Successful Programs for Professional Development

Kris Lui, Director

OPTYCs – AAPT

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Dwain Desbien (EMCC, AZ)

Sherry Savrda (OPTYCs)

Rachel Ivie (AAPT)

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Joint Meeting for Chesapeake & North Carolina Sections of AAPT 2024 October 19 – Jefferson Lab, VA

Engaging in Professional Development

What makes you decide to do a professional development activity?

Interesting

• Relevant topics
• Useful resources
• Memorable experience

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TYC Tandem Meeting July 2023 – Sacramento, CA

Workshop on Mastery-Based Grading

Facilitated by Gloria Ramos (Citrus College, CA)

Interesting & Impactful

• Relevant topics
• Useful resources
• Memorable experience

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• Opportunities for sharing
• Community-building
• Accountability to group

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TYC Leadership Institute – New Orleans, LA – Jan. 2024

Facilitated by Brooke Haag (Pathstream, CA)

& Scott Shultz (Des Moines Area CC, IA)

Interesting & Impactful

• Relevant topics
• Useful resources
• Memorable experience – In a positive way; something unexpected

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• Opportunities for sharing – Interactive, allow for asking or advising
• Community-building – Sense of belonging to something greater than self
• Accountability to group – Shared commitment

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Interesting & Impactful Programs

• Small groups with shared rules of engagement
• Time for reflection
• Space to be authentic self
• Trust-building
• Opportunities to extend beyond the program confines (time, space, scope)

OPTYCs Mentoring & Networking Program

• Connect with mentors and peers
• Three modes of mentorship:
• Vertical (traditional) mentoring pairs – Mentors and mentees
• Horizontal (mutual) mentoring groups – Small support group distributed geographically
• Affinity groups – Topic-specific focused group

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• Applications on-going
• Travel stipends for active mentoring groups to national AAPT meetings

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OPTYCs TYC Leadership Institute

• Year-long cohort-based program
• Day-long training & action planning associated with AAPT Meeting
• Virtual support and mentoring for individual project
• Explore strengths-based leadership tools
• Learn communication, problem-solving, and team-building skills
• Develop a project
• Transportation, 2 nights lodging, meals provided
• Application deadline: Oct 20

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OPTYCs CERES Program

Creating Environments that Reach Every Student

• Two-year-long cohort-based program
• 2 in-person sessions associated with AAPT Meetings
• Virtual support and mentoring for individual project
• Explore inclusive teaching practices
• Develop an action plan for classroom change
• Transportation, lodging, meals provided
• Application deadline: Oct 31

OPTYCs Sensors-Based Activities Workshop

• Day-long workshop associated with AAPT Winter Meeting
• St. Louis, MO – Sat. Jan. 18, 2025
• Train-the-trainer model
• Participants will offer a future similar workshop locally
• Use Vernier & Pasco sensors
• Focus on activities beyond mechanics (waves, E&M)
• Transportation, 2 nights lodging, meals provided
• Application deadline: Oct 31

OPTYCs New Faculty Development Series

• 16-month program for TYC faculty in their first six years
• Virtual discussions of seminal PER findings
• 3-day Immersion Conference for community, pedagogy, and curriculum
• Year-long virtual mentoring
• 2-day Commencement Conference for more training
• Transportation, lodging, meals provided for in-person portions
• Applications open: Dec 1 for Cohort 2 (Mar 2025 – July 2026)

Other OPTYCs Programs

• PER Interest Group Discussions
• On-going presentations and discussions on education research
• Continuing Professional Development Workshops
• On-going active-engagement opportunities on wide ranging topics

You do not need to be TYC to participate

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2212807.

Kris Lui – KLui@aapt.org

Director for OPTYCs