2013 Medal Winners | francais

PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 2013 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Atlantic)

is awarded to

Jason Jennings

"Receiving the CAP High School Physics Teaching Award not only validates years of perfecting my pedagogy and content knowledge for increased student learning of physics, but it also highlights the importance of physics education in society today. The educational grant will allow me to purchase necessary resources for my school’s physics lab that will allow increased hands-on student activities." winner citation

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2013 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Atlantic) is awarded to Jason Jennings, Sackville High School, in recognition of for his excellence in teaching, with a focus on bringing more modern physics – along with more student-centered learning approaches – into his own high school classroom, and others around Nova Scotia and Canada. Along with continuously seeking out enrichment opportunities for his own students through field-trips to nearby Saint Mary's University to view the observatory and conduct a radioactivity lab, Jason Jennings has capitalized on his own participation in Perimeter Institute’s Einstein Plus summer workshops to become a workshop facilitator himself, and a teacher-workshop organizer in the Halifax region. He remains committed to improving his own educational background while teaching his students with a dedicated understanding of engagement techniques founded in Physics Education Research. announcement

Jason Jennings teaches at Sackville High School in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. During his 17 years of teaching, he has strived to make understanding physics concepts more accessible to students in his physics and astronomy classes. His philosophy of “predict-observe-explain” best summarizes his teaching methods. He believes that students must elicit their misconceptions through questioning, through important demonstrations and experiments students gather observations and evidence to confirm their thinking or develop new reasoning and, finally, students explain how a model must change to include their observations. Mr. Jennings has also established a strong relationship with Saint Mary’s University over the past few years with the annual Physics 12 field trip. During this trip, students tour the on-campus facilities, have an opportunity to discuss admissions and studies with university officials and participate in a radioactivity experiment in the Physics and Astronomy Department.

Jason has worked extensively with the Perimeter Institute’s (PI) educational outreach program, particularly as a participant and then facilitator at EinsteinPlus, a week-long summer institute for physics teachers. Here, Mr. Jennings worked with other teachers to not only expand his content knowledge about modern physics but also learn more effective teaching methods. As a local coordinator in PI’s teacher network for the Atlantic Provinces, one of Jason’s significant roles was as key organizer in offering GoPhysics! in Halifax. A physics team from PI worked with both teachers and students from the across the Halifax Regional School Board to gain a greater understanding of modern physics. nominator citation

medal description

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

joint description

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For more information, please contact: Canadian Association of Physicists Tel: (613) 562-5614 Fax: (613) 562-5615 E-mail: cap@uottawa.ca