PASPO Donation in Support of ComPADRE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, Maryland, United States, April 17, 2012—The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has announced the receipt of a generous gift from The Physics Academic Software Publishing Organization (PASPO) to support ComPADRE. This support comes at a critical time for ComPADRE as many years of support from the National Science Foundation will be ending shortly.

John Risley, Department of Physics, North Carolina State University and editor of PASPO, noted, “PASPO was created to provide an opportunity for physics teachers to publish educational software for students and make the software available to the physics teaching community. Over time, educational materials have transitioned from standalone products that run on specialized computers to online applications that everyone can access easily. As part of the final disposition of PASPO assets,  ComPADRE was chosen to receive the remaining funds as a gift because ComPADRE is continuing to carry out the mission of physics teaching using technology. It is with pleasure that we are able to help support their work.”

PASPO has specified that the funds are to be used to provide for funding of the Physics Digital Library, ComPADRE, which services the physics teaching community. It is expected that ComPADRE will use these funds for maintaining and upgrading programs for early career physics teachers and undergraduate students who are majoring in physics.

Bruce Mason, Principle Investigator of the project said, “On behalf of millions of ComPADRE users, and the ComPADRE editors and staff, I would like to thank the Physics Academic Software Publishing Organization Board for their generous donation to ComPADRE. This gift will help ComPADRE in our efforts to diversify our funding sources. Physics Academic Software has a long history of leveraging technology for the expansion and improvement of physics learning and teaching.  At ComPADRE, we are also dedicated to the use of technology to expand the scope of resources available for physics educators and better engage our “Digital Native” students, as well as building communities involved in science education at all levels. We will work hard to live up to the legacy of PAS and to the goals of improving the support for physics students and new teachers and faculty.”

About the Physics Digital Library and ComPADRE
ComPADRE helps teachers and learners find, and use, high quality resources through collections and services tailored to their specific needs. Additional information about this resource is available at http://www.compadre.org/.

About AAPT
The American Association of Physics Teachers is the premier national organization and authority on physics and physical science education—with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Our mission is to advance the greater good through physics education. We provide our members with many opportunities for professional development, communication, and student enrichment. We serve the larger community through a variety of programs and publications. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209- 3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax)