Physics professor Shropshire earns national teaching award

Steve Shropshire, Ph.D., of the Department of Physics at Idaho State University has been awarded the American Association of Physics Teachers Distinguished Service Citation for exemplary efforts in physics education.

Shropshire is known locally for giving hundreds of educational science demonstration shows at Idaho schools to more than 115,000 students, as well as hundreds of workshops and classes for Idaho teachers on science teaching methods.

Shropshire has also presented numerous demonstration shows in Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, and at national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the National Science Teachers Association.

He has taken leadership roles in the AAPT, the Idaho Science Teachers Association, and in the National Society of Physics Students.

In addition, Shropshire has organized numerous workshops through the AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agents (PTRA) program, Fermi National Laboratory, and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, serving teachers from all across the United States. The PTRA Center he developed at ISU is the largest of 54 such centers nationwide.

Shropshire has chaired several national committees on science education, and is known nationally for his expertise in science demonstrations.

His award was announced in the October issue of the “Physics Teacher” magazine.