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Clarisa completed her M.Sc. in Physics and Ph.d degree in Science Education at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. As part of her doctorate she developed a course for teaching Chaos to high school students, delivering it over the web. She also conducted research on students’ understanding of the subject.

Clarisa has been involved in teaching, curriculum development and professional development in Argentina and Israel. She has been working for projects aimed to elementary and high school level.

Since 2002 she has been working in the Center for Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE) at SDSU, developing material for Professional Development for the CIPS project.

For the next 17 years John was involved in corporate business, business development, and private retail businesses. After retiring from his last retail businesses, he received his teaching credential from National University.

John has been teaching math and science at Tierra del Sol Middle School in Lakeside for 11 years. Prior to that he taught Physics and Chemistry at the high school level for three years. He was one of the original five pilot teachers for the CIPS program in the 1999-2000 school year and looks forward to being involved with the continued development of this program.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, which I sometimes consider to be my most meaningful and rewarding work so far. I "B.S.’ed" in Electrical Engineering at THE Pennsylvania State University, as they’re calling themselves now. I worked as an engineer for IBM in North Carolina and Motorola in Phoenix before I got the crazy idea that I wanted to teach junior high math. Luckily, my first teaching job was teaching Honors and AP physics to some very motivated and talented young adults in a public high school in Phoenix.

As I worked on my Master’s degree in education, I became convinced that the most effective, interesting, and "mind-expanding" (I’m a 60’s baby-boomer) teaching methods are essentially constructivist. I became increasingly involved with the Modeling Physics program at (THE?) Arizona State University, and eventually pedagogued the pedagogy to other high school physics teachers during summer workshops.

I moved to San Diego in 2000 to play in the ocean, and worked as an interim physics teacher at La Jolla Country Day School in my spare time. In the Fall of 2001, I joined the CIPS team to observe 7th and 8th grade CIPS teachers field testing our curriculum, and report on what did and did not work, with suggestions. I also assist with CIPS curriculum development, writing and reviewing various instructional materials. I believe that CIPS is the shining result of masterful instructional design that is aligned with the most ambitious and worthwhile national learning objectives. C’est tres awesome!

My hobbies are hiking, swimming, singing off-key to the Beach Boys in my car, collecting Betty Boop memorabilia (in spite of those nasty eBay rip-off artists!), and inflicting random acts of well-intentioned mischief on friends and loved ones.

Bio coming soon.

I was born and educated in England, and graduated from the University of Exeter in European Studies. I started my working life at the University of London and have lived and worked in France, Jamaica, Canada, England, and now the U.S. Much of my career was in the computer industry in roles such as business analysis, process re-engineering and application development. I eventually gravitated towards technical editing; I’ve always been much happier with words than with numbers. My working life has come full circle as I am now back in the academic milieu which originally attracted me.

I combine my CIPS editing function with being the office manager for SDSU’s Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education, where CIPS is housed. This makes for an interesting and varied working day.

When I joined CIPS, my knowledge of Physics was non-existent. I consider this an advantage in my position as Editor, since if I do not understand something in our textbooks or website it is likely the students will not either, and I get satisfaction from working with the authors to clarify the text.

I live in Poway with my husband and two very happy cats. I’m a big fan of organic gardening and we all enjoy our big back yard. We love to entertain, and we have frequent visitors from all over the world. There’s a lot to be said for domestic bliss in San Diego’s heavenly climate

I am CIPS graphic/web designer and illustrator.

I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Art with an emphasis in graphic design from San Diego State University. Prior to joining CIPS, I worked as a production artist and free-lance designer & illustrator. While in school, I interned at two of San Diego's best design studios: Hollis Design and Miriello Grafico.

I've always had a great interest in science and being part of CIPS has been a wonderful experience because I am always learning something new. I also find it very gratifying to create artwork that helps students understand the concepts studied in CIPS.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family, playing guitar, riding my mountain bike, and being out and about in our beautiful city of San Diego.

