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QuarkNET

 Director of Quarknet at VT: Prof. Camillo Mariani
Director of Quarknet at VT: Prof. Camillo Mariani

People:

Director: Prof.  Camillo Mariani

Lead Teacher: Rebecca Jaronski

The Virginia Tech Physics Department and the Center for Neutrino physics are building a QuarkNET Center.

 

We are seeking high school teachers to participate in the program.

QuarkNet is a network of teachers and students supported by the National Science Foundation and by the Department of Energy. It was created over fifteen years ago in the United States to encourage high school teachers to participate in summer research and bring that research to their classroom. A broader goal of the QuarkNet collaboration is to reform and improve physics education primarily through teacher professional development. 

QuarkNet has a variety of universities and laboratories participating in high-energy physics experiments, but each center has its own unique program. For example, the center that we would like to build at Virginia Tech will involve high school teachers, with the help from undergraduate students and physics department faculty, build a portable muon detector that can be operated by high school students and teachers at their respective schools during the regular school year. We think that this is a great opportunity for us to work together and bring the excitement of physics research into the high school. You will have the opportunity to visit Fermilab, one of the biggest particle laboratories in US, look at real experimental data, participate in the data analysis, and more than anything, understand how a complex particle accelerator experiment works. You will then have the possibility to bring some of the tools and knowledge you've gained into your classroom. The QuarkNet program will provide you with support on how to share what you have learned with your students. The program will provide not only opportunities for you and your students to participate in cutting-edge physics research as well as earn licensure recertification points, but it also provides support for travel, accommodations, and a daily stipend of $100/day for meetings and summer internships. As one teacher participant said:

"Your program rejuvenates my soul. It connects me with a cadre of intelligent and excited educators. It reinvigorates my teaching and provides me avenues to extend and enliven the projects that I can offer my students. Without the QuarkNet program I am sure that I would have left teaching years ago."

To move forward, the Virginia Tech QuarkNet program has identified two leading teachers, Rebecca Jaronski and Nicholas Merrill but we are always looking to add associate teachers to our group who would like to participate in our program. Associate teachers will have the option to participate in a 1 week datacamp at Fermilab, Chicago, IL during the summer and will be asked to attend workshop hosted at Virginia Tech that require a 2-3 days commitment. We hope to build a strong, rewarding program for both teachers and high school students. If you would like to join our program do not hesitate to contact Prof. C. Mariani (mariani(at)vt.edu or Rebecca Jaronski (rjaronsk(at)vt.edu) or Nicholas Merrill (nmerrill(at)vt.edu). If you would like to read more about QuarkNet, please visit: http://quarknet.i2u2.org

The QuarkNET Virginia Tech Physics Group 

C. Mariani (PI), J. Simonetti, A. Robison and M. Norris

 

QuarkNET Center at the Department of Physics of Virginia Tech has been funded by NSF with a Career Award 14-0178-07