The Southern Physics Department has an extremely active and successful program leading to the B. S. in Physics with Secondary School certification.  Physics teaching at the high school level is a rewarding endeavor, and presents intelligent and creative teachers many opportunities to exercise their inventiveness.  There are also remarkable career opportunities for physics teachers in Connecticut and many other states at this time.   School districts are reporting an unusually high number of retirements among their physical science staff while growing middle and high school enrollments are adding to the need for secondary school science teachers in many districts.

Our certification graduates have consistently enjoyed success in both their student teaching and in searching for their first professional position.  Students who carried out the full B. S. in Physics with Certification program here have consistently passed the state’s PRAXIS II physics certification content exams on their first attempt.  We think this is largely because we make the certification program an integral component of the department’s mission. 

Certification candidates take the same rigorous physics courses as those planning to attend graduate school or pursue industrial careers.  We provide special independent study projects that prepare them to apply physics knowledge in the school setting, before they start their student teaching.  Also, we have extensive contacts in the schools and collaborate in externally funded projects in which students can work directly with professional teachers.

The department currently has six full-time faculty members, all of whom have Ph. D.’s from established research Universities.  All courses and labs for physics majors are taught by these faculty.  The upper level courses usually have fewer than ten students and the atmosphere is cooperative among students.   Our degree program is distinguished by opportunities for research participation for upper level students.  Most physics majors work with a faculty member in a research lab by the time they graduate.  For prospective teachers, this is extremely important so that they can convey to their future students a complete sense of the scientific process of discovery.  We have extensive grant-funded research-grade apparatus for work in advanced materials such as nanowires and silicon-on-insulator, high critical-temperature superconductivity, and fiber optics.

Please contact Prof. James Dolan at 203-392-6453 or dolan@scsu.ctstateu.edu if you have any questions or to arrange a tour of the department.