Michael E. McKean received his Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of California campus in his hometown, Berkeley. Subsequently, Mike pursued his graduate education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, from which he received a Ph.D. in Astrophysical, Planetary, and Atmospheric Science. His thesis addressed wave and particle dynamics in solar flares and Earth's auroral zone. During the next three years, Mike worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he studied plasma dynamics in the boundary region between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. Following his post-doctoral at LANL, Mike received an appointment at the University of California, San Diego, where he joined a high-caliber space physics research group, where he continued to research space plasma dynamics.

After three years at UCSD, Mike decided to shift his career focus to the design and development of educational materials. He returned to graduate school, enrolling in the College of Education at San Diego State University. In May 1999, Mike received a Master's in Educational Technology from SDSU. Mike continues to work in the Educational Technology Department, collaborating with Professors Bob Hoffman and Brock Allen on research into the usability of educational web sites and software.

During his time as a student at SDSU, Mike received an internship at CRMSE (Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education) working with Dr. Fred Goldberg and the CPU (Constructing Physics Understanding Project). After his internship ended, Mike has continued to work with CPU and now with CIPS. Mike has played an essential role as technical specialist in designing the interface between the user and the CPU software. He has helped CPU make the transition from a Mac-only to a cross-platform capability. Mike helps evaluate both CPU and CIPS computer simulators. He also writes tutorials and user support documents for the same computer simulators, and contributes technical support to the CPU/CIPS team.

I graduated from SDSU with a BA in Telecommunications and Film and a Minor in English and Fine Arts and spent many years, in various incarnations, in the Hollyweird scene before, one day in gridlock in Studio City, suddenly realizing I'd rather be at the beach.

Back at the beach, Ocean Beach, to be specific, I did a couple stretches in a couple video production companies and finally found myself as the CIPS videographer. By day I masquerade as a mild mannered science video editor and by night I fight crime as a dabbler in experimental cinema and editor of various avant garde family vacation videos. My hobbies are making sure the doors are locked and the lights are off and eating my wife's gourmet cooking.  

Edward Price received a Ph.D. in physics from UCSD and was a UCSD Faculty Fellow. He is active in physics education research, focusing on issues of reform implementation and sustainability. He has been involved in graduate student and faculty professional development. He has taught physics courses at UCSD and SDSU and conducted physics research on magnetic materials.

Bio coming soon...

Graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Biology and later with a teaching credential. I am currently teaching in San Diego at Correia Middle School. The CIPS Program will fit nicely with our curriculum, and I look forward to seeing new results with my students. In my spare time I enjoy reading and outdoor activities.

I am a research specialist for CIPS. As a research specialist, I assist in improving CIPS materials. Using AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Instructional Analysis criteria I examine how well CIPS curriculum helps students learn key ideas in physical science. Based on this evaluation, I suggest changes in the curriculum.

I am originally from Turkey. I moved to San Diego in March 1999 to pursue graduates studies. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Physics Education and a Master's Degree in Educational Technology. Prior to this current position, I worked in the evaluation of three technology infusion projects (Patterns, Triton and ACT Now!) in College of Education at San Diego State University. In Turkey I worked as a high school physics teacher. I taught kinematics and dynamics to 9th and 10th graders using a constructivist approach. I also worked for Apple Computers. I evaluated educational software from other countries to determine systems compatibility with Turkish curriculum standards. I prepared teacher-training kits for AppleWorks software and trained teachers at in-service training program sponsored by Turkish Ministry of Education.

Holly Eaton received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She earned her Masters of Science Degree in Educational Technology in 1996 from National University. Holly has enjoyed teaching middle school science for 9 years, working the past six years for the San Diego Unified School District (recently renamed San Diego City Schools).

