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Pedagogical knowledge
Knowledge of brain development 
Knowledge of cognitive science 
Knowledge of collaborative learning 
Knowledge of classroom manage-
ment and school laws
Pedagogical content knowledge
General views about physics pedagogy
Knowledge of physics curriculum
Knowledge of student ideas
Knowledge of effective instructional 
strategies 
Knowledge of assessment methods
Content knowledge
Knowledge of physics concepts, 
relationships among them, and 
methods of developing new 
knowledge
Fig.1. The Structure of Physics Teacher Knowledge.
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Teacher Education in Physics 
23
Summary: Etkina
The course “Development of Ideas in Physical Science” 
is offered in the fi rst semester of the program. Its goal is to 
help students learn how physicists developed the ideas and 
laws that are a part of the high school physics curriculum. The 
“ideas” that students investigate correspond to the major build-
ing blocks of physics and chemistry, such as motion, force, 
energy, molecular structure of matter, electric charge and cur-
rent, magnetic fi eld, light, and atomic and nuclear structure. 
In this course, students use elements of science practice (con-
ducting observations, seeking patterns, devising explanations 
and testing them by predicting the results of new experiments) 
as means through which to examine the historical process. 
They examine the sequence in which ideas were historically 
developed and determine which ideas were prerequisites for 
others, as well as read and discuss physics education research 
papers on student learning of the same concepts.
“Teaching Physical Science” is a second-semester course in 
which pre-service teachers learn in greater depth how to build 
student understanding of crucial concepts (Newton’s laws, 
electric charge and electric fi eld, magnetic fi eld and electro-
magnetic induction, etc.), how to engage students in experi-
ment design and complex problem solving, how to motivate 
students, and how to develop and implement curriculum unit 
plans and lesson plans, including formative and summative 
assessments. The focus on listening to high school students, 
and interpreting what they say and do, becomes even stronger. 
To achieve this goal, pre-service teachers practice listening to 
and interpreting the responses of their peers in class to specifi c 
physics questions, read physics education and science educa-
tion research papers, and conduct problem-solving interviews 
with high school or middle school students.
“Multiple Representations in Physical Science” is offered 
in the last semester of the program after pre-service teachers 
have done student teaching. The physics content of the course 
includes waves and vibrations, thermodynamics, electricity 
and magnetism, geometrical and physical optics, and atomic 
physics. The goal is to help pre-service teachers systematically 
integrate different representations of physics knowledge into 
their problem-solving practice. An emphasis is on the connec-
tion between the use of multiple representations in physics 
and knowledge of how the brain works. In addition to reading 
research papers relevant to the weekly topics and using the 
book “Five Easy Lessons” by R. Knight,
1
the students read the 
book “The Art of Changing the Brain” by J. Zull.
2
In addition to coursework the program engages the students 
in clinical practice through multiple venues. Students plan 
and implement their own “high school” lessons under close 
supervision, with immediate feedback from the program coor-
dinator. During the second semester, they spend 10 half-days 
in high schools observing physics lessons and interacting 
with students. In addition, for the fi rst two semesters and 
after student teaching, pre-service teachers work as instruc-
tors (in labs or problem-solving sessions) in reformed physics 
courses, similar to what physics graduate students would do. 
Their teaching in the course is a simplifi ed and sheltered ver-
sion of high school teaching as they do not plan lessons and 
assessments. The pre-service teachers’ major responsibility is 
to implement instruction in a reformed atmosphere and refl ect 
on what happened in class.
In the fall of the second year pre-service teachers do their 
student teaching internship. They are placed with cooperating 
teachers who are graduates of the program. (These placements 
are only possible because of the continuous interaction of the 
program staff with the graduates.) This careful placement 
allows the interns to practice what they learned and avoid the 
confl ict between how they are “supposed to teach” and “how 
real teachers teach.”
After students fi nish the program and start teaching, they 
join a community that consists of a web-based discussion 
board established by the students in the program, along with 
face-to-face meetings twice a month. Since fall 2004 there 
have been on average 70 messages per month on the discus-
sion board (the number is growing steadily every year), most 
of them related to the teaching of specifi c physics topics, stu-
dent diffi culties and ideas, diffi cult physics questions, new 
technology, and interactions with students and parents. Posted 
questions stimulate rapid responses and lively discussion. 
The Rutgers Program is an Ed. M. (master’s degree) pro-
gram housed entirely in the Graduate School of Education. 
Two major reasons for such hosting are the NJ certifi cation 
requirements and the history of teacher preparation at Rutgers. 
However, the fact that the GSE houses the program does not 
mean that it is the only participant in the process; rather, it 
is the collaboration between the Department of Physics and 
Astronomy and the Graduate School of Education that makes 
the program successful. Crucial aspects of this collabora-
tion are: advising of undergraduates, opportunities to teach 
in PER-reformed courses, extra time spent by physics staff 
and faculty providing training for the pre-service teachers, 
and support for course reforms in the physics department. 
Without this array of connections, true integration of physics 
and pedagogy would not be possible in the teacher preparation 
program.
1
R. Knight, Five Easy Lessons (Addison Wesley Longman, San Francisco, 
CA, 2003).
2
J. Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by 
Exploring the Biology of Learning (Stylus Publishing, Sterling, Virginia, 2003).
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Summary: McDermott, et al.
24 
Teacher Education in Physics