Are you interested in attending a Texas physics meeting for educators and students alike? The Texas PhysTEC Regional Network helps support events that bring together physics students, high school teachers, and college faculty, something that happens all too rarely.

If you are interested in the kinds of events we host, a great example would be a meeting that occurred in March 2023 when we held the joint Spring meeting of the Texas sections of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Physical Society, and the Society of Physics Students.

147 people were brought together to enjoy a wide variety of sessions and activities, with a strong Physics Education component. Dawson Lang from Jefferson Academy Secondary School in Colorado told us about the Get the Facts Out, an initiative to disseminate accurate facts about the physics teaching profession. Michael Marder from UT Austin gave an overview of the physics teacher preparation landscape in Texas, and Pam Gossin from the University of Texas talked about how literature and art have been informed by Astronomy and Physics over the centuries, and how to present this in classes.

After-dinner speaker Noah Finkelstein from University of Colorado-Boulder discussed the challenges of teaching in an era of rapidly developing technological tools. 8 workshops were attended by a total of 72 people on topics that included conducting nuclear and particle physics labs, innovative pedagogical practices and tools, and preparation for the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. We were particularly excited to be able to fund all high school teachers’ requests for travel support.

If you are interested in attending physics meetups in Texas, we at the Texas PhysTEC Regional Network host meetups on a regular basis. You can easily find meetings like this by exploring our site. We’d love to see you there!