From Collaboration to Publication

• Published in: The Physics teacher Vol. 48; no. 6; pp. 408 - 409
• Main Authors: O'Connor, Jerry, Marshall, Jill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Association of Physics Teachers 01.09.2010
• Subjects: College Science; Cooperation; Physics; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Teamwork; Writing for Publication
• ISSN: 0031-921X
• DOI: 10.1119/1.3479723

As co-authors of a recent publication in "Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research", we have received inquiries about the publication process. We will describe the process of creating an article based on team work, in our case the work of the Texas Physics Assessment Team. Many physics teachers have opportunities to participate in collaborations for organizations like the AAPT and state education agencies. We may think of this work as service or professional development rather than research, but it can provide valuable information to the community as a whole and merits publication when presented in an appropriate format. Collaboration can provide a particularly important avenue toward publication for those of us at institutions dedicated primarily to teaching rather than research. Many data-gathering efforts require the collaboration of individuals and institutions at all degree levels. Community colleges have more diverse student populations than large research institutions, and may be able to provide different perspectives on common problems in teaching and learning physics. We will present suggestions for future team work publications, including prospective publications reporting the work of AAPT area committees.