Appendix 2A: About the Authors

Carl J. Wenning, Ed.D., has been a member of the Illinois State University (ISU) Physics Department since 1978. He earned a B.S. in Astronomy from The Ohio State University, an M.A.T. in Planetarium Education from Michigan State University, and an Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from ISU. While at Michigan State University, he became a certified high school physics teacher. After operating the ISU Planetarium for many years, he was named director of the ISU Physics Teacher Education program in 1994 and continued in that capacity until he retired from the University in 2008. During some of this time he taught high school physics at ISU’s University High School. He also spent 19 years teaching astronomy and physics laboratory at Illinois Wesleyan University. After his formal retirement, he continued to teach physics education and introductory physics courses at ISU on a part-time basis through 2014. He continues to teach a high school physics for home school students.

Wenning received the Outstanding University Teacher award from ISU in 2000, the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2008, and a University College Impact Award in 2013. He was named to the ISU College of Education Hall of Fame in 2014. During his tenure as director of the ISU Physics Teacher Education program, he developed one of the most extensive such programs in the nation, and certainly one of its largest. During this time he created 10 and taught a dozen different undergraduate courses and 9 graduate courses – most of which were geared toward professional development of candidate and in-service teachers for which he obtained numerous grants. Also during this time he has supervised more than 70 student teachers of physics.

Since 1994, he has authored over 30 articles dealing with physics teacher preparation. He was founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Physics Teacher Education from 2002-2011. Wenning was coauthor of AAPT’s 2009 publication The Role, Education, Qualifications, and Professional Development of Secondary School Physics Teachers and lead author of Professional knowledge standards for physics teacher educators: Recommendations from the CeMaST Commission on NIPTE. Wenning is perhaps best known for his work dealing with the Levels of Inquiry Model of Physics Teaching. Wenning has served as an educational consultant at universities in such diverse locations as Mexico, Russia, Chile, Brazil, and Indonesia. He currently resides in Normal, IL.

Rebecca E. Wenning Vieyra, M.A.S.Ed., taught high school physics in Illinois public schools from 2007 to 2014. She earned her undergraduate degree in Physics Teacher Education from Illinois State University, and her Master’s degree in Science Education Leadership with a special emphasis on teaching the Nature of Science and Science Inquiry through the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is a National Board Certified AYA/Science teacher, a Google Educator, Google Certified Teacher, Google Education Trainer, an AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agent, and serves as e-mentor and coordinator of the AAPT eMentoring Program.

She has published articles in the Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online, The Physics Teacher, and The Science Teacher, and has given dozens of presentations and workshops at the local, state, national, and international levels. In her spare time, she works with her husband to develop free physics education technology for Android devices – Physics Toolbox Apps by Vieyra Software. She has shared her passion for physics education technology through a $25,000 grant she was awarded for providing her students with tablets to engage in a Tablets with Google Play for Education beta, as well as through gamification research she helped implement through Edge at TERC.

She has received a variety of professional awards, including the American Association of Physics Teachers Barbara Lotze Scholarship, an NSF GK12 PRISM teaching fellowship, a fellowship with the National Science Teacher Association New Teacher Academy, and the Illinois Science Teacher Association New Teacher of the Year award. She is a finalist for the 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In 2014, Vieyra was named one of only 13 new Albert Einstein Distinguished Educators, and was placed as a fellow at NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate to advise aeronautics education initiatives. She currently works and resides in Washington, DC.

Feel free to check out Vieyra's professional website, Twitter feed, or Google+ profile.