J. Phys. Tchr. Educ. Online, 4(4), Spring 2008 Page 1 © 2008 Illinois State University Physics Dept.JOURNAL OF PHYSICS TEACHER EDUCATIONONLINEVol. 4, No. 4 www.phy.ilstu.edu/jpteo Spring 2008THE LONG GOODBYEINSIDE THIS ISSUE1 The Long Goodbye Editorial3 Hooking physics up with physical education William H. Koenecke and Joseph DeBella7 Guidelines and methods for high school teachers for encouraging women in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Rebecca E. Wenning-Vieyra 13 A post participation review of the North Carolina State University’s online graduate credit physics course for teachers PY610C: Special Topics – Matter & Interactions II for Secondary School Teachers Salvatore TattoJPTEOWhile the title of this column is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s farewell address to the nation after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, this column is not to announce the demise of JPTEO or its editor-in-chief. Rather, it is to announce a significant milestone in my life. On May 31st, 2008, I formally retired from Illinois State University (ISU) following 30 years of uninterrupted work. I now look forward to continuing part time work at ISU starting with the autumn semester. Having been a 12-month employee for the past three decades, I am now looking forward to the summer months as the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Note that I did not say “rest and relaxation.”I have been very busy during my professional life. I was always working on a wide variety of projects, not the least of which was the further development and improvement of the Phys-ics Teacher Education program here at ISU. What little vacation time I have had, I almost always took it when I was involved in paid summer grant work providing professional development op-portunities for in-service physics teachers. In retirement I expect to be fully engaged. When asked why I was retiring at 55 years of age and supposedly at the top of my game, I have often remarked, “I’m not retiring to do less, but to do more.”Now that I will be sharing work duties with my full time re-placement, I will have more time to work on special projects. One will be JPTEO. I hope to spend more time encouraging authors and promoting the publication. I also plan to continue working in the areas of recruitment, preparation, and retention of high school physics teachers. I hope to share with others the work of the Il-linois Pipeline Project for the recruitment of the next generation of high school science teachers. I plan to continue working with my daughter, herself an in-service high school physics teacher, on the writing of a textbook tentatively titled Teaching High School Physics. I also expect to continue offering workshops for professional development of high school physics teachers. Lastly, I want to continue working on the proposal for NIPTE - the Na-tional Institute for Physics Teacher Educators. These activities, interspersed with travel for leisure and to make conference talks should then make up the bulk of my retirement activities for the next decade or more. A long goodbye indeed!Dr. Carl J. WenningEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Campus Box 4560Department of Physics Normal, IL 61790-4560Illinois State University [email protected]. Phys. Tchr. Educ. Online, 4(4), Spring 2008 Page 2 © 2008 Illinois State University Physics Dept.REVIEWERSThe following individuals have graciously agreed to serve as reviewers for this publication. This publication would not be possible without their assistance.JPTEOIngrid NovodvorskyUniversity of ArizonaTucson, AZPaul HickmanScience ConsultantAndover, MANarendra JaggiIllinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington, ILMichael JabotSUNY FredoniaFredonia, NYAlbert Gras-MartiUniversity of AlacantAlacant, Catalonia (Spain)James VesenkaUniversity of New EnglandBiddeford, MEKeith AndrewWestern Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, KYDan MacIsaacSUNY-Buffalo State CollegeBuffalo, NYHerbert H. GottliebMartin Van Buren HSQueens Village, NYMuhsin OgretmeSackville SchoolHildenborough, Kent (GB)Joseph A. TaylorThe SCI Center at BSCSColorado Springs, COMel S. SabellaChicago State UniversityChicago, ILJOURNAL OF PHYSICS TEACHER EDUCATION ONLINE JPTEO is published by the Department of Physics at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Editorial comments and com-ments of authors do not necessarily reflect the views of Illinois State University, the Department of Physics, or its Editor-in-Chief. JPTEO is available through the World Wide Web at www.phy.ilstu.edu/jpteo. To subscribe to this journal, send an e-mail to the editor indicating that you wish to be added to the notification list. When issues are published online, subscribers will receive electronic notification of availability. JPTEO is published on an irregular basis, but with an expectation of four issues per calendar year. JPTEO is available free of charge through the JPTEO web site. It is downloadable in portable document file (PDF) format. All contents of this publication are copyrighted by the Illinois State University Department of Physics. JPTEO is sponsored in part by whiteboardsUSA.comJ. Phys. Tchr. Educ. Online, 4(4), Spring 2008 Page 3 © 2008 Illinois State University Physics Dept.Our American educational system is “under a microscope of scrutiny.” High stakes testing and accountability are two of the newest “slides” under investigation. Educators for many years have been searching for a “magic pill” that teachers can administer to their students that will enable them to obtain high scores on high stakes tests. These high student test scores, according to some experts, “prove” that a school is accountable; however, as far as we know, there is no “magic pill” available at the present time. We postulate that high school physics may be one of those “magic pills.” Students taking physics learn how to solve problems and how to develop critical thinking skills that are essential to future success in any field of endeavor. We’d like to share a few of our reasons we believe high school physics may be one of the “magic pills”
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