Eugenia Etkina is a retired Russian and American scholar of

physics education Physics education or physics teaching refers to the education methods currently used to teach physics. The occupation is called physics educator or physics teacher. Physics education research refers to an area of pedagogical research that seek ...

, focused on teacher preparation and professional development, and an author of physics textbooks centered on the Investigative Science Learning Environment framework for physics education and the Physics Union Mathematics high school curriculum. She is a distinguished professor of physics education, emeritus, in the Graduate School of Education of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Education and career

Etkina is the daughter of physics and mathematics professors at

Moscow State Pedagogical University Moscow State Pedagogical University or Moscow State University of Education is an educational and scientific institution in Moscow, Russia, with eighteen faculties and seven branches operational in other Russian cities. The institution had under ...

; as non-religious Jews in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, more advanced levels of academia were blocked to the family. She grew up in the shadow of a mathematically talented older sister, and thought of herself instead as being an ice skater, until her sister's death of a heart defect, when Etkina was 15, led Etkina to a determination to take her sister's place. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in 1982 in physics and astronomy from Moscow State Pedagogical University, and became a high school teacher at in 1982. There, she became chair of the physics department and assistant principal from 1992 to 1995. She received a Ph.D. in physics education in 1997 through Moscow State Pedagogical University, with a dissertation on teaching physics to gifted students. In 1995 she moved to Rutgers University as a research associate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Math & Science Learning Center, teaching physics to at-risk university students. On completing her doctorate in 1997 she became an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education. She was promoted to associate professor in 2003, full professor in 2010, and distinguished professor in 2017.

Textbooks

Etkina is the coauthor of physics textbooks including ''The Physics Active Learning Guide'' (with A. Van Heuvelen, Addison Wesley, 2006) and ''College Physics'' (with Van Heuvelen and Michael Gentile, Pearson, 2014).

Recognition

Etkina received the 2012 Distinguished Service Citation of the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

(AAPT), and the 2014 Robert A. Millikan award of the AAPT. She is also a Fellow of the AAPT, and a recipient of the New Jersey Teacher Educator of the year award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Etkina, Eugenia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent American physicists American women physicists Russian physicists Russian women physicists Physics educators Moscow State Pedagogical University alumni Rutgers University faculty