views of how students learn. Jonathan is a student in the program and Chris is his cooperating teacher.