Click on names below for a brief bio:

AMTA Executive Board

• [expand title=”Past President: Kathy Malone (2016-2017)“]Kathy Malone has been practicing Modeling Instruction in Physics since 1995 when she attended her first Modeling Instruction workshop at Arizona State University. She was hooked on the pedagogy especially after she discovered the improved performance of her students on the FCI. She has promoted the pedagogy by doing summer workshops and conference presentations ever since. Kathy’s desire to learn ‘why” her students demonstrated such improved performance on the FCI led her to enter and complete a PhD in Cognition and Instruction in Physics education from Carnegie Mellon in 2006. During this time she also started a Modeling Teachers Institute at her school, Shady Side Academy, which offered one week introductory modeling instruction courses. Kathy was also instrumental in helping her school switch to a physics first course sequence which stressed modeling instruction in all introductory science courses. Kathy previously served on the AMTA board as secretary. During her time as secretary she instituted the AMTA newsletter, The Whiteboard, and was instrumental in helping AMTA gain NSTA affiliate status.  Kathy served as an Einstein Fellow at the National Science Foundation through March 2014 and as a post-doc at University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center till August 2014.  She is currently an assistant professor in science education at The Ohio State University. Kathy Malone is very excited to work with the executive board to make the most of these opportunities and create additional ones as the country and AMTA meet the new challenges of the NGSS.[/expand]
• [expand title=”President: Rex Rice (2016-2017)“]I am a 35-year veteran high school physics teacher, and a 20-year veteran of Modeling Instruction. After a class at ASU with some of the original Modelers (Malcolm Wells and Larry Dukerich) on scientific reasoning and the Karplus Learning Cycle 1984, I became an enthusiastic practitioner of active engagement methods in my classes. After moving to Missouri, I returned to
  ASU in the summers of 1995-1997 to be part of the first national training session for Modeling Physics. I was one of the original workshop leaders in “Phase 2” of the Modeling Physics program in 1997. I have been leading workshops for physics teachers since 1986, through the AAPT PTRA program, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship foundation, and,since 1997 Modeling Instruction. I am a pioneer of the “physics first” movement. I was an early supporter of AMTA, and continue to be an active Modeler and Modeling Workshop leader. I would like to continue my service to the Modeling community in the leadership chain during the coming years.[/expand]
• [expand title=”President-Elect: Jim Stankevitz (2016-2017)“]I have been teaching high school physics for 38 years, and have been using modeling since 1995 when I took my first modeling workshop at the University of Illinois Chicago, under the direction of Gregg Swackhamer.  That workshop dramatically changed the way I taught physics.  I have incorporated the modeling methodology ever since in my physics classes, both at the high school and the university level. I co-led my first modeling workshop with Lou Turner at the University of Akron in 1997, and have now led or co-led 20 workshops in physics mechanics and physics E&M.  Many of those workshops were district workshops held at Wheaton Warrenville South High School, in Wheaton, Illinois, where I teach.  Our efforts have expanded so that now, all 17 of our science department members have taken at least one modeling workshop. With the help of my colleagues at WWS, in 2013, we established the Midwest Modeling Institute which is devoted to training biology, chemistry and physics teachers in the modeling methodology, and we have already trained more than 200 secondary science teachers in our summer workshops.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Vice President: Laura Slocum (2016-2017)“]Bio to appear here soon.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Secretary: Erica Posthuma-Adams (2015-2017)“]Erica has been an educator for fifteen years. She is an active member of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education and is a Lead Contributor for the JCE’s ChemEd Xchange. Currently teaching at University High School of Indiana, Erica is an experienced user of the Chemistry Modeling Curriculum.   She recently published an article describing how Modeling Instruction addresses the Seven Science Practices outlined by the College Board for AP Chemistry in the Journal of Chemical Education. In 2014 Erica was awarded the Excellence in High School Teaching Award from the American Chemical Society Central Region.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Treasurer: Lee Trampleasure (2014-2016, 2016-2018)“]I am a high school teacher with 20 years of experience, the last nine years as a Modeler–primarily in physics but for the past two years also in a 9th grade physical science class. I attended two modeling workshop, Mechanics (2007) and CASTLE (2011), and in 2012 I assisted in running a Mechanics workshop at my school, bringing a Modeling workshop back to Northern California for the first time in many years. I also led several short introductory Modeling sessions at my local AAPT meetings, and serve as Section Rep at national meetings. In late 2011 I led the development of the new AMTA membership-based website, and have continued with maintenance and upgrades to the site. As treasurer, I bring six years of experience as a board member of a nonprofit foundation and ten years of small business experience.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Member at Large: Erin Conrardy (2016-2019)“]I was first introduced me to Modeling Instruction, during my Master of Natural Science Degree program at Arizona State University in ’09 and have been utilizing the pedagogy ever since. Modeling Instruction hit a chord, and opened a curiosity within me that I knew I had to bring to my own classroom.  I quickly saw improvements as my students were more engaged, involved in deeper discourse, and thinking more like scientists. My involvement with Modeling Instruction evolved as I helped develop the first set of middle school Modeling resources, and have started to lead middle school science workshops.  AMTA members and staff continue to inspire me and my teaching practices.   I look forward to the future of AMTA and will do my best to be a committed team player.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Member at Large: David Weaver (2014-2017)“] I spent 32 years teaching physics, electronics, semiconductors, etc. in the Maricopa Community College District before retiring in January, ’14 and attended two Remodeling University Physics summer workshops. I hired numerous Modelers as adjunct faculty at C-GCC. Periodically I have been active on Modeling listservs on a variety of topics. Over the last two decades, I’ve provided in-service professional development for K-8 teachers in the Phoenix area about physics content and inquiry science. I currently present workshops around the nation about Project-Based Physics. I have been teaching our two semester algebra-based physics courses online for the last 5 years. I was recently invited to present at the AAPT special conference on
  Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences and will be attending the Gordon Research Conference on the same topic in June. I’m into tech stuff, computational physics (with Excel and VPython), etc.[/expand]
• [expand title=”Member-at-Large: Anita Schuchardt (2015-2018)“]Anita pursued high school teaching after receiving a PhD in biology and working as a postdoctoral science researcher. After taking a physics modeling instruction workshop, she developed a biology modeling instruction curriculum for a physics first sequence with her colleagues at Shady Side Academy. Anita has taught both physics and biology modeling instruction, and conducted numerous modeling workshops across the country. She was awarded the High School Educator Carnegie Science Award for Excellence in 2009. Currently, Anita is a graduate student in learning sciences and policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Her thesis work centers on the development of model-based instructional units in biology, and researching the effects of model-based instruction on student learning. She is collaborating on a redesign of the Biology Modeling Instruction curriculum with a group of researchers and modeling instructors in Ohio. Anita is excited for this opportunity to give back to the Modeling Instruction community.[/expand]

