APS News

March 2021 (Volume 30, Number 3)

Education and Diversity News

Get the Facts Out Launches New Research Study Sites

By Leah Poffenberger

In 2018, the American Association for Employment in Education found that the shortage of physics, chemistry, and math teachers was in the top five areas of concern. The Get the Facts Out (GFO) program (getthefactsout.org) is hoping to change that, by reframing the conversation around teaching as a profession and increasing teacher recruitment levels.

GFO hopes to dispel misinformation about teaching and encourage science majors who have an interest in teaching to enroll in teacher certification programs. To do this, GFO provides faculty with research-based and user-tested materials designed to offer accurate and positive information about teaching. Now, GFO is launching inaugural qualitative study sites to track the project’s success by implementing, testing, and providing feedback on materials developed by the GFO team.

Six institutions have signed on to be research study sites: Brigham Young University; California State University, Long Beach; Chicago State University; Colorado School of Mines; University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; and West Virginia University.

The Research Study Sites will collect information on implementation of GFO content to help drive the development of more effective positive messaging about careers in teaching. Each site will test GFO materials and workshops, administer surveys to students and faculty, and provide enrollment numbers in their certification programs to GFO leadership. With their research, the Study Sites will contribute to honing GFO materials to help students visualize a career in teaching and combat the shortage of qualified science teachers in the United States.

science classroom photo

The GFO project is jointly led by the Colorado School of Mines, APS, the American Chemical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, and is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

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Editor: David Voss
Staff Science Writer: Leah Poffenberger
Contributing Correspondents: Sophia Chen, Alaina G. Levine

March 2021 (Volume 30, Number 3)

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Articles in this Issue
My Goals for the American Physical Society
CUWiP Leverages Online Format to Build International Connections
APS Releases New Report: Building America’s STEM Workforce
The APS Topical Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Strategies and Tools to Promote Thriving Physics Departments
Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
This Month in Physics History
Education and Diversity News
The 2021 APS Medal and Society Prize Ceremony
FYI: Science Policy News from AIP
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