» OPTYCs SPOTLIGHT » Issue 50

OPTYCs SPOTLIGHT 2025 Issue 50

August 14, 2025 Issue #50

SPOTLIGHT is the OPTYCs bi-weekly newsletter. It brings you OPTYCs activity updates, highlights from recent publications related to physics education, and news & resources for Two-Year colleges.

OPTYCs News

NOTE: With the termination of the NSF grant, SPOTLIGHT will switch to a monthly frequency and will appear on the second Thursday of each month.

Upcoming events

Quantum Cryptography 2025 August 16, 2025 from 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Quantum computers are both a danger to internet security and a solution. This workshop will help you understand how current internet security is built on factoring prime numbers and how Shor’s algorithm can break that security. The second part of the workshop will feature classroom activities around quantum key distribution (QKD) using polarization. Facilitators: Alice Flarend and Bob Hilborn
Intro RBAI 2025 September 5, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
During the 2025-2026 academic year, we are offering a series of presentation-discussion-workshops to share some of the many research-based assessment instruments (RBAIs) used in the physics education community. In this first session we'll show you how to find research-based assessment instruments, how their validation is rated, how to best administer them, and what some of their limitations are. Facilitator: Jayson Nissen (Montana State University)
Quantum Or Not 2025 September 12, 2025 from 2:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
This session, brought to you by the Perimeter Institute, will explore a hands-on classroom activity that engages students and introduces them to the key principles of quantum physics: uncertainty, superposition, entanglement, and wave-particle duality. The mathematics in this activity is minimal and only involves basic algebra. Facilitator: Damien Pope (Perimeter Institute)
Mechanics Assessments 2025 September 26, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Comparing the Force Concept Inventory and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation
Description forthcoming.
Facilitator: Jeffrey Marx (McDaniel College)
AI Grading 2025 September 27, 2025 from 12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Discover how AI-powered grading can revolutionize your physics teaching practice in this engaging 2-hour workshop. Using ScoreWise AI as our primary tool, participants will explore how machine learning can provide faster, more consistent, and more detailed feedback on student work across mechanics, electricity & magnetism, and other core physics topics. Facilitator: Jeremy Durelle (Northeast Iowa CC)
CSEM 2025 October 24, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
Using the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism
Description and facilitator forthcoming.
MAPS 2025 November 21, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Minnesota Assessment of Problem-Solving
Description and facilitator forthcoming.
CDPA 2025 December 5, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Concise Data Processing Assessment
Description forthcoming.
Facilitator: James Day (University of British Columbia)

Recent events

Workshop: Quantum Phenomena: A Conceptual-based Instructional Sequence (July 12, 2025)

Highlights

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Members at Two-Year Colleges

In 2012, we found that physics was offered on 1,063 two-year college campuses. In 2023, this number was up to 1,126, suggesting resiliency amid a declining number of TYCs.
In 2012, we estimated that 3,280 faculty members taught at least one class in physics or astronomy at a two-year institution. In 2023, we estimate that the number had increased to 3,850.
Thus, the average number of faculty members teaching physics or astronomy per campus went from 3.1 in 2012 to 3.4 in 2023.
51% of those faculty members were full-time employees, which is the same as it was in 2012.

Full report: Physics and Astronomy Faculty Members at Two-Year Colleges

Professional Opportunities

This one and a half-day conference will convene climate experts, teacher-scholars from other disciplines, and community partners to discuss the future of climate education for undergraduates. The goal of the conference is to expand the number of faculty involved in climate education and for those already involved to deepen their understanding of and appreciation for the strengths that multiple perspectives bring to addressing the challenges of climate.

Click here for more information

Upcoming events from PocketLab:

Resources

The American Association of Physics Teachers
Committee on Physics in Two-Year Colleges (AAPT area committee)
Join the TYC Google group: Send an email to tycphysics@googlegroups.com
PhysPort Recommendations about teaching methods, assessment, and results from PER
PER Central A resource collection for physics education researchers
Physics Review Physics Education Research Fully open access journal for PER
arXiv Physics education The arXiv repository for physics education papers
AIP Statistical Research Center Data on education, careers, and diversity in physics, astronomy and other physical sciences

optycs.aapt.org