Teacher training and support have been a focus for Holly. She regularly presents at the San Diego Science Educators Association conference and has presented at several Gifted and Talented Education Conferences in San Diego as well. She is one of the five originators of the San Diego New Teacher's Focus Group that meets monthly to exchange ideas and support new science teachers. In 1997, along with four other teachers, Holly planned, wrote and conducted a two-week summer workshop that focused on teaching science following the National Science Standards and Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

Throughout her teaching career Holly has been actively involved in curriculum planning and development. Holly has served on several textbook adoption committees. She was also a member of the San Diego City Schools Science Standards Planning Committee. Holly recently served on the district's Seventh Grade Science Planning Team that worked to outline the guidelines for a new mandatory one year integrated science/technology course.

In 1998 Holly began her work with the National Science Foundation grant project for middle school, titled Constructing Ideas in Physical Science. She was involved in the planning of the curriculum and has been working closely with Sharon Bendall to support the development and writing of the Interactions and Motion Unit. Currently Holly is teaching the Constructing Ideas in Physical Science curriculum in her seventh and eighth grade science classes.

Bio coming soon.

I am a first-year doctoral student interested in improving science teaching and learning at the middle school, high school, and undergraduate levels. This year I am working with Fred Goldberg as he designs a professional development package for his CIPS Project, Constructing Ideas In Physical Science, an inquiry-based middle-school physical-science curriculum. Specifically, I will be examining teachers' beliefs about how students learn science at the middle-school level.

Abigail is a University of California, San Diego graduate with a degree in General Biology and Biological Sciences and multiple subject credentials. She will be teaching CIPS to seventh and eighth grade student in an alternative program at Correia Middle School in San Diego.

I have grown up in San Diego and enjoy spending time at the beach during the summer. I enjoy traveling and have visited many places in Europe, Mexico and Central America.

P. Sean Smith, Senior Research Associate at Horizon Research, Inc. (HRI), has a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, a Master's in Science Teaching, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Smith has worked extensively on materials development for Project Earth Science, a middle-grades earth science project. He also worked on the evaluation of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Statewide Systemic Initiatives for North and South Carolina. He was heavily involved in the design of the core evaluation for the Local Systemic Change through Teacher Enhancement project.

Dr. Smith currently directs the evaluation for the National Teacher Enhancement Network, an NSF-funded teacher enhancement project delivered via the Internet. He also directed the evaluation of Urban Physics Teaching Resource Agents, a national-levelphysics-teacher enhancement project aimed at improving physics and physical science instruction in inner cities.

Dr. Smith is currently coordinating the evaluation of the Virtual Professional Development Schools program and is task leader for the instrument development of the 2000 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education.

PATRICK E. WALKER is partner in and co-owner of WalkerVision Interarts. Together with family members, he consults on design and development of multimedia applications and produces full-digital audio and video media for interactive educational and training programs. He works presently as the multimedia specialist for the Constructing Ideas in Physical Science (CIPS) project of the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE) at San Diego State University. For the local performing arts community, WVI also does live-switched on-location multi-camera video recording. Pat is also a part-time professional singer, and has performed in top choruses and small ensembles for more than thirty years.

As a senior scientist for twelve years at Horizons Technology, Incorporated, Pat served as the Product Line Manager for Digital Video Compression and Chief Scientist of the Compression Technology Division. Also, as the Director of Training for HTI, he was the main technical lead for interactive training, hypermedia reference document and multimedia database projects under a variety of government and civilian industry contracts. HTI became one of the original developers using Intel Digital Video Interactive (DVI), and Pat designed and built their compression service.

As an active participant in community and professional groups, Pat Walker writes and speaks on digital multimedia topics frequently for the video and computer industries. He is a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Professional Photographers of America (PPofA), the International Interactive Communication Society (IICS), and is a past president of the San Diego Digital Multimedia Association, a trade organization with over 110 companies in San Diego county.

Pat Walker holds a B. S. degree in physics (University of Oklahoma) and three master's degrees:
Nuclear Engineering -- Environmental Radiation Shielding (Purdue University) Educational Guidance and Counseling (Long Island University)
Educational Technology and Interactive Video (San Diego State University)