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Agenda Preview

Posters

• Astronomy

  • • Astrobiology: Presenting Evolution, Intelligent Design and the Nature of Science

    • PST1A01
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Carl Rutledge
    • Type: Poster
    • Presenting the ideas of evolution, intelligent design, and the nature of science in a clear but inoffensive manner to an audience with a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs can be a challenge. Whether or not students believe the theory of evolution is correct, they will not be educated unless they understand the basic ideas. Following a general lecture on life in the universe, students are shown two videos, one from the Cosmos series by Carl Sagan and one called Unlocking the Mystery of Life, both of which accurately present the theory of evolution but with different emphases. Then they have a class period devoted to student discussion of the origin and evolution of life, the difference between science and non-science, how to critically analyze the facts and questions that have arisen, and the options they have about what to believe. Student reaction to this type of presentation has been very positive.

  • • The Eratosthenes Project

    • PST1A03
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Steven Bailey
    • Type: Poster
    • This poster session describes an International Project that replicated TheEratosthenes Method of determining the circumference of the Earth. Background: Eratosthenes (~240BC) was the first person credited with determining the circumference of the Earth using simple geometry. He utilized the difference in the Sun's angle at noon on the summer solstice between similar longitudinal cities of Syene and Alexandria (Egypt), and using proportions calculated the circumference. Implementation: Physics students from longitudinally similar cities of Washington, CT, and Montreal, Canada, replicated The Eratosthenes Method on the Autumnal Equinox to determine the circumference of the Earth. Students utilized computers (e.g. Skype, IMs, and email), scientific calculators, metersticks, accurate time measurements, and French-English translators. Results: Quantitative results compared favorably with the established circumferential value with best results within 2% of 40,008 km. Benefits: Students validated an astronomical method utilized 2300 years ago and collaborated bilingually with peers from another country.

  • • Earthworks Rising: Games, Badges, and Informal Learning

    • PST1A02
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Michelle Aubrecht
    • Type: Poster
    • Though video games have been around for over 40 years, employing them as viable learning environments is relatively new. We utilized a consulting collaborative approach, created a Native American Advisory Board, made a prototype, 2D mini-game that focuses on a lunar observatory, and obtained additional funding to create an affinity space (Gee, 2012). The Newark Earthworks in Ohio spans several kilometers and the Octagon precisely tracks the northernmost moonrise, which occurs only every 18.6 years. The 2D mini games will be part of a larger game that demonstrates the moon's monthly cycle as it is observed at the Newark Earthworks, a world heritage nominated site. We will explain our learning objectives, design process, and how games teach. We think that in exploring this structure and the culture of ancient Native Americans, learners will be inspired to learn more about astronomy and begin observing the moon themselves.

• Introductory Course Laboratories and Hands-on Activities for Life Science Majors

  • • Laboratory Experiments for the Life Sciences

    • DG02
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Joel Berlinghieri
    • Type: Poster
    • Students majoring in biology and pre-medicine take a dedicated section of introductory physics, both lecture and laboratory. Two of the experiments performed in the laboratory are presented. The first experiment studies mechanical advantage and measures the strength of materials. A modified PASCO stress-strain apparatus is used to measure the forces experienced in an analog of the arm. Tensile forces are measured in the analog of the bicep tendon and compressional forces in the analog of the bone. Scaling and its effect on fracture of these analogs are studied. The second experiment measures pressures of a fluid during a pumping-rest cycle. A pump and valve are used to cyclically pump fluid into a chamber that has a restrictive outlet of changeable size. The chamber wall is made of material of varying flexibility. The pressure is recorded as a function of time through a complete pump and rest cycle and compared as a function of wall flexibility and outlet size.

  • • Attitudinal Assessment of Curriculum on the Physics of Medical Instruments

    • DG03
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by James Johnson
    • Type: Poster
    • Over the past several years, a curriculum targeting pre-health students and focused on the physics behind biomedical instruments has been in development at Portland State University. Recently, an effort to assess the curriculum's impact on students has begun. Given the hands-on focus of the course and positive feedback from students, we hypothesized that it would positively impact their attitudes toward physics and physics learning. We administered the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in order to cast light on students attitudes. The survey was administered to the summer course and to introductory algebra-based physics courses at the same university. The summer course "Physics in Biomedicine" produced a small, non-significant shift in student attitudes. This is a promising result, when contrasted with the significant negative shift that is the norm among introductory courses and occurred in our introductory algebra-based physics course.

  • • Physics for Biologists: A Laboratory Curriculum Project

    • DG04
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Kimberly Moore
    • Type: Poster
    • It can be a challenge to create a laboratory curriculum for an introductory physics class with a strong focus on biology/chemistry connections, while maintaining an emphasis on real scientific practices. We have created "open-ended"/"non-cookbook" labs addressing relevant physical issues at biological scales using a variety of tools, including microscopy, image and video analysis, electrophoresis, and spectroscopy. In doing so, we have learned some important lessons for creating IPLS labs: 1) the connections of physics concepts to biology/chemistry must be explicit; 2) students need help adapting lab strategies from the protocol-rich, data-rare labs found in their majors to these protocol-rare, data-rich labs; 3) to construct an open-ended experience with minimal teacher guidance requires frequent iterations of equipment assessment and curriculum creation; and 4) the writing of a "minimal guidance" curriculum is best approached in an unusual order--supporting documents first! (Part of UMd-PERG NEXUS/Physics; Supported by funding from HHMI and NSF.)

  • • Hands-on Activities Integrated With Online Resources in a Life Science Physics Course

    • DG05
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Nancy Beverly
    • Type: Poster
    • Hands-on activities can be integrated with online animations and interactive simulations to help the life science student explore the physical mechanisms which underlie living processes and human functioning. Multiple examples throughout the introductory physics curriculum will be presented.

  • • Impact of Targeted Scientific Reasoning in the Introductory Physics Lab*

    • DG06
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Carol Fabby
    • Type: Poster
    • Recent research indicates that students entering college with formal reasoning abilities are more proficient learners. However, typical college courses do not significantly impact these abilities because they do not include targeted instruction in scientific reasoning. These courses do not provide the foundation for typical students to develop the necessary scientific reasoning skills to be successful. In an effort to better target our students' development of scientific reasoning, we have revised the structure and topics of the activities in our introductory physics lab courses. Students are more involved in the actual design of the experiments with more emphasis placed on student use of evidence-based reasoning in lab report writing. Online homework and quizzes between lab sessions provide further targeted support. This poster provides details on how the new lab curriculum and practice of skills impacts initial development of scientific reasoning abilities through gains on a midterm and pre- and post-test assessments.

  • • Physiology, Physique, and Physics: Integration of Physics, Anatomy, and Physiology

    • DG07
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Bijaya Aryal
    • Type: Poster
    • We designed and implemented an activity to explore learning gains associated with integration of physics content into an anatomy and physiology classroom. This activity is a modified case study used in three semesters over the last three years when we systematically altered the activity to explore the impact of specific variables. The changes allowed us to explore the degree to which students successfully incorporate understanding of physics concepts when the learning activity is connected to a student designed electromyography (EMG) lab compared to gains when the activity is only associated with a hands-on activity. Other changes allowed us to explore how using different scenarios effects student understanding of physics concepts. We studied the impact of the level of abstractness in a test question that is expected to test students' quantitative skill related to physics concepts covered. Student performance across multiple semesters was evaluated at the individual and small group level.

  • • Connecting the Dots: Links between Kinetic Theory and Bernoulli's Principle

    • DG08
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Katherine Misaiko
    • Type: Poster
    • Kinetic theory and Bernoulli's principle are fundamental concepts life science students can use to explain a variety of important biological phenomena. We are using a series of simple experiments to help pinpoint student learning gaps in fluid dynamics based on paired student interviews. Students were asked to use multiple representations (diagrams, graphs, math and written descriptions) to explain the following: 1. An "empty" sealed balloon expanding inside a glass jar being evacuated. 2. A dented Ping-Pong ball expanding upon heating when in contact with boiling water. 3. A manometer liquid level changing due to air flowing away from an open end. The interviews suggest that understanding Bernoulli's principle requires a solid conceptual understanding of kinetic theory, in particular equating pressure with particle collisions. A "modeling centered" ideal gas law lab has been developed using semi-quantitative diagrammatic tools that we propose will help to improve student understanding of Bernoulli's principle.

  • • Apparent Paradox Between Bernoulli's and Hagen-Poiseuille's Principles

    • DG09
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Elizabeth Whitmore
    • Type: Poster
    • The research objective is to reconcile the counterintuitive result students have when applying the Bernoulli principle to a constricted blood vessel. Students find the pressure decrease with increasing fluid speed to be at odds with their understanding of the resulting pressure increase of a blocked artery. In order to evaluate the apparent paradox generated by Bernoulli's principle and Hagen-Poiseuille's principle, students were asked to explain the following three fluid dynamics experiments diagrammatically, graphically, mathematically, and verbally: 1. A simulated blood vessel constriction. 2. Flow through a Venturi apparatus and 3. A free-fall microgravity simulation. Pairs of students were interviewed before and after coverage of the content in class. In the post-interview they were given an open-ended question to answer regarding why blood pressure rises when blood vessels are blocked. Preliminary results indicate that hands-on exposure to the tactile demonstrations enables qualitative explanations without relying on mathematical tools.

  • • Teaching Fluids to IPLS Students from a Microscopic Viewpoint

    • DG10
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Daniel Young
    • Type: Poster
    • For introductory life science students, fluid dynamics is a topic that is important, relevant to biology, and yet difficult to understand conceptually. Our study focuses on probing understanding of pressure differentials and friction which underpin ideas of viscosity and fluid flow. Data were collected from think-aloud/demonstration interviews and were analyzed using the resource framework to look for productive student reasoning such as a microscopic viewpoint and gradient driven flow. We investigated if a multiple-scale view of matter is useful for students when constructing a model of viscosity and we will present both our model and feedback from students who have worked through it.

  • • Pulse-oximeter and Light Absorption

    • DG11
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Justin Dunlap
    • Type: Poster
    • The pulse-oximeter is a commonly found device in any hospital or doctor's office. The device is capable of measuring a patient's blood oxygen content and pulse simply by slipping a small device over a finger tip or ear lobe. We present a laboratory based around the pulse-oximeter and the physics behind its design and function. Light of two different wavelengths are passed through the patient's finger and the transmitted light intensity is measured. Absorption of light at the two wavelengths varies with the oxygen content of blood. Students in the laboratory will work with bromothymol-blue instead of blood. Its absorption characteristics vary with C02 content and serve as an analog to blood, but permits for easier handling in the laboratory. The laboratory exercise allows for optics to be targeted at pre-health students and presented in a biological context.

  • • Obstacle Course DC Circuits Activity

    • DG12
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Kristin Walker
    • Type: Poster
    • Although the typical water pipe analogy for DC circuits is helpful for some, for many students the behavior of water flowing through pipes is not intuitive. An obstacle course analogy activity was created to provide an alternative DC circuit model. In this activity, students are given cards with an obstacle course element on one side and the corresponding circuit element on the other such as ladder/battery or slide/bulb. The students create obstacle courses meeting design specifications such as alternate paths (parallel) or sequential elements (series) and they respond to questions regarding how contestants proceed through various parts of the course. The students then flip over the cards to reveal the circuit diagram equivalent, build the circuit, and relate the brightness of the bulb(s) to their obstacle course analysis. Although this activity was originally created for middle school age, it was successfully used in a college introductory physics course.