• Ex Officio

• [expand title=”Executive Officer: Jeff Hengesbach“]Bio will appear shortly[/expand]

Advisors

• David Hestenes, Arizona State University
• Jane Jackson, Arizona State University
• All past presidents of AMTA serve on our Advisory Council

Faculty and Staff

• [expand title=”Senior Fellow: Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz PhD“]Colleen is a long time high school physics and mathematics teacher and Modeler from Sacramento, California who moved to Phoenix in 2001 to study Physics Education Research at ASU under the direction of David Hestenes. She completed her PhD in 2007 and after a one year post-doc with ASU’s Arts, Media and Engineering program in embodied and mediated learning, she accepted an appointment as assistant professor of science education. She landed an NSF grant in 2009 to create a middle school STEM Modeling MNS degree program modeled on ASU’s program for HS physics teachers. In 2011 she moved to a half-time research scientist position at ASU in order to take on the role of AMTA’s Executive Officer She retired from ASU in 2014 to devote her fully attention to AMTA. In 2016, Colleen ‘handed over the reigns’ to Jeff Hengersbach, and continues supporting AMTA as Research Fellow.[/expand]
• [expand title=”National Workshop Coordinator: Wendy Hehemann“]Bio will appear here shortly.[/expand]

The role of  the Executive Board

AMTA by-laws stipulate that elected officers shall hold office starting on the July 1st after their election and continuing until the following June 30th. The President, Past President, President Elect, and Vice President shall serve one-year terms.

1. Past President: The Past President shall have duties determined by the Executive Board.
2. President: The President shall preside at meetings of the Executive Board and shall have duties associated with the presidential office or as may be determined by the Executive Board.
3. President-Elect: The President-Elect shall have duties determined by the Executive Board.
4. Vice President: The Vice President shall have duties determined by the Executive Board.
5. Secretary and Treasurer: The Secretary and the Treasurer shall serve two-year terms and be elected in alternate years. Neither shall serve more than three consecutive terms. The Secretary and the Treasurer shall have the duties ordinarily associated with their offices and other such duties as may be determined by the Executive Board.
6. Members-at-Large: The Members-at-Large are representatives of the regular and emeritus membership. Members-at-Large shall serve three-year terms. One Member-at- Large shall be elected each year unless vacancies in this office require more to be elected. Vacancies shall be filled at the first election after the vacancy occurs by election of a person to complete the unexpired term. The candidates for election to fill vacancies will be supplied by the Nominating Committee. Members-at-Large shall not serve consecutive terms except when a person has been elected to complete a term associated with a vacancy.

Click here to view AMTA’s 2016-2018 Strategic Plan