Online for the 2025-2026 School Year
Teacher: Colleen Schmiech
Email: colleenschmiech@gmail.com
Instructors: Ms. Colleen Schmiech and Dr. Jack Kernion
Honors Physics is a full-year high school level course designed to introduce students to the fundamental conceptual, mathematical, and lab skills needed to prove proficiency in physics and to move on to higher level courses. This is an online course, team taught by two experienced teachers who both have Pennsylvania teaching certification in physics. There is one live zoom session per week (Mondays at 12:00 noon ET). The course has 10 units. Units 1-4 establish foundational concepts including scientific methods, motion analysis, and force analysis. Units 5-7 advance to more complex mechanical systems, covering two-dimensional motion, energy, and momentum. The final units (8-10) explore waves, sound, light, and electricity, including both electrostatics and circuit analysis. The course is conducted through Physics Prep, an online education platform specializing in high school physics. Each unit of the course contains a "workflow" that guides the student through the material found on the unit assessments. The workflow is a combination of video lectures, lab activities, practice problems with complete solutions, quizzes, and a unit test. A course syllabus can be downloaded here.
Who should apply: These courses are open to students in grades 9 to 12 (or accelerated younger students) who have successfully completed algebra 1. Students follow pacing guides every day and have deadlines for assignments that will be handed in. It is expected that students will spend between 6 and 8 hours per week watching lectures, practicing problems, performing lab activities, and taking assessments.
Course fee:
Honors Physics Tuition: $750
Textbook: OpenStax, "High School Physics” (Rice University, 2024)
This text can be downloaded for free or used online without being downloaded.. Click here to view or download this text.
Lab Materials: Most materials can be found in a typical household. Hard to find items can be purchased in kit form at www.myscience-prep.com
Schedule: The course begins in September 8th, 2025. The course ends in Mid-May, 2026. The live zoom sessions will review work from the previous week and preview work for the upcoming week. The sessions will be recorded for students who cannot attend.
Technical requirements: All students must have high-speed internet access, a scientific calculator, a device used to scan documents in .pdf format, and an email address (Gmail preferred, as google groups are used for the discussion forum).
Course Resources: This course has three components:
1. Online learning based on self-study using the course website. Pacing guides are provided that will help the student appropriately cover each activity in a timely fashion. The suggested due dates for the assessments are found in the pacing guides. Deadlines for work in each unit will be provided as well.
2. A discussion forum where students can interact with the instructor and others in the same course.
3. Live video sessions are scheduled every Monday at 12:00 noon (US Eastern Time). The sessions last one hour. Student attendance is optional but highly recommended. During the live sessions the instructor will review work from the previous week, preview work for the upcoming week, and be available to answer questions. The live sessions are recorded (and posted on the Physics Prep website) for viewing at a later time. The multiple choice sections of the quizzes and summative test found in each unit will scored by the computer and be used to determine student grades. Each test will also contain free-response questions (self-graded by the student based upon a scoring rubric). The free-response work done by the student will be scanned and electronically submitted to the instructor for evaluation. Lab reports are handled in the same manner. A course schedule (with pacing guides, deadline dates, text readings, and suggested text-based practice problems) will be sent to the student in the summer prior to the start of the course. All registered students will have access to a student dashboard where important course information, an online grade book, an assignment submission upload form, and live session recordings can be found.
Instructor qualifications: Both Ms. Schmiech and Dr. Kernion are a veteran AP Physics teachers with decades of experience instructing students. Ms. Schmiech earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State and a Master’s degree in Physics Education from Chatham University. Dr. Kernion holds a B.S. in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Penn State, an MA in Liberal Studies from Duquesne, and an EdD in STEM Education from the University of Pittsburgh. Both emphasize methodology and conceptual development over memorization, focusing on long-term retention of course concepts.