  • • Medical Imaging with Photogates: A High School or College Activity

    • DG13
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Elliot Mylott
    • Type: Poster
    • We present a laboratory activity in computed tomography (CT) primarily composed of a photogate and a rotary motion sensor that can be assembled quickly and partially automates data collection and analysis. We use an enclosure made with a light filter that is largely opaque in the visible spectrum but mostly transparent to the near IR light of the photogate (880nm) to scan objects hidden from the human eye. This experiment effectively conveys how an image is formed during a CT scan and highlights the important physical and imaging concepts behind CT such as electromagnetic radiation, the interaction of light and matter, image artifacts and windowing. The lab has been used in physics courses for pre-health and life science majors and results of student assessments will be presented.

  • • Measuring Human Power Outdoors Using GPS and Heart Rate

    • DG14
    • Tue 07/16, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • by Haraldur Audunsson
    • Type: Poster
    • GPS devices make it easy to track one's motion, and therefore potentially calculate the power output, and at the same time record the heart rate (HR). The power output calculated from the raw GPS data may depend on the rate of vertical climb, acceleration, air drag and rolling friction if biking. Normally the HR increases linearly with the power output. Therefore the simultaneous analysis of the data from GPS and HR requires the use of basic physics, numerical methods, programming and physiology. We will present an example of a student experiment performed outdoors, showing good correlation between calculated power output and heart rate, but also a poor correlation, depending on the person's activity. This experiment and its analysis can be made as intricate as appropriate, and it appears to be very motivating since students are using basic physics and common devices to measure their own performance.

• Labs/Apparatus

  • • High Speed Movies for Introductory Physics Labs

    • PST1B01
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Michael Gallis
    • Type: Poster
    • Some modern digital cameras have the ability to take digital video at up to 1000 frames per second (FPS). While not true "high speed video", using higher than the default 30 FPS provides higher temporal resolution and reduced motion blur. We present an exercise where students study vertical motion with air resistance of several objects including a basketball and a beach ball. Students determine the drag coefficient by determining the terminal velocity of the objects' vertical motions. Some additional applications of high-speed movies to amusement park physics will also be discussed.

  • • Non-linear Capacitance-Voltage Relation of a Diode

    • PST1B03
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Yongkang Le
    • Type: Poster
    • Unlike the non-linear current-voltage characteristic of a diode, its non-linear capacitance-voltage relation is not so familiar to the students. With the help a simple LC circuit, we can measure the capacitance variation of a diode in dependence of the applied bias voltage. Physics underlying this phenomenon and possible further development of the teaching lab will be discussed.

  • • Scaffolding Technical Writing with Rubrics, Bad Examples and Partial Reports

    • PST1B05
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Scott Bonham
    • Type: Poster
    • Technical writing is a major learning outcome for our calculus-based physics laboratories. For that purpose we have combined several strategies to help students understand and meet expectations. First, a standardized grading rubric is used to communicate high expectations for every component of the reports. Second, students are provided with both good and poor example reports; they seem to learn more from the latter. Third, the first week of the semester students are assigned to grade the sample reports using the rubric and explain their reasoning. Fourth, each week class discussion focuses on one report section, and then that is added to what students are responsible for; their first report contains only the data and results section, the second report has the procedure as well as data and results section, the third report adds the conclusion section, and so on. There is evidence that this combination has led to better report writing.

  • • Using the Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) in the Physics Laboratory

    • PST1B07
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Mark Masters
    • Type: Poster
    • Microcontrollers are very interesting devices that enable one to build dedicated instrumentation to help complete some experimental task. There are many different types of microcontrollers: Atmel (on which the Arduino is based), Cypress, Freescale, Microchip, Parallax Propeller, and Texas Instruments to name a few. However, even though there is a great diversity of microcontroller, at AAPT there seems to be a monoculture of microcontroller based upon the Arduino. We present a very different type of device, the Programmable System on a Chip. This type of device has distinct advantages for physics instrumentation, some of which we will present.

  • • A National Assessment of Undergraduate Physics Labs: First Results

    • PST1B09
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Benjamin Zwickl
    • Type: Poster
    • The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS) is a short multiple-choice survey that assesses students' attitudes about conducting physics experiments in an instructional setting and in professional research. The survey is given at the beginning and at the end of a course, whereupon students are also asked about what helped to earn a good grade in the course. A variety of aspects of experimentation are explored, including students' sense-making, affect, self-confidence, and the value of collaboration. Over 4000 E-CLASS responses have been gathered from over 30 courses at 17 colleges and universities. We will present a broad overview of our findings, including which student views are the least expert-like, which views shift most over the course of a semester, and which have largest differences between introductory and upper-division courses.

  • • Managing Increasing Enrollment in Upper Level Laboratories

    • PST1B02
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Karen Williams
    • Type: Poster
    • Our physics department enrollment has increased, however the money for ourlab equipment has not. This poster will illustrate the ways I have adapted to cope with this challenge.

  • • Scaling the Campus

    • PST1B06
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Andrew Cahoon
    • Type: Poster
    • At the start of introductory physics, students often struggle to grasp thewide range of scales encountered in the natural world and to use basic skills such as dimensional analysis, scientific notation, and estimation. In this lab activity, students are asked to work in teams to build a scale model of the campus. A list of campus buildings is prepared, teams draft two or three buildings each, and then they set out to make measurements necessary to build a scale model of each building according to an agreed-upon scale. This serves as an excellent way to start the Physics 101 course, introducing important skills for the remainder of the course, getting students engaged in active learning and working as a team, and tackling a problem that is generally interesting and applicable to a broad range of disciplines. The activity guidelines and motivation are presented along with the students' results and reactions.

  • • Building a Ramp: Four-Semester Laboratory Curriculum

    • PST1B10
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Anna Karelina
    • Type: Poster
    • We developed a four-semester sequence of introductory laboratories for physics and engineering majors at Occidental College. The main objective was to create a consistent long-term ramp that helped students build up experimental skills and abilities over two years. Our pedagogical approach was based on the methods of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) that has proven to be a powerful tool for developing scientific abilities, such as ability to design an experiment, test a hypothesis, analyze and evaluate results.* In this presentation we show that we were able to successfully adapt the ISLE method to the existing lab courses.

• Lecture/Classroom

  • • Designing Against Plug and Chug

    • PST2A01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Eugene Torigoe
    • Type: Poster
    • Just because a question is numeric doesn't mean that it has to be a plug and chug question. This poster will outline some concrete strategies for question design that penalize students who blindly plug numbers into equations. Regularly using these kinds of questions can reconfigure the class reward structure, and shows students that their success will be directly tied to their understanding of the equations they are use.

  • • Going to the Physical Situation: Helping Students See Beyond Numbers

    • PST2A03
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Jared Stenson
    • Type: Poster
    • This poster presents a deeper look at several practical issues that arise while implementing a perspective of "going to the physical situation" in developing conceptual knowledge and problem solving ability in the classical mechanics section of Calc-based General Physics. It describes challenges and gives examples of efforts to effectively engaging students who are sometimes resistant due to their familiarity and previous success using a different approach. These efforts include framing elements of the course, the choice of problems for discussion, and the exam structure.

  • • Graphical Analysis of a Free-Falling Slinky through Viscous Media

    • PST2A05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Samuel Moore
    • Type: Poster
    • The slow motion video of the free fall of a vertically stretched Slinky inair reveals two distinct motions. One would be the collapse of the Slinky while the bottom portion remains motionless and then the free fall of the collapsed Slinky. This surprising phenomena can also be observed when Slinky is dropped in a viscous media, making it possible to conduct the experiment live in the classroom without the need for use of a special camera. Our graphical analysis reveals a collapse time of 0.3, 0.5, 8, 12 and 16 seconds for the fall of Slinky in: water, mineral oil, corn syrup, shampoo and liquid soap, respectively. The stretched portion of the Slinky was measured to be approximately 30 cm.

  • • Modeling Matter as Soliton Waves

    • PST2A07
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Robert Close
    • Type: Poster
    • Quantum mechanics is typically taught as a statistical theory with no classical analogue. However, many scientists have investigated classical analogues which yield some aspects of quantum behavior. Nineteenth-century scientists modeled the universe as an elastic solid "aether" in order to understand light waves. We describe how this simple model can also be used to teach topics such as special relativity, atomic spectra, Dirac wave functions, quantum operators, electromagnetic potentials, quantum statistics, antimatter, and gravity. This approach can serve as simply a good analogy for non-majors, or as an introduction to the mathematics of modern physics for physics majors.

  • • Times of Descent Along Tracks of Various Shapes

    • PST2A09
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Carl Mungan
    • Type: Poster
    • The frictionless track of fastest descent between two arbitrary points in a vertical plane is cycloidal. If instead the track is straight, the descent time along it will be longer by some amount. The straight track lies everywhere above the cycloidal track. Intuitively, there must be another track that lies everywhere below the cycloidal track that also takes more time by the same increase. That is, cars started together on the straight track and on this new track will reach the finish line in a tie. What is the shape of this new track? [See C.E. Mungan and T.C. Lipscombe, "Complementary Curves of Descent," Eur. J. Phys. 34, 59-65 (2013).]

  • • Developing Scientific Reasoning in Pre-HS Education Majors by Eliminating Possibilities

    • PST2A02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jon Gaffney
    • Type: Poster
    • One goal for a physics content course for pre-HS education majors is to help students develop scientific reasoning skills, particularly with respect to deductive and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Opportunities for making such development explicit arise in two separate units that build from "Physics by Inquiry" materials. In magnetism, we use Sudoku to introduce the concept of eliminating possibilities as deduction, and we use that process to determine whether objects are permanent magnets, ferromagnetic objects, or non-magnets. When studying electric circuits, we introduce multiple possible conceptual models for electric circuits, and students are tasked with the job of "busting" them by using hypothetico-deductive reasoning. These activities allow students who are largely inexperienced with scientific reasoning to play at some fundamental processes, providing groundwork for more intense evidence-based reasoning later in the semester.

  • • Going to the Physical Situation: Problem-solving Chart

    • PST2A04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Dennis Gilbert
    • Type: Poster
    • The poster provides details of a graphic chart on problem solving used in a pedagogical approach in which Calc-based General Physics students are challenged and supported to explicitly implement a perspective of "going to the physical situation" in developing both conceptual knowledge and problem solving ability. This approach effectively engages a number of physics learning challenges, such as moving beyond "plug and chug" and moving to principle-based understanding. It also addresses student expectations about the nature of science and physics, the nature of knowing, and identity as physics learners. The chart frames discourse in the class.

  • • Historical Development of Science in a Course for Non-science Students

    • PST2A06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Scott Bonham
    • Type: Poster
    • A major general education goal is understanding of the nature and process of science. My course Light, Color, and Vision addresses it using both hands-on experimental work and reading/discussion of the historical development of ideas about light, color, and vision from antiquity to modern day. Students read about different important figures: Empedocles and Aristotle, Alhazan, Christiaan Huygens, Isaac Newton, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, Albert Michelson, James Clerk Maxwell, and Albert Einstein. They also read accessible writings by three of these figures which illustrate different stages in the development of science. A selection from Aristotle's Sense and the Sensible is an early attempt at systematic explanation of vision and color. Newton's "A New Theory about Light and Colors," represents early scientific communication, and Maxwell's "On the Theory of Colours in relation to Colour-Blindness," is structured much like modern scientific papers. Combined, these help students better understand the processes and nature of science.

