Brigham Young University ranks number one in the nation in the production of high school physics teachers.
According to data collected by the Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (T-TEP), the BYU Department of Physics and Astronomy graduated 14 physics teachers last year, more than any other department in the United States.
The Task Force, a special initiative of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition, documents the preparation of physics teachers and makes recommendations for how individual colleges can improve their physics teacher education programs.
T-TEP noted several outstanding features of BYU’s program that make it exemplary, including the department’s large enrollment with multiple opportunities to enter the teaching track, close mentoring of teacher candidates by experts, and a tenure-track faculty position for heading physics teacher education.
Professor Duane Merrell is the person behind BYU’s great success in physics teacher education in recent years. According to Merrell, the reason behind the considerable shortage of qualified physics teachers is lack of exposure.
“Nobody has learned how fun it is to teach physics! People think it is hard,” he said.
Merrell identified BYU’s unique culture, as well as the large size of BYU’s physics department, as a major source of the physics program’s success.
“Students around here like to teach,” he explained. “I think the culture of our community says teaching is a good profession.”
BYU is one of the few universities nationwide that trains physics teachers through the physics department rather than through the school of education.
“We teach our own physics teachers, but we have a very good partnership with the McKay School of Education,” Merrell said. “They help us with getting teaching licenses and placing student teachers. We do the rest of the work in preparing them to be physics teachers right here in the college.”
The need for more physics teachers is evident. According to the Coalition’s webpage, two-thirds of new physics teachers do not hold a degree in physics and more than 90 percent of middle school science students are taught by teachers who majored in a different subject or who lack certification in physical science.
To improve national preparation of physics teachers, Merrell explains that students need someone to guide them through the process of becoming a teacher—someone to show them how easy it is for a physical science student to transition to teaching.
“I am absolutely willing to be the champion for any student that walks through this door to figure out a way that they can do this,” Merrell said. “They don’t leave here discouraged.”