Welcome to the 2017 Tennessee Science Teachers Association Conference. We are excited about all the professional learning you will engage in as you plan out your conference schedule. The TSTA conference app will keep you updated with all the great things that will be occuring thoughout the conference. TSTA is going paperless and we encourage you to plan your schedule in advance using the app. Connect with friends and see who is signed up for a session you may want to attend. Create a profile and use social media in the app to share the exciting resources you find during the conference.
TSTA members please evaluate the conference so we can improve. Thank you in advance.
Physics teachers are accustomed to using mathematics to help in the understanding of physical principles. Is it possible for mathematics teachers to do the reverse; to use physics to advance engagement and conceptual understanding in their discipline? This question was explored during a weeklong workshop at the University of Tennessee this past July in which middle- and high-school mathematics teachers engaged in inquiry-based physics laboratories specifically designed to enhance the learning of the underlying mathematics. The laboratories provided a strong STEM emphasis through the use of probeware and video analysis, and went well beyond the use of mathematics as merely a tool to support science. This session will report on the results of that workshop, and will give attendees specific examples of how Tennessee’s Science and Mathematics Standards can be integrated to create cross-disciplinary lesson plans that work synergistically to enhance understanding in both mathematics and physics. An Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grant from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) funded the workshop.
