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Editors’ Preface
This book came about due to an
increasing national recognition of a need for improved preparation of physics and physical-
science teachers. Although there is an extensive and growing body of research and research-based practice in physics teacher 
education, there has been no single resource for scholarly work in this area. In response, the Physics Teacher Education Coalition 
(PhysTEC), a project of the American Physical Society (APS) and American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), decided 
in 2007 to publish a compendium of research articles on the preparation of physics and physical-science teachers. The PhysTEC 
project management selected Editors and an Editorial Board for the book based on recommendations from the physics education 
community. The editorial group worked to devise a set of guidelines regarding submission of manuscripts. This resulting book 
includes new reports that refl ect cutting-edge research and practice, as well as reprints of previously published seminal
papers. 
Printed copies have been distributed to chairs of all physics departments in the United States. The book is also freely available 
online at www.PhysTEC.org.
Overview of this book
The papers included in this book address physics and physical-science teacher preparation, with a focus on physics education 
research and research-based instruction and curriculum development. The primary audience is physics department chairs and 
faculty members at physics-degree-granting institutions in the United States. However, the book is also envisioned to be useful 
for faculty in colleges of education who are engaged in physics teacher preparation.
The book has three primary objectives: (1) to provide a resource for physics departments and faculty members who wish to 
develop and/or expand efforts in teacher preparation; (2) to encourage scholarly documentation of ongoing research and practice, 
in a form accessible to a broad audience of physicists; and (3) to encourage recognition of teacher preparation as a scholarly 
endeavor appropriate for faculty in physics departments. In keeping with these themes, it was specifi ed that prospective manu-
scripts should treat topics that are of general interest and applicability.
To help ensure the highest level of scientifi c quality and editorial review, all manuscripts that were considered for inclusion 
in this book were required to be accepted for publication by either the
American Journal of Physics (AJP) or Physical Review 
Special Topics–Physics Education Research (PRST-PER). Five of the eleven papers were written in response to a call for papers 
for this project. They are supplemented by reprints of six additional papers that are consistent with the book guidelines. Each of 
the original and reprinted papers is accompanied by a brief Summary that serves as an introduction to and overview of the key 
fi ndings of that paper; the Summaries are collected in a separate section.
A review paper introduces this volume. It provides a brief survey of research in physics teacher education with a specifi c focus 
on research conducted in the United States. It is an attempt to place the other papers into perspective, and to indicate both their 
individual signifi cance and the part they play in adding to the body of world literature in this fi eld. 
Several years of research, writing, editing, and review were required to bring this book project to fruition. We are confi dent that 
the fi nal product represents a signifi cant addition to the world literature on physics teacher education.