  • • Teaching Physics-related Social Topics within General Physics Courses

    • PST2A08
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Art Hobson
    • Type: Poster
    • Physics-related social topics can add relevance, human interest, contemporary appeal and, most importantly, significant knowledge to your introductory high school or college physics course. This poster features many societal topics discussed in my conceptual physics textbook for non-science college students, "Physics: Concepts & Connections" (Pearson/Addison-Wesley, 5th edition 2010): global warming, ozone depletion, transportation, risk assessment, biological effects of radioactivity, steam-electric power, fossil fuels, nuclear power, renewable energy, exponential growth, population explosion, energy efficiency, pseudoscience, nuclear weapons, the energy future, and the scientific process. There is also a segment about how to deal with controversial topics.

  • • Using Plumbdads-Quarkles to Examine Student Understanding of Scientific Practice

    • PST2A10
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Timothy Grove
    • Type: Poster
    • Many of my colleagues have lamented students' inability to examine, analyze, and gain meaning from measured data. To open a discussion with students as well as to examine student thinking, a hypothetical set of data was given to students relating the fictional quantities of plumbdads and quarkles. These two quantities were used rather than physically observable parameters so that students could not "gain insight" through Internet searches (Wikipedia, Google search, etc.) or through the index of a book. The developed exercise asks students a series of questions regarding the "collected data" and two researchers' opinions about the same data. All of the questions have generally agreed upon answers (at least to scientists), but students starting a physics course often have their own ideas.

• Other A

  • • F=qvxB: v is With Respect to What?

    • PST1F01
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Kent Scheller
    • Type: Poster
    • The magnetic force, F=qvxB, on a charged particle moving in a magnetic field is typically introduced in the second semester of the introductory physics sequence. When presented to students, it is often assumed that the velocity of the charge used in this calculation is relative to the magnetic field in which it travels. Here we demonstrate with a couple of gedanken experiments the actual relativity of the magnetic force and to what the charge's velocity is relative.

• Other B

  • • A Physicist Chairing the Curriculum Committee at a College of Pharmacy?

    • PST2B01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Richard McCall
    • Type: Poster
    • St. Louis College of Pharmacy is beginning a new academic program in the fall of 2014, which will integrate, over a seven-year period, a BS in Health Sciences with the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The new curriculum begins with students taking typical liberal arts and science courses for the first three years. What better time for a non-pharmacist to chair the Curriculum Committee. Jumping into this arena has meant learning terms such as ability outcomes, curriculum mapping, assessment reports, performance criteria, DACUM responsibilities, Appendix B content, and ACPE accreditation. All are common in the pharmacy educator's vocabulary, but have been a bit abstract for this physicist. All courses will go through the approval process, so it will be busy for several years. Two good things: (1) students will take two semesters of physics, instead of only one, and (2) a new physics lab is planned.

  • • Improving Recruitment and Retention in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences*

    • PST2B03
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Jane Flood
    • Type: Poster
    • Funded by an NSF S-STEM grant, Muhlenberg College recruited two cohorts ofeconomically disadvantaged students intending to study chemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematics, physical science, or physics. Our program includes six elements: financial, academic and psychosocial support, mentoring, professional development for students, and faculty development. Literature on college grants (Fife et al., 1976.), recruitment and retention of minority students (Gandara et al., 1999), and retention of students from all backgrounds in STEM fields (Seymour et al., 1997) supports the structure of our program. This poster describes the current status of our project. Supported by NSF S-STEM Award 0965834

  • • Twin Paradox? There Is No Twin Paradox! (Really!)

    • PST2B05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Stephen Rodrigue
    • Type: Poster
    • The Twin Paradox is explored mathematically using the Lorentz coordinate transformations and spacetime diagrams for four different reference frames. Calculated results demonstrate that all observers will agree on the spacetime intervals for the traveling twin and the Earthbound twin, and thus all observers will agree that the traveling twin ages less than the Earthbound twin. The symmetry of time dilation is demonstrated to still be valid, as it must, but in a manner such that no paradox actually arises.

  • • How "Make" Can Change Science Teaching and Learning

    • PST2B02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jennifer Wyld
    • Type: Poster
    • The Maker movement, with its Maker Faires, Maker Spaces, Make Magazine andvibrant Make website, is an exciting community of people of all ages who are playing, creating, sharing. It is a group of DIYers who are morphing into DIWO (do it with others) and are actively reaching out to youth to reinvigorate interest and skills around making. In the process, they are re-imagining what learning could look like if we gave learners access to tools and materials and skills and a safe environment to try and fail and try again. A new initiative is Maker Ed, started in 2012, to create ways to share the Make culture and values around education-- learning by doing/learning by making. Schools used to have places and opportunities for students to do and Make and could again-- and we can create more spaces for this type of creativity and innovation in our communities.

  • • Is Earth's Warming Equally Distributed Geographically?

    • PST2B04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Gordon Aubrecht
    • Type: Poster
    • One consequence of human use of energy is emission of greenhouse gases. Many nonscientists (as well as a few real scientists) do not think that climate change could be caused by human actions. Reasons range from doubt that tiny humans could affect an entire planet to belief that human life on Earth will soon end. Science is about experimental data, reasoning from those data, and theoretical perspectives supported by the data. Svante Arrhenius provided (in 1896) the first theoretical (and compelling) reasons that carbon dioxide could influence Earth's energy budget. Multiple sources of modern data underlie the belief of virtually all climate scientists that humans are changing our climate. Earth's temperature is rising. Is the rise distributed uniformly around the world? We compare the world record to the U.S. and Australian records, and those to records in a small part of the U.S. to see what the temperature data show.

  • • The Science Education Initiative: Free Instructor, Course, and Workshop Materials

    • PST2B06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Stephanie Chasteen
    • Type: Poster
    • The Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado has engagedin research and course development in a variety of courses and disciplines for over six years. In this poster we highlight (a) the free, downloadable archives of course materials in physics and other sciences, (b) workshop materials available for facilitating workshops in peer instruction and learning goals, and (c) our "first day framing" project which compiles materials that instructors use to introduce their students to active learning strategies.

• PER: Lecture/Classroom

  • • Breaking Expectations: International Female Student Performance in Calculus-Based Mechanics course

    • PST2A11
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Rebecca Lindell
    • Type: Poster
    • Purdue University has the second largest international student enrollment in the country, which translated to nearly 40% self-reported international students in our fall 2012 calculus-based introductory mechanics course. Surprisingly, both international and domestic populations have 25% female students. Contrary to expectations, preliminary examination of student exams scores show that the international female students were the highest performing students in our introductory calculus-based mechanics course. An obvious conclusion is that the international female population are simply better prepared for the course, except that analysis of pre-test results of the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning show no difference between the populations. In this poster we present a further investigation of these results.

  • • Online Homework in a Physics Course from the Student's Perspective

    • PST2A13
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Monica Pierri-Galvao
    • Type: Poster
    • An online homework system is a common practice in introductory physics courses -- mainly at institutions where class sizes are large. It greatly reduces the difficult task of grading. It also provides an immediate feedback to the students. There has been a great discussion in the literature about the effectiveness of these systems, however not so much about the student's perception. Therefore, we investigated this issue by adopting an online homework system in an introductory physics course and conducting surveys to examine the students' opinion about the experience.

  • • SAIL: Student Assessment of Instruction and Learning

    • PST2A15
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Randall Knight
    • Type: Poster
    • Beginning in fall 2012, the Cal Poly physics department replaced a short, generic, in-class course evaluation with an online, multi-question survey designed specifically for introductory physics classes. Questions are focused on specific aspects of instruction and on what the student thinks he or she gained from the course rather than on the instructor's popularity. Lecture sections and lab sections have different surveys, each with questions appropriate to that mode of instruction. Student responses to each question are guided by a rubric, so instructors receive highly specific feedback as to what's working and which aspects of instruction need improvement. In addition, the aggregate data, with instructor names removed, has provided new insight into how well the department is meeting its teaching obligations. A variety of interesting results will be presented.

  • • Evaluation of a Reformed Engineering Mechanics Course at Purdue University

    • PST2A12
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Andrew Hirsch
    • Type: Poster
    • Purdue University's IMPACT program facilitates the transformation of largeenrollment by incorporating interactive engagement methods into a course. As participants in this program, the researchers reformed Purdue's fall 2012 introductory calculus-based mechanics course, Phys 172: Modern Mechanics, by developing a series of Multimedia Learning Modules (MLMs) for use with the Matter and Interaction text. In addition, the one-hour weekly recitations were redesigned to enhance students' problem-solving skills by utilizing cooperative group problem solving. Finally, the two-hour weekly labs were partially redesigned to enhance students' computational modeling skills. To evaluate the effectiveness of this reformed course, data analysis included student pre-test/ post-test results from Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning, Primary Trait Analysis of student exams and student responses to an anonymous survey. The IMPACT program provided additional data. This poster presents results of this evaluation, as well as suggestions for improvement for next fall.

  • • Results of Flipping Introductory Mechanics and E&M College Physics Courses

    • PST2A14
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Roberto Ramos
    • Type: Poster
    • As part of a year-long project to improve physics learning in a liberal arts college setting, students taking introductory, algebra-based Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism classes were assigned to watch online lecture videos prior to class. Students were motivated using extra credit to watch five- to 20-minute video bullets prepared by the instructor. Viewing patterns were tracked through Blackboard. Inside the classroom, students were engaged with research-based physics tutorials and classroom that enabled peer instruction and active learning. One faculty and at least one undergraduate TA played the role of "facilitator" in these classes. The results show significant learning gains, as measured by standardized physics diagnostic tests. In this presentation, we report on the successes and challenges encountered in "flipping" College Physics classes. We also compare experiences in flipping mechanics versus E&M classes, as well as student feedback, as measured by surveys and online video interviews.

• PER: Technologies

  • • Creatively Engaged Online: Student-Generated Content in a Non-Majors Introductory Course

    • PST2D10
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Simon Bates
    • Type: Poster
    • We have implemented a component of student-generated assessment in an introductory physics course comprising exclusively non-majors, using the PeerWise online system. This poster presents details of how we have extended the previous instructional designs for PeerWise, shown to be capable of yielding high-quality questions authored by students, via modification of the six tutorials held throughout the course. A significant fraction of the tutorial content is composed of either studen- generated questions as problems to work through and/or explicit guidance designed to enhance the quality of student contributions. We present details of the change in quality of student-authored questions and explanations over time, mapping the former onto Bloom's Taxonomy and the latter onto a five-point scale.

  • • The Effect of Online Lecture on Performance in a Physics Class

    • PST2D12
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by John Stewart
    • Type: Poster
    • This poster will describe the difference in student performance between students attending lecture in person and students choosing to watch the lecture on video as part of an online class. The video part of the class was implemented mid-semester so that the performance of the same set of students could be compared. Video watching patterns will be presented. The difference in performance of students primarily watching video to those primarily attending lecture on in-semester examinations and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism will be presented. The effect of the access to video on student study behavior and time management will be analyzed. In general, while the students electing to primarily watch video were a measurably different population than the students electing to primarily attend lecture, the shift in performance from attending lecture to watching video was small.

