'Plasma Camp': A Different Approach to Professional Development for Physics Teachers
Authors: Andrew Post-Zwicker and Nicholas R. Guilbert
The Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Institute ('Plasma Camp') was inaugurated in 1998 as a way to address two areas of concern in the professional development of high-school physics teachers: involving teachers in the theory and methods of a current area of research in physics and connecting the research experience back into the classroom. The Institute, run jointly by a scientist and a teacher, immersed high-school teachers from across the country in laboratory investigations and in pedagogical projects for two weeks at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory. The goals, structure, and initial outcomes of the Institute are discussed.