Helping physics teachers who don’t know physics

A shortage of high school physics teachers has led to teachers with little-to-no training taking over physics classrooms, reports show. This has led to additional stress and job dissatisfaction for those teachers — and a difficult learning experience for their students. But new research indicates that focused physics professional development for teachers — even those who have no prior physics training — can lead to better experiences for both students and teachers, and can improve students’ understanding of physics concepts.