  • • Tablets in a Large-Enrollment Introductory Course

    • PST2D11
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Todd Ruskell
    • Type: Poster
    • Many large-enrollment introductory physics courses now use personal response devices (clickers) to engage students during class and collect data for real-time formative assessment. However, most systems only allow for multiple-choice or in some cases numeric or simple text answers. A program called inkSurvey allows faculty to ask more open-ended questions and students can submit both text and graphical responses from tablet computers. This provides faculty much greater insight into a student's problem-solving process. In our pilot project, standard clickers were used in the first half of a calculus-based physics I course, and in the second half of the semester, tablets and inkSurvey were used to collect formative assessment data. We will report on impressions of both the faculty and students regarding the relative utility and effectiveness of each tool in promoting higher-order thinking and improved class performance.

• PER: Upper Division and Graduate

  • • Analysis of Faculty and Student Interviews on Undergraduate Quantum Mechanics

    • PST2E05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Christopher Oakley
    • Type: Poster
    • Characterizing faculty expectations is important to produce a comprehensive understanding of what knowledge students should acquire before and during a quantum mechanics course (QMC). We analyzed interviews conducted with faculty and students entering a QMC in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Georgia State University. The interviews examine expectations regarding preparation, course material, and instructor's goals for a QMC. The goals of the interviews are to locate conflicts in perspective and to provide students with a "map" for areas that will help strengthen the knowledge and skills to be obtained before they enter a QMC. We report on contradictions and similarities in perceptions from interview data determined by coding the interviews and through the use of Activity Theory.

  • • Faculty and Undergraduate Student Perspectives on Evaluation in Upper-Division Courses

    • PST2E07
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Christopher Oakley
    • Type: Poster
    • Physics education research has been making progress in providing research-based instructional techniques and tools to help assess the complex learning goals associated with a mature understanding of physics. We conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty members and students entering a quantum mechanics course in the Physics & Astronomy Department of Georgia State University. The interviews examine perspectives on what types of evaluation are most appropriate for an upper-division course. The types of evaluation discussed are multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, traditional written problems, student presentations, and one-on-one oral exams. A post-course survey was offered to the students that took the QMC that semester and those who completed the course in recent history. We present the data associated with multiple-choice questions and oral exams.

  • • Assessing Student Learning in Middle-Division Classical Mechanics/Math Methods

    • PST2E06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Marcos Caballero
    • Type: Poster
    • Reliable and validated assessments of introductory physics have been instrumental in driving curricular and pedagogical reforms that lead to improved student learning. As part of an effort to systematically improve our sophomore-level Classical Mechanics and Math Methods course (CM) at CU-Boulder, we are developing a tool to assess student learning of CM concepts in the upper division. The Colorado Classical Mechanics/Math Methods Instrument (CCMI) builds on faculty-consensus learning goals and systematic observations of student difficulties. The result is a nine-question open-ended post-test (with two additional, optional questions) that probes student learning in the first half of a two-semester sequence that combines classical mechanics with mathematical methods. In this paper, we describe the design and development of this instrument, its validation, and measurements made in classes at CU Boulder and elsewhere.

  • • Impacting Learning Across Disciplines through Undergraduate Thesis Writing

    • PST2E08
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jason Dowd
    • Type: Poster
    • We present results from the first year of ongoing research to better understand how writing an undergraduate thesis improves critical thinking and writing skills through impacting metacognition, motivation, and beliefs. In previous work, we have demonstrated that students studying biology who participate in a thesis-writing course alongside independent research not only develop better writing skills "expected, perhaps" but also exhibit stronger scientific reasoning skills than students working one-on-one with faculty. Students enrolled in the writing course achieved highest honors at graduation at almost triple the rate of other thesis writers. These results are in keeping with the notion that writing can be an effective strategy for promoting positive learning outcomes, but here we strive to understand how writing actually affects learning. Data have been collected across multiple departments and institutions. Ultimately, our analysis will be used to motivate institution- and department-specific changes during subsequent years of this multi-year study.

• Physics Education Research

  • • Assessing Gender Differences in Students' Understanding of Magnetism

    • PST1C01
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Chandralekha Singh
    • Type: Poster
    • We investigate gender differences in students' difficulties with concepts related to magnetism using a multiple-choice test whose reliability and validity have been substantiated earlier. We also conducted individual interviews with a subset of students to get a better understanding of the rationale behind their responses. We discuss gender differences in students' performance and possible reasons for these differences. Supported by NSF.

  • • Making Sense of Friction as an Interaction Using System Schema

    • PST1C03
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Brant Hinrichs
    • Type: Poster
    • After learning Newton's second law, students in a university modeling-based introductory physics class are asked to imagine a box sliding across a floor and slowing to a stop. Although they've had extensive experience with friction in the context of energy, this is their first exposure to friction within the context of forces. They are asked to make different representations for this scenario, including a system schema, and force diagram. During their small-group work, students quickly run into a difficulty: there are only two interactions with the box (contact, gravitational), so there should only be two forces, yet the box is slowing, which means it must have unbalanced forces in the direction of acceleration. In this poster, I present evidence from the student-led whole class discussion showing how the class uses the System Schema to help reason about this problem in a productive manner and come to a useful consensus.

  • • Evaluations of Video Lab Reports in an Introductory Physics MOOC

    • PST1C05
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Shih-Yin Lin
    • Type: Poster
    • Assessing student performance becomes challenging when course enrollment becomes very large (~10^5 students). As part of an introductory physics Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offered via Coursera in summer 2013, students submit video reports on force and motion labs. Peer evaluation of reports provides the primary method for evaluating student laboratory work. This poster describes the methods developed and used to guide students in evaluating each others' video lab report. (1) There are additional authors for this presentation. Please find below the full list of authors. Shih-Yin Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology; John M. Aiken, Georgia State University;

  • • Placement of Students' Group and Individual Problem-Solving Activities

    • PST1C07
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Bijaya Aryal
    • Type: Poster
    • The body of research aimed at explaining the effect of peer group interaction has indicated that social constructivism involved in group interaction has positive impact on students' group performances. However, it has not provided adequate evidence on students' individual learning after small group interactions. This study used three types of group and individual problem-solving sequences. As a part of group learning, students were engaged in small groups of three to four to complete problem-solving activities. Students later completed isomorphic problems as individual assignments. Students' scores on multiple tasks from various semesters were used as data in this study to investigate the influence of group interactions on individual learning. Data analysis revealed the impact of placement of group and individual problem-solving activities on students' subsequent individual performance. Results of this study provide insights into the design of effective learning sequences involving peer group interaction in physics classroom.

  • • Student Understanding of Newton's 2nd Law with Computational Modeling

    • PST1C09
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by John Aiken
    • Type: Poster
    • When learning with any representation of a physical model (e.g., graphs, diagrams, computation), students must learn to connect the model to the individual representation. This paper follows previous work where computational modeling (using VPython) was integrated into a high school Modeling Instruction physics course. To characterize student understanding of Newton's second law, five representative students were recruited in a think-aloud session with a follow-up interview. During the think-aloud session, students wrote a program modeling the motion of a baseball. Students' understanding of the physics concepts behind the computational model will be reported. In particular, we will focus on students' ability to relate Newton's second law to the velocity update in a computational model of force and motion.

  • • Successful Implementation of Active Methodologies in a University in Chile

    • PST1C11
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Hugo Alarcon
    • Type: Poster
    • With the implementation of SCALE-UP rooms at Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria the introductory mechanics course has been redesigned in order to incorporate active methodologies based on Physics Education Research. The exposure time of the instructor has been drastically reduced to allow time for students to work in different types of activities. They have worked with tutorials of the University of Washington, modeling based activities and Context Rich Problems. All of these activities were performed by the students in collaborative groups. The SCALE-UP environment, in particular the inclusion of whiteboards, leads naturally to collaboration. There was a significant conceptual learning, as measured by the FCI and a pass rate well above traditional control groups.

  • • Tactile Kinesthetic Methods in the Pedagogy of Physics

    • PST1C13
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Christine Carmichael
    • Type: Poster
    • There are many ways to enhance the way students learn beyond the conventional classroom techniques. New research sheds light on some of these methods. It is well known in pedagogy that different students have different learning styles, and give priority to different sensory modalities. Recent research results indicate that there is a role for tactile-kinesthetic methods in the teaching of abstract concepts in physics. For example, "a person's ability to solve a problem can be influenced by how he or she moves." Reasons are considered for augmenting the visual and auditory techniques normally used in the university-level physics classroom.

  • • Does Higher Education Increase Student Scientific Reasoning Skills?

    • PST1C15
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Lin Ding
    • Type: Poster
    • A goal of science and engineering education at the tertiary level is to promote students' scientific reasoning skills. Patterns of such skills are conceptualized as mental plans, strategies, or tools used for making inferences and drawing conclusions that are beyond direct observations. Several key sub-patterns are subsumed within this broad definition of scientific reasoning skills; they are: hypothetical-deductive reasoning, proportional reasoning, correlation reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, and control-of-variables. These sub-skills are frequently investigated among students at various grade levels through the Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR). Prior studies have consistently shown that results of CTSR are a good predictor of gains in student conceptual learning of domain knowledge. However, little is known regarding what may influence the development of student scientific reasoning skills. We investigate the effect of two factors, student major and grade level, on the progression of university students' reasoning skills measured by the CTSR.

  • • Resource-based Analysis of Variable Expertise

    • PST1C17
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Darrick Jones
    • Type: Poster
    • Using a fine-grained, resource-based model of cognition, we analyze video recordings of individuals with varying physics expertise and different backgrounds solving novel physics problems on the subject of solar cells. These problems incorporate advanced topics such as semiconductor physics and complex circuitry. Through this analysis, we determine what cognitive resources individuals use to reason within the domain. We compare the resources used by individuals from different backgrounds and examine how this affected their reasoning processes. This poster presents the results of the analysis and their importance to the design of instructional tasks.

  • • Using the Interrogation Method to Help Students Read Physics Textbooks

    • PST1C19
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Robert Zisk
    • Type: Poster
    • The interrogation method is a strategy that has been developed to help students read and interpret science texts. In this method, students are prompted to read a section of the text, and then answer why a sentence from the text is true based on the reading. We have explored the use of this method in an introductory physics course for non-physics science majors. Students were required to respond to two to four interrogation sentences each week on their homework based on the sections there were reading each week. Each exam then included three sentences for the students to interrogate without the text. This poster will outline the evolution of student responses throughout the semester, as well as the relation between homework responses, responses on similar exam questions and overall course performance.

  • • Development of a Standardized Fluids Assessment

    • PST1C21
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by D. J. Wagner
    • Type: Poster
    • We are developing an FCI-style assessment covering hydrostatic topics commonly included in introductory physics courses. Beta versions have been sent to other institutions, and we are continuing to refine the assessment. This poster will present the assessment, along with analysis of the questions and plans for the future. We're particularly interested in receiving suggestions from other educators and in recruiting more beta-testers. Stop by and chat!

  • • Newton's Second Law or Real Forces?

