MSU's Physics Education Research Lab (PERL) welcomes Dr. Kristine (Kris) Lui, Director for The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (OPTYCs), for a seminar presentation, "The Impact of OPTYCs and Its Future."
Title:
Dr. Kris Lui, MSU Physics Education Research Lab Seminar, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026
Event Details:
Start: September 23, 2026, 3:00 PM
Location: Room 1400 Biomedical & Physical Sciences (BPS) Building (in-person)
Remote Access: Zoom available at https://msu.zoom.us/j/96470703707
Meeting ID: 964 7070 3707
Password: PERSeminar
Abstract
"In this talk, I will share how The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (OPTYCs) has made an impact on physics education nationally. Through surveys, analytics, and focus groups, I will show that physics-teaching faculty at two-year colleges (TYCs) have found OPTYCs to be extremely effective in mitigating known issues that this community faces. OPTYCs has helped to forge better connections across different educational sectors, but many gaps and areas for growth remain. I will end with a facilitated discussion on how the broader physics community can better recognize and embrace the TYC sector."
Biography
Dr. Kristine (Kris) Lui is Director for The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (OPTYCs), an NSF-initiated program under the American Association of Physics Teachers. Before this role, she was a community college physics professor for 13 years.
Through OPTYCs, she oversees professional development initiatives for faculty teaching physics and astronomy in the first two years of post-secondary education. The program's vision is to provide excellent educational experiences for all students, regardless of background, preparation, or aspirations.
Dr. Lui holds a Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and lives in Maryland.