    • PST1C23
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Jennifer Blue
    • Type: Poster
    • This presentation is a continuation of the presentation "Examining Students' Reservations about Forces" from the Winter 2013 meeting. Students were asked to draw all the forces on both an accelerating car and on a passenger riding in that car. Then they were asked to identify why the car accelerated. As it turns out, these are hard questions. Students cannot always think of the correct forces. In those cases, if they are motivated to make Newton's second law work, they might invent forces, or label things as forces that are not actually forces (i.e. "motion," "momentum," "inertia"). In other cases, the labeled forces are all interactions between two objects, but students cannot then use Newton's second law do explain why things accelerate. This presentation will examine the conditions under which students make these choices.

  • • Scientific Reasoning and Understanding of Graphs and Kinematics in Swedish Algebra-based Courses

    • PST1C25
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Markku Jaaskelainen
    • Type: Poster
    • We present data from algebra-based physics at Dalarna University during the 2012-2013 academic year. LCTSR was administered as pre-test, and TUG-K was used as assessment half-way the course, after the relevant sections on graphs and kinematics were covered. Both tests were translated into Swedish to reduce misunderstandings in the testing situation. We find a statistically significant correlation between the LCTSR score and the post-instruction TUG-K scores The main limiting factor seems to be scientific reasoning, regardless of the mode of instruction (online or on-campus with Peer-Interaction). It is believed that the short time of instruction is insufficient to have fostered enough of a conceptual change to produce a marked difference between the student populations. The data suggests that there is a threshold in scientific reasoning around LCTSR score of 10-12, below which conceptual understanding for graphs and kinematics will not develop during the course.

  • • The Pre-concepts of Japanese Students Assessed with the FMCE

    • PST1C27
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Michi Ishimoto
    • Type: Poster
    • This study identifies the pre-concepts of Japanese students assessed with the translated version of the FMCE. The data consist of the pretest results of 1095 students, most of whom were first-year students at a mid-level engineering school between 2003 and 2012. We found a small percentage of the students grasped Newtonian concepts. The percentage of Japanese students who used two concept models together to answer some questions seems to be higher than that of American students. The students with low scores more likely switched from one model of a common sense concept to another to answer the questions.

  • • Context and Representation: Insights from Transfer Research on Teaching Physics

    • PST1C29
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Dean Zollman
    • Type: Poster
    • Transfer of learning is frequently considered as the ability to use knowledge in a context different from the one in which it was learned. Transfer to and within physics learning are equally important. Much research has shown us that students rely heavily on their experiences that occurred before they studied physics when interpreting or applying the principles while they are studying physics. Thus, they transfer to physics experiences from other formal learning and from everyday life. Using the work Bransford & Schwartz (1999) as a foundation we have developed a framework for understanding transfer while students are learning physics. Analyzing one's teaching in terms of a transfer framework can help us understand better students' difficulties (and successes) when attempting to learn physics.

  • • Physics Professional Development: Closing the Knowledge Gap

    • PST1C31
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Mark Greenman
    • Type: Poster
    • During the summers of 2008 through 2012 five cohorts totaling 114 secondary school teachers responsible for teaching physics concepts enrolled in a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education funded summer institute hosted at area universities to enhance the teachers' physics content knowledge and to improve their use of research-based best practices in teaching physics. The content knowledge gap between male and female science teachers was reduced from a gap of 25% to 6%, and the gap between physics majors teaching physics and other science majors teaching physics was reduced from a gap of 31% to 8%. The average paired fractional gain for these participants was .68 with teachers in every comparison group showing strong gains (.57 to .74). Just as encouraging, these gains showed little decay over time.The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) tool was utilized to look at change in teacher content knowledge.

  • • Content Knowledge for Teaching Energy: Tasks of Teaching

    • PST1C33
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Robert Zisk
    • Type: Poster
    • Content knowledge for teaching (CKT) is a practice-based theory of the professional knowledge that a person needs in order to be able to effectively teach a subject (Ball, Thames and Phelps, 2008). Originally conceptualized in the subject of mathematics, our work is centered on CKT for physics, specifically in the area of energy. In developing the framework for CKT for teaching energy, we have indentified the aspects and tasks of teaching physics, and more specifically, of teaching energy, that are needed for effective instruction. This poster will describe the process of identifying generic tasks of teaching physics, as well as the domains, sub-domains and individual tasks that have been identified as essential to the teaching of physics and energy.

  • • PhysTEC at Boston University: Supporting Excellence in Physics Teaching & Learning

    • PST1C35
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Mark Greenman
    • Type: Poster
    • The PhysTEC grant awarded to Boston University is helping to encode in theDNA of the physics department a culture that sees basic physics research and excellence in teaching as dual missions of a strong physics department. Boston University, a large research university located in an urban center, is working with area school districts to increase the number of highly qualified high school physics teachers. The experience of working with pre- and in-service physics teachers has had the added benefit of encouraging reflection within the physics department on strategies for effective teaching and learning. Physics majors are being encouraged to become undergraduate Learning Assistants, so physics majors graduating from Boston University will provide more effective instruction in physics, whether in the role of high school teacher, teaching assistant in graduate school, or research physicist mentoring and educating another generation of physicists.

  • • Secondary Students' Point and Set Paradigms in Handling of Experimental Measurement

    • PST1C02
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Eunmi Lee
    • Type: Poster
    • The idea of secondary school students about measurement has been investigated in the context of experimental work in physics. Subjects were 197 middle school students and 200 high school students. A written instrument PMQ1 was used to probe the students' ideas about data collection, data processing, and data comparison. The responses were classified in terms of point and set paradigms. A point paradigm is characterized by the notion that each measurement results in a single, "point-like" value that could in principle be the true value. Set paradigm is characterized by the notion that each measurement is only an approximation to the true value and the deviation from the true value is random. Set paradigm had a high frequency in data processing and point paradigm had a high frequency in data collection and data comparison. A trend in frequencies according to grade was shown in data comparison but not in other areas.

  • • Development of Tutorial for Teaching Electric Potential in High School

    • PST1C04
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Joon Hee Hong
    • Type: Poster
    • The purpose of this study was to develop a tutorial for teaching electric potential. For this study, we investigated the 7th national curriculum and the previous studies about the misconceptions about electric potential difference. Tutorial for total eight class hours consisted of three sub-units. On the basis of the two preliminary tests, the final version was developed. We applied the developed tutorial to 10th grade women students. Students said that the experiment and reasoning were very helpful in learning and that the reasoning was not difficult and particularly the one using the pictures was very helpful. Also they said that they could resolve the curiosity produced in the pretest through the tutorial activity and could understand what was wrong in their prior thought.

  • • Investigating Interactive Whiteboard Use with Design-based Research Approach

    • PST1C06
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Bor Gregorcic
    • Type: Poster
    • Interactive Whiteboards have become widely used in the last decade. Most studies of the IWB use are fairly general and there is still a great need for studies addressing effective IWB use for teaching specific subjects, including physics. The framework for our study is based on the Design Based Research approach. It is a cyclical process of designing, implementing, evaluating and redesigning of a learning unit. As the cycle is repeated, the result is an improved unit and emergence of principles for IWB use and curriculum material design. Combining the IWB with dynamic interaction software (Algodoo, for example) is of special interest to us, as the interactive surface of the board is one of major advantages of IWB technology over a standard computer-projector setup. It makes possible a personal and creative, graphical and even kinesthetic input from the students.

  • • Student Collaborative Networks and Academic Performance in Physics

    • PST1C08
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by David Schmidt
    • Type: Poster
    • Undergraduate physics students commonly collaborate with one another on homework assignments, especially in more challenging courses. However, it is not well known if the types of collaboration students engage in affect their performances. We empirically investigate collaborative networks and associated performances through a required collaboration reporting system in two sophomore- level and three junior-level courses during the 2012-2013 academic year. We employ social network analysis to quantify the structure and time evolution of these networks, which involve approximately 140 students. Analysis includes analytical and numerical assignments in addition to exam scores. We discuss results from this analysis.

  • • Teaching to Learn: Using iPads to Transform Physics Students' Roles

    • PST1C12
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Susan Nicholson-Dykstra
    • Type: Poster
    • With the explosion of tablet technology and e-Resources available to students who are digital natives, it is vital that teachers develop strategies for purposefully incorporating these resources into the learning experience. In this study, iPads were utilized as tools for students to teach, create, synthesize and apply ideas in a physics classroom. This research investigated the impact of a 1:1 iPad environment on student achievement, engagement, agency, and attitude toward science in an urban science classroom. Students who utilized iPads to create teaching tools, such as screencasts, animations and other digital models, report an increased sense of pride in their product and confidence in their understanding of the content material. Ongoing investigations are being conducted to determine whether student achievement is consistent with student perception of content mastery. Project was partially funded by NSF grant #DUE 934921 and Northglenn High School, Adams 12 Five Star Schools.

  • • Development of an Estimation Skills Diagnostic

    • PST1C14
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Andrew Macdonald
    • Type: Poster
    • The ability to accurately estimate physical quantities is an invaluable skill for scientists and engineers. The development of estimation skills has become an explicit learning goal in the first-year physics course for engineering students at UBC. In order to establish a baseline and look for possible gains in skill level, we have developed a 10-question multiple-choice assessment designed to probe student ability and confidence in estimating physical quantities such as mass, size, and time. Student interviews were used to establish question validity and open-ended written versions were used to seed multiple-choice responses. The diagnostic was administered as a pretest and post-test and given to a set of experts to establish its discriminatory power. The results showed a statistically significant difference between students and experts, but no overall student gains. This poster will give an analysis of the results and share some observations based on student interviews.

  • • Exploring Attributes of College Courses that Develop Scientific Reasoning Abilities*

    • PST1C16
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Kathleen Koenig
    • Type: Poster
    • Scientific reasoning is a naturally developing ability impacted by many factors. Our prior work has demonstrated that although this development follows a general trend, students enter our college courses with wide variations in scientific reasoning abilities, and the typical course does not significantly impact these important skills. Rather, it is through explicit and targeted instruction in scientific reasoning that students have been observed to make significant shifts. We are in the early exploration stages of assessing these abilities in different environments to get a sense of what factors impact scientific reasoning development in the college classroom. Gains in student development of these abilities for diverse classroom settings across multiple campuses will be shared, in addition to details of the differences in these classroom settings that might be influential factors here. *Partially supported by the National Institutes of Health 1RC1RR028402-01

  • • Student Reasoning Using Combinations of Resources

    • PST1C18
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by AJ Richards
    • Type: Poster
    • We use the framework of resources to investigate how students construct understanding of a complex modern physics topic. Specifically, we are investigating how students combine multiple resources as they reason about a solar cell. We recorded pre-service physics teachers learning about solar cells, analyzed their interactions, and studied how they activated and combined resources. Our analysis shows us that certain combinations of resources can dramatically improve students' understanding and insight. This poster will reveal these combinations and discuss possible implications for instruction.

  • • An Abbreviated Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (Japanese translated version)

    • PST1C20
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Michi Ishimoto
    • Type: Poster
    • An abbreviated version of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) is created as a prototype to assess Japanese students' understanding of the concepts of motion. This abbreviated version includes 17 of the 47 questions that comprise the FMCE. These questions are selected based on the results of the pre-concept survey using the Japanese translated version of the FMCE. The correlation coefficient of the abbreviated version of the test and the single-number scores of the FMCE is 0.92. The purpose of the abbreviated version is to shorten the testing time required so that Japanese instructors can administer the test more easily. The abbreviated version is useful in measuring gains, but its pre-test scores are too low to differentiate students.

  • • Exploring Student Reactions to a Modified Force Concept Inventory

    • PST1C22
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Wendy Adams
    • Type: Poster
    • In our earlier work we conducted think-aloud interviews with students as they grappled with questions on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Doing so showed us that the difficulties they have with some questions have nothing to do with their understanding of physics. These difficulties involve diagrams, notations, and vocabulary that make perfect sense to physics teachers but can easily confuse beginning students. We modified several of the FCI questions to improve clarity and administered it to two sections of introductory physics students. When compared to years of archival data generated with the canonical FCI, student performance on the modified questions showed a statistically significant difference. To investigate this change we have conducted a new series of think-aloud interviews. Here we present an overview of the insight afforded by the students' perspective.

  • • Schlieren Imaging of Standing Sound Waves in a Tube

    • PST1C24
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Liang Zeng
    • Type: Poster
    • Students enrolled in introductory physics classes at a Hispanic Serving Institution in South Texas have difficulty reasoning how air molecules move in a pipe when sound standing waves are formed. The study was conducted to visualize the sound standing waves through Schlieren imaging technique. The technique utilizes a point light source to illuminate a long acrylic tube. A speaker connected to a sine-wave generator sends periodic sound waves down to the tube. Two concave mirrors are employed to converge the refracted light to a CCD Camera through a space filter. The videos and images of sound standing waves obtained in the experiment can help students understand better how sound standing waves form and the underlying physics of the phenomena.

  • • University Students' Understanding on Macro-Micro Relationships of Electric Potential

    • PST1C28
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Jenaro Guisasola
    • Type: Poster
    • Relations between electrostatics and electrodynamics are still a source ofteaching-learning problems in the first years of university. In the area of electricity, research shows that students do not relate concepts studied in electrostatics with the phenomena that occur in electrical circuits (Eylon and Ganiel 1990, Park et al. 2001, Thacker et al. 1999). In this poster we will present several questions that have been used to investigate the representations of students about the concept of potential difference. The results presented will show evidence that in current transitional situations students generally do not perform the analysis of the phenomenon considering the concept of potential difference. Students show deficiencies in the explanatory model of charge movement. The results will also show that students do not use descriptive-macro level (potential difference) and interpretative-micro level (surface distribution of charges) to explain the electrical current in a simple circuit current.

  • • Learner Understanding of Energy Degradation

    • PST1C30
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Abigail Daane
    • Type: Poster
    • Learners' everyday ideas about energy often involve energy being"used up" or "wasted." In physics, the concept of energy degradation can connect those ideas to the principle of energy conservation. Learners' spontaneous discussions about aspects of energy degradation have motivated us to introduce new learning goals into our K-12 teacher professional development courses. One of our goals is for teachers to recognize that since energy degradation is associated with the movement of some quantity towards equilibrium, the identification of energy as degraded or free depends on the choice of the objects involved. Teacher discussions of a particular energy scenario (about a wind-powered heating system) led to productive conversations about the nature of energy degradation and its possible dependence on the choice of what to include in the scenario.

  • • Constructing Wind Turbines: Physics, Engineering, or Both?

    • PST1C32
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Joshua Ellis
    • Type: Poster
    • National reform documents (National Research Council, 2012) are calling for the integration of engineering into K-12 science standards as a mechanism to not only improve the quantity and quality of the STEM workforce but to increase STEM literacy for all. This study investigated the classroom practices of high school physical science teachers following an intensive professional development on engineering integration. These teachers incorporated engineering design lessons, such as wind turbine design, into their physics instruction. Our findings show that teachers oftentimes miss the mark in explicitly integrating physics content in these lessons. This resulted in lessons that became stand-alone engineering design challenges where students neglected to apply known physics concepts to their design. These findings occurred in all classrooms regardless of the teachers' physics content knowledge. In this paper we explore physics teachers' struggles to integrate physics and engineering in ways that will enhance the learning of physics concepts.

  • • Interactive Laboratory Experience (ILE) - Closing the Knowledge Gap

    • PST1C34
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Mark Greenman
    • Type: Poster
    • During the summers of 2008 through 2012 five cohorts totaling 114 secondary school teachers responsible for teaching physics concepts enrolled in a Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education funded summer institute hosted at area Universities to enhance the teachers' physics content knowledge and to improve their use of research-based best practices in teaching physics. The content knowledge gap between male and female science teachers was reduced from a gap of 25% to 6%, and the gap between physics majors teaching physics and other science majors teaching physics was reduced from a gap of 31% to 8%. The average paired fractional gain (FMCE) for these participants was .68 with teachers in every comparison group showing strong gains (.57 to .74). Just as encouraging, these gains showed little decay over time.

• Physics Education Research II

  • • Examining Identity Development with Cultural Historical Activity Theory

    • PST2C01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Sissi Li
    • Type: Poster
    • Becoming a physics major involves learning to be part of physics communities. In this process, students socially interact with these communities, grapple with changing expectations over time as students become more physicist-like, and make use of tools in ways that are unique to the field. A theoretical framework is needed to incorporate elements beyond the social ones. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) examines human actions through activity systems characterized by a motivation for action; components within the system include social, structural, and temporal artifacts that are often in conflict and drive an individual or group to action. For example, students joining a research group experience conflict between what counted as good lab work in classes and new expectations in the research lab. Using CHAT, we examine the physics major identity development through the interactions within an activity system and between activity systems that shape the trajectory of becoming a physicist.

  • • A Scenario for Exploring the Relationship between Energy and Free Energy

    • PST2C03
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Abigail Daane
    • Type: Poster
    • The energy available to do useful work is different from the total energy in a system. This distinction is particularly relevant to biology and pre-health science students who encounter a disconnect between "energy" as described in their introductory physics courses and "free energy" as described in their biology and chemistry classes. It is also relevant to K-12 teachers who are asked to explain how it is that energy can be "used up" even though the total energy is conserved. The relationship between energy and free energy is made visible when learners are asked to compare two systems having the same total energy but different capacities to do work on their surroundings. Unpacking this scenario requires ideas related to entropy, energy degradation, and the second law of thermodynamics. This poster examines how taking up these ideas can help to reconcile seemingly disconnected concepts about energy.

  • • Developing Biologically Relevant Mathematical Competence in Introductory Physics

    • PST2C05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Julia Gouvea
    • Type: Poster
    • Quantitative skills and mathematical reasoning are considered central to introductory physics. Increasingly, physics is seen as a place where students can begin to develop skills that are critical for modern biology such as using mathematical representations to organize conceptual understanding, reasoning about parametric dependence and limiting cases, understanding the implications of units as dimensions, and making and justifying quantitative estimations. In our introductory physics course for life science majors our aim is to help students see the relevance and utility of mathematical reasoning. We do so by explicitly integrating biology examples into the course and by emphasizing how math can be used to deepen understanding. In this poster we present an analysis of student reactions to math in this course and discuss the challenges and opportunities of developing biologically relevant mathematical competence in introductory physics.

  • • Reducing Disciplinary Barriers to Learning

    • PST2C07
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Aseem Talukdar
    • Type: Poster
    • Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) general education competencies emphasize that students should be able to make connections among disciplines, also to demonstrate an awareness of the relationship of the individual to their biological and physical environment. We will report on our attempt to address these goals by connecting astronomy, chemistry, and physics, through a common fundamental concept, introducing the implications and applications of the knowledge in all three realms in each of the classes.

  • • A Framework of Attentional Cueing in Physics Problem Solving

    • PST2C09
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Amy Rouinfar
    • Type: Poster
    • Attentional cues overlaid on diagrams and animations can help students attend to the relevant areas and facilitate problem solving. We propose a framework of attentional cueing for solving physics problems. Our framework amalgamates concepts from Representational Change Theory (Ohlsson, 1992) and Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2001) along with the framework for visual cueing (de Koning, et. al., 2009). To validate our framework we conducted 24 individual interviews with students enrolled in a conceptual physics course. Students worked through a series of introductory physics problems containing a diagram. Students provided a verbal answer and explanation to each problem and received correctness feedback. If incorrect, they were provided with a series of visual cues on the training problems which became increasingly explicit. We map data from the interviews onto our proposed framework and find evidence supporting the framework.

  • • Effect of Algebraic Formula Relevance and Salience on Problem Solving

    • PST2C11
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Rebecca Rosenblatt
    • Type: Poster
    • We report results from a study testing the effect of algebraic formulas' relevance and salience on physics problem solving. Students were given three progressively more difficult questions about pendulums (period, angular velocity, and string tension). Students were randomly assigned to either: receive only relevant expressions, "formulas," with each question; or to receive several relevant and non-relevant expressions in the footnotes. Three main interesting results were found. First, the presence of only the relevant formula(s) did not help the students solve these problems. Second, students were significantly more likely to attempt to take a quantitative or algebraic solution path when more formulas were present (footnoted formulas condition) even though the majority of available formulas were not directly relevant and the formula placement would seem to suggest lower usefulness. Lastly, as question difficulty increased, students were less likely to attempt to explain their reasoning despite having done so on previous questions.

  • • Negative Energy: Why Interdisciplinary Physics Requires Blended Ontologies

    • PST2C13
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Benjamin Dreyfus
    • Type: Poster
    • Much recent work in physics education research has focused on ontological metaphors for energy (metaphors for what type of thing energy "is"), particularly the substance ontology and its pedagogical affordances. The concept of negative energy problematizes the substance ontology for energy (because there cannot be a negative amount of a substance), but in many instructional settings, the specific difficulties around negative energy are outweighed by the general advantages of the substance ontology. However, we claim that our interdisciplinary setting (an undergraduate physics class that builds deep connections to biology and chemistry) leads to a different set of considerations and conclusions. In a course designed to draw interdisciplinary connections, the centrality of chemical bond energy in biology necessitates foregrounding negative energy from the beginning. We argue that the emphasis on negative energy requires a blend of substance and location ontologies. The location ontology enables energies both "above" and "below" zero.

  • • Problem Solving Reflection in Second-Semester Physics: A Pilot Analysis

    • PST2C15
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Andrew Mason
    • Type: Poster
    • Recent effort has been shown in attempting an intervention to teach reflection in problem solving in an introductory physics classroom.(1) One area of interest is fostering a more sustained intervention in order to reinforce the reflection stage of a developing problem-solving framework. We present an attempt to introduce reflection in problem solving into a second-semester algebra-based physics course with a student population consisting predominately of life sciences majors. Analysis of pre- and post-test data from the MPEX survey(2) will be discussed in light of variables that affect the pilot study's outcome. These variables include general course structure, student population, and data to be gathered for analysis. References: 1)Yerushalmi et al., Phys. Rev. ST ? PER 8 (2), 020109 and 020110 (2012). 2)Redish et al., Am. J. Phys. 66, 212-224 (1998).

  • • Exploring Faculty Change in the FIU Science Collaborative

    • PST2C17
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Adrienne Traxler
    • Type: Poster
    • The FIU Science Collaborative is a four-year project to reform undergraduate science education across three departments at Florida International University. It drives institutional change through community building and faculty development. Interested professors and instructors apply to be "faculty scholars," undertaking major transformation of a class they teach to incorporate active learning. They also become involved in regular discipline-based education research (DBER) meetings with a wider community of STEM faculty. This project affords both opportunities and challenges for research on faculty change, spanning a range of instructional strategies, disciplines, and course levels. Here we discuss some emerging themes from faculty scholars' work and connections to current research on faculty development. Need one additional author: Ophelia Weeks, affiliated with Florida International University and with University of Liberia, Fendall Campus.

  • • Core Courses: A Missed Learning Opportunity?

    • PST2C21
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Alexandru Maries
    • Type: Poster
    • An important goal of graduate physics core courses is to help students develop expertise in problem solving and improve their reasoning and meta-cognitive skills. We explore the conceptual difficulties of physics graduate students by administering conceptual problems on topics covered in undergraduate physics courses before and after instruction in related first year core graduate courses. Here, we focus on physics graduate students' difficulties manifested by their performance on two qualitative problems involving diagrammatic representation of vector fields. Some graduate students had great difficulty in recognizing whether the diagrams of the vector fields had divergence and/or curl but they had no difficulty computing the divergence and curl of the vector fields mathematically. We also conducted individual discussions with various faculty members who regularly teach first year graduate physics core courses about the goals of these courses and the performance of graduate students on the conceptual problems after related instruction in core courses.

  • • Developing and Evaluating Quantum Mechanics Formalism and Postulates Survey

    • PST2C23
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Emily Marshman
    • Type: Poster
    • Development of multiple-choice tests related to a particular physics topicis important for designing research-based learning tools to reduce the difficulties related to the topic. We explore the difficulties that the advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with quantum mechanics formalism and postulates. We developed a research-based multiple-choice survey that targets these issues to obtain information about the common difficulties and administered it to undergraduate and graduate students. We find that the advanced undergraduate and graduate students have many common difficulties with these topics. The survey can be administered to assess the effectiveness of various instructional strategies. Supported by the National Science Foundation

  • • Multiple Perspectives on Student Syntheses of Concepts in Thermal Physics

    • PST2C25
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Trevor Smith
    • Type: Poster
    • We have previously reported examples of student failures to conceptually combine Boltzmann factors with the density of states appropriately in thermal physics. Our earlier analyses focused on specific student difficulties observed directly from the data; e.g., students successfully describe ideas related to either the Boltzmann factor or the density of states, but do not often articulate the simultaneous effects of both, as required by the physical context. We now extend our findings by analyzing student data through multiple theoretical lenses, such as a resources perspective and the framework of conceptual blending, among others. Employing these perspectives illuminates valuable features of the data previously unavailable to us.

  • • Students' Use of Modeling in the Upper Division Physics Laboratory

    • PST2C27
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Benjamin Zwickl
    • Type: Poster
    • Modeling, the practice of developing, testing, and refining models of physical systems, has gained support as a key scientific practice in the K-12 Next Generation Science Standards, and in curricula such as Modeling Instruction, RealTime Physics, ISLE, and Matter & Interaction. However, modeling has gained less traction at the upper-division undergraduate level. As part of a larger effort to transform upper-division physics labs to incorporate scientific practices, including modeling, we conducted a series of think-aloud experimental activities using simple electronic and optical components in order to investigate how students use modeling with minimal explicit prompting in a laboratory setting. We review general patterns in students' use of models, describe our coding scheme, and conclude with a discussion of implications for the design of modeling-focused lab activities and lab-appropriate assessments.

  • • To Use or Not to Use Diagrams: The Effect of Drawing a Diagram in Solving Introductory Physics Problems

    • PST2C29
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Alexandru Maries
    • Type: Poster
    • Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem-solving heuristic that can transform a given problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving it. A major focus while helping introductory physics students learn problem solving is to help them appreciate that drawing diagrams facilitates problem solution. We conducted an investigation in which 111 students in an algebra-based introductory physics course were subjected to two different interventions during recitation quizzes throughout the semester. They were either (1) asked to solve problems in which the diagrams were drawn for them or (2) explicitly told to draw a diagram. A comparison group was not given any instruction regarding diagrams. We developed a rubric to score the problem-solving performance of students in different intervention groups. We present results for two problems involving electric field and electric force. We also compare the performance of students in finding electric field to finding electric force in similar situations both immediately after instruction in a quiz and a while after instruction in a midterm exam.

  • • A Case Study in Leveraging Biology Experiences in Physics

    • PST2C02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Vashti Sawtelle
    • Type: Poster
    • When we discuss courses designed to be interdisciplinary, such as our course in Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) majors, we often focus on what students can gain from taking a course (physics) outside their chosen discipline (biology). Rarely do we consider what advantages might be gained from students' experience with biology in learning physics. At the University of Maryland we have designed an introductory physics course that attempts to leverage students' biology experiences in an authentic interdisciplinary manner. In this presentation, we will examine case study data of a student who initially describes herself as hating physics. We will look at longitudinal data across her experiences with our yearlong IPLS course and explore how, in an interdisciplinary classroom, her prior experiences as a biology student came to influence her evolving relationship with physics.

  • • Like Dissolves Like: Unpacking Student Reasoning about Thermodynamic Heruristics

    • PST2C04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Benjamin Geller
    • Type: Poster
    • In our Physics for Biologists course at the University of Maryland, we areattempting to build interdisciplinary bridges that help students understand thermodynamics better. One aspect of this endeavor involves having students grapple with the physical processes underlying heuristics that they bring to our course from their biology and chemistry classes. In particular, we have implemented a series of activities and problems intended to unpack the hydrophobicity of oil, a key step in understanding the formation of cell membranes. Student reasoning about this process illustrates the challenges we encounter in trying to bridge physics and biochemistry curricula. Understanding the spontaneous separation of oil and water requires careful consideration of the sometimes competing effects of energy and entropy. Reconciling disciplinary distinctions in how these ideas are described is an important step in helping our students develop more coherent thermodynamics concepts.

  • • NEXUS/Physics: Rethinking Physics for Biology and Premed Students

    • PST2C06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Edward Redish
    • Type: Poster
    • Physicists, biologists, and science education specialists at the University of Maryland are redesigning Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences as part of the National Experiment on Undergraduate Science (NEXUS).[1] Our objective is to create a course in which the connections between physics and biology feel authentic to students and disciplinary experts and that emphasizes skills that are the goal of traditional physics instruction: symbolic reasoning, blending mathematical and qualitative thinking, abstraction to the level of toy models to build intuitions, and order-of-magnitude estimation. The content includes topics relevant to biology, such as diffusion, fluid dynamics, and chemical binding. The pedagogy focuses on creating opportunities for students to develop a coherent understanding of core concepts and competencies. These changes are coordinating with reforms in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, so that learning physics supports and is supported by learning in other science classes.

  • • A Diagram Is Valuable Despite the Choice of a More Mathematical Approach to Problem Solving

    • PST2C08
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Alexandru Maries
    • Type: Poster
    • A major focus while helping introductory physics students learn problem solving is to help them appreciate that drawing diagrams facilitates problem solution. We conducted an investigation in which 118 students in an algebra-based introductory physics course were subjected to two different interventions during problem solving in recitation quizzes throughout the semester. They were either (1) asked to solve problems in which the diagrams were drawn for them or (2) explicitly told to draw a diagram. A comparison group was not given any instruction regarding diagrams. We present results for a problem involving standing waves in tubes that can be solved using two different methods, one involving a diagrammatic representation and another involving mathematical manipulation of equations. Interviews were also conducted to better understand student difficulties related to this problem. One major finding is that a good diagram can be a powerful tool for successful problem solving even if students mainly employ a mathematical approach to solving the problem.

  • • A New Framework for Computer Coaching of Problem Solving

    • PST2C10
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Evan Frodermann
    • Type: Poster
    • The physics education research (PER) group at the University of Minnesota has been developing online computer programs intended to aid students in developing problem-solving skills by coaching them in the use of an expert-like problem-solving framework. An early version was tested in a large calculus based introductory physics class and judged to be helpful by students. The PER group is now working on a second generation of coaches which is more flexible for both students and instructors. The new coaches will allow students to make the decisions critical to problem solving in a non-linear path, more closely resembling the actual way they solve problems. It will also allow instructors without any programming experience to modify both the structure and content of existing coaches and to create new ones. In this poster we will demonstrate the new interface and discuss the rationale behind its design. This work is supported by NSF DUE-1226197.

  • • Eye Movements While Interpreting Graphical Representations of Motion

    • PST2C12
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jennifer Docktor
    • Type: Poster
    • Multiple representations are important for learning physics concepts and solving problems (e.g. interpreting text, equations, pictures, diagrams, and/or graphs), yet students often struggle to make sense of these representations. This study investigates how introductory students and graduate students view and interpret motion graphs. Participants viewed several graphs of position, velocity, or acceleration on a computer screen and were asked to match a region of the graph with a description of the object's motion. We compare performance on the questions with audio-recorded explanations and eye movements recorded using an eye tracker.

  • • Online Computer Coaches for Introductory Physics Problem Solving -- Usage Patterns and Students' Performance

    • PST2C14
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Qing Xu
    • Type: Poster
    • The Physics Education Research Group at the University of Minnesota has been developing internet computer coaches to help students become more expert-like problem solvers. During the fall 2011 and spring 2013 semesters, the coaches were introduced into large sections (200+ students) of the calculus-based introductory mechanics course at the University of Minnesota. In this poster, we will discuss the different usage patterns of the coaches and their correlations with student problem-solving performance and attitudes toward problem solving in physics. This work was supported by NSF DUE-0715615 and DUE-1226197.

  • • Should Students be Provided Diagrams or Asked to Draw Them While Solving Introductory Physics Problems?

    • PST2C16
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Alexandru Maries
    • Type: Poster
    • Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem-solving heuristic that can transform the problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving the problem. A major focus while helping introductory physics students learn problem solving is to help them appreciate that drawing diagrams facilitates further problem solution. We conducted an investigation in which approximately 120 students in an algebra-based introductory physics course were subjected to three different interventions during the problem solving in recitation quizzes throughout the semester. They were either asked to solve problems in which the diagrams were drawn for them or they were explicitly told to draw a diagram, or they were not given any instruction regarding diagrams. We developed a rubric to score problem-solving performance of students in different intervention groups. We will present our findings including some surprising results for problems that involve final/initial situations. This work is supported by NSF.

  • • PER User's Guide Plus: PER-based Assessment Guide and Results Database

    • PST2C18
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Adrian Madsen
    • Type: Poster
    • As part of the PER User's Guide (http://perusersguide.org), we are developing an online database of PER-based assessment instrument scores and an accompanying data explorer. Here physics instructors can upload their students' assessment data and compare it to the larger data set. The system includes "ne-click analysis", enabling users to visualize their data, make comparisons and view statistics such as gain scores, effect sizes, and statistical significance. Users can compare their data in a variety of ways, such as to data from peer institutions, national data, or before and after a change in teaching method. We plan to conduct a large-scale comparison of assessment data from traditional and interactive-engagement classes as the database is populated. Additionally, we are developing guides to these PER-based assessments, including information about their background, research validation, and guidelines for administration. We solicit your feedback on our system and your assessment data to include in our database.

  • • Examining and Connecting Physics Teaching Assistants' Beliefs and Practices

    • PST2C20
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Benjamin Spike
    • Type: Poster
    • As research-based course transformations become more widespread, increasing attention is being paid to physics Teaching Assistants (TAs) for their critical role in supporting transformed instructional environments, as well as for their own development as future faculty and scientists. We examine how physics TAs conceptualize physics teaching through both how they talk about and how they enact their roles in the classroom. In a previous work[1], we reported on our efforts to develop a framework to characterize TAs' stated pedagogical beliefs and link them to their instructional practices. Here we present this framework in a validated and refined form, and apply it to interview and classroom video data. We also discuss how this framework may be used to examine variation in beliefs and practices, track the development of beliefs over time, and inform TA preparation.

  • • Developing Tutorials for Advanced Physics Students: Process and Lessons Learned

    • PST2C22
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Charles Baily
    • Type: Poster
    • When education researchers introduce new curricular materials to the physics community, we typically learn more about the efficacy of the end products than the actual process by which the materials came into being. We present details on our development of in-class tutorials for students in an advanced electrodynamics course at CU Boulder, in hopes of providing useful information for faculty engaged in similar projects. We discuss sources of inspiration for in-class activities, describe a validation process involving student focus groups, and consider some lessons learned following their initial classroom implementation.

  • • Large-scale Assessment for Upper-division Electricity and Magnetism

    • PST2C24
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Bethany Wilcox
    • Type: Poster
    • The Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics (CUE) diagnostic was designed as an open-ended assessment to capture elements of student reasoning in upper-division electrostatics. The diagnostic has been given for many semesters at multiple universities resulting in an extensive database of CUE responses. To increase the scalability of the assessment, we used this database along with research on students' difficulties to create a multiple-choice version. The new version explores the viability of a novel test format where students select multiple responses and can receive partial credit based on the accuracy and consistency of their selections. This format was selected with the goal of preserving insights afforded by the open-ended format while exploiting the logistical advantages of a multiple-choice assessment. Here, we present examples of the questions and scoring of the multiple-choice CUE as well as initial analysis of item difficulty, discrimination, and overall consistency with the open-ended version.

  • • Student Resource Use in Upper-level Laboratories

    • PST2C26
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Xian Wu
    • Type: Poster
    • As part of an ongoing study into upper-level physics students' identity development, we present a case study of a group of three students working in a junior-level Advanced Lab course. The data collected for this analysis include video-based observations of students working together in the lab, working in different groups in a prior lab course (Modern Physics), and individual interviews with each student. We use discourse analysis and Tannen words to analyze the students' interactions with each other, the laboratory equipment, and the lab handout. We correlate their in-class discourse and behavior with their out-of-class interviews to paint a fuller picture of their resource use and identity development in laboratory contexts.

  • • Cognitive Tutors for Studio Physics

    • PST2C28
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jan Beks
    • Type: Poster
    • We describe innovative cognitive tutor software that has been developed for Studio Physics coursework at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. Cognitive tutors are sophisticated computer-based instructional programs that include a user-friendly interface with built-in tutoring, expert-domain, and student-progress modules. Cognitive tutors monitor student progress in order to provide timely guidance and feedback. The software is spreadsheet-based, using Visual Basic for Applications to provide powerful graphical tools and rapid prototyping. We will discuss (i) how cognitive tutors support a Studio Physics curriculum, (ii) our unique approach to building cognitive tutors, and (iii) evidence of their positive impact on student attitudes and learning outcomes. In addition, we will share our plans for refinements relating to quality control of student-generated data, improved and varied forms of tutor feedback, student decision-making and improved branching in tutor design, and some very early steps toward the use of text-based, natural language dialog.

  • • John Francis Woodhull: An Early 20th Century Physics Education Visionary

    • PST2C30
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Diana Murray
    • Type: Poster
    • "We cannot teach the principles of physics except through an experience with their applications." (J.F. Woodhull, 1915.) This presentation provides an account of John Francis Woodhull, one of the most influential science education reformers during the early 20th century. As a professor of physical science, he was a founding member of Teachers College. Along with C.R. Mann, a physicist at the University of Chicago, and G.S. Hall, a pioneer in adolescent development, he strongly advocated child-centered education and condemned the highly quantitative high school physics course established by Harvard at the turn of the century. It is widely unrecognized that Woodhull conceived the project method of science teaching which was based on the exploration of real-world problems. Woodhull was instrumental in the development of General Science as an introductory, integrated science course for all students, and he stressed the importance of the "science of teaching" over the "teaching of science."

• Post-Deadlne Poster

  • • Learn Widely from Others' Strong Points

    • PST2F01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by He Yanlan
    • Type: Poster
    • two types of "circulation" teaching methods of experiment of college physics are compared in this essay. it is concluded that the second circulation method is more conducive to training students and achieving the goal of teaching. the involvement of teachers from different scientific research backgrounds, as well as distinguished teachers and professors, makes the second circulation method more effective. moreover, it is the key to the success of the circulation method that supervising and managing the quality of teaching process rationally and effectively.

  • • Growing STEM Learning Experiences from a Physics-based Learning Community

    • PST2F03
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Eugene Li
    • Type: Poster
    • How does a community of STEM learners grow in a physics-based STEM learning community? Developing and implementing a learning community pairing of courses in an interdisciplinary setting has effects that not only include achieving matched STEM outcomes for interdisciplinary courses, but also forms social bonds that encourages supportive learning in otherwise challenging STEM courses for Montgomery College engineering and science students. The supportive social structure of inquiry-led activities and projects that are designed to enhance physics-based critical-thinking components is examined as it relates to cognition in calculus-based mathematics. The effects of technology on collaborative active learning experiences through using pedagogically "theme-focused" activities, online discussion board, personal response system (clickers, or text polling), and iPad cooperative activities are examined. This presentation analyzes some of the outcomes and experiences in the learning community pairing of calculus-based Physics I (Mechanics and Heat) and Math (Calculus II), called a "A Journey Across Newton's Bridge: Connections between Physics and Math," which has been offered annually for several years at Montgomery College.

  • • Energizing Physics: Results from a 2-year Pilot Project

    • PST2F05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Stephen Scannell
    • Type: Poster
    • Energizing Physics is an introductory physics course for the high school level designed to incorporate several approaches shown to improve student understanding of physics. These include a modeling approach to develop conceptual and quantitative understanding, a focus on depth vs. breadth, the use of learning targets and formative assessment strategies, and project-based learning, including hands-on projects that utilize the engineering design process, and smaller research projects that develop students' understanding of today's energy issues. Preliminary results and thoughts from a two-year pilot project (concluding in August 2013) will be shared.

  • • Incorporating the MITx into an Upper Division Lab Course

    • PST2F07
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Charles Bosse
    • Type: Poster
    • MIT has recently pioneered the MOOC platform MITx. While the application for distributing education outside of the university is obvious, part of the goal of this platform was to provide addition options for students at MIT. Our 8.13 staff and instructors embarked on an effort to use the MITx platform to provide better content delivery, further "flip" classroom time currently used for lecture/tutorials, and to provide students more prompt and relevant feedback on questions asked to ensure conceptual preparedness for lab time.

  • • The Impact of College Faculty Involvement in AP Physics

    • PST2F09
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Peggy Bertrand
    • Type: Poster
    • Although Advanced Placement physics courses are taught to secondary students by high school teachers, college physics faculty are instrumental to the success and integrity of the AP Program. College and university professors who fill various roles in the program are engaged in essential outreach and support of the high school physics teacher community. This poster presents an overview of the ways college professors participate in the Advanced Placement program, in course and assessment design, exam scoring and analysis, and through delivery of high-quality professional development for high school faculty.

  • • Interactive Engagement in Thermodynamics Lectures: Successes and Failures

    • PST2F11
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Helen Georgiou
    • Type: Poster
    • Research in physics education endorses the use of interactive Engagement (IE) techniques for improving student attitudes towards physics and achieving superior learning outcomes. This poster presents findings from an Australia university that was successful in achieving both of these outcomes by using one form of IE, the Interactive Lecture Demonstration in first-year thermodynamics. The study further examined issues surrounding the fidelity of implementation of IE through the use of the Lecture Activity and Student Engagement (LASE) tool. Results from LASE show that different lecturers interpret IE techniques differently, students are not necessarily engaged simply by virtue of "Interacting" with the lecturer and peers, and lecturers are most comfortable in conventional lecture dynamics (lecturing with the aid of PowerPoint). Such findings may help in illuminating the reasons why some IE might not work and signal issues around sustainable and successful IE implementation in first-year physics environments.

  • • Assessing Curriculum of a Physics in Biomedicine Course

    • PST2F13
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Elizabeth Anderson
    • Type: Poster
    • Portland State University's Physics in Biomedicine is an undergraduate upper-level physics course designed for biology or pre-health majors to address the need for medically relevant situations to enhance students' understanding of physics applications. To assess the effectiveness of the instruction, a modified backwards design was used to create learning goals for each individual module. Student understanding of the learning goals was assessed through open response pre- and post-quizzes. These students' quizzes were then summarized and categorized for emerging patterns of student understanding. The goal of understanding this data is to determine students' conceptual understanding of each module and overall interpretation of physical phenomenon such as light absorption and emission, atomic energy levels, and electromagnetism. This insight into student thought is to help improve the development of the course and optimize assessment questions.

  • • "Scratch and Win" Tickets and Team-based Clickers in Introductory Physics

    • PST2F15
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Adam Clark
    • Type: Poster
    • This poster will document an attempt to hybridize the non-physics specifictechnique of Team-based Learning with the physics-native methods of Peer Instruction and Cooperative Group Problem Solving. Team-based Learning begins each unit with a "Readiness Assessment Test" (RAT) that acts not only as a reading quiz but also to assess if students are ready to begin problem solving. The RATs are taken first as individuals, then again in teams. The team test is administered with a "scratch-and-win" ticket known as an Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) form. In the hybrid approach, students work in those same teams for clicker question discussion and for Cooperative Group Problem Solving. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach and present pre-/post-test Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) data for classes taught in consecutive years in a liberal arts setting, one with the addition of Team-based Learning, one without.

  • • Non-uniform Concentration of Bubbles in Rising Dough

    • PST2F17
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Michael Partensky
    • Type: Poster
    • The spatial distribution of bubble concentration in rising dough is discussed in two experimental settings: (a) large transparent cylindrical vessel; (b) shallow Petri plate. In the case (a) we observe strong height dependence of bubble concentration, with significantly depleted top layer. In the case (b) the dynamic of radial distribution of bubbles is loosely described in terms of ?uniformly expanding universe?. Possible mechanisms of strong height dependence of bubble concentration (case a) are proposed and the questions for further research are offered.

  • • Addressing Students' Difficulties in Charging by Induction: Creation of Experimental Videos

    • PST2F21
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Steven Sun
    • Type: Poster
    • As part of the efforts in addressing student difficulties of charging by induction, we made a series of instructional videos in which an electroscope is charged by charged rods. Students are prompted to explain with conceptual reasoning and models, predict using words, and sketch the phenomena they see, including a testing experiment to convince them of the outcome. This paper will show how we used the videos with our introductory students and discuss subtlety of physics beyond the phenomena.

  • • Curvature of the Universe CMB Lab for Non-Science Majors

    • PST2F23
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Daniel Smith Jr
    • Type: Poster
    • Measurements of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by the WMAP and Planck satellites have resulted in increasingly precise determinations of cosmological parameters that characterize the curvature, matter fraction, and dark energy fraction of the universe. But the colorful map of temperature fluctuations and the graph of the power spectrum have little physical meaning for the non-expert. To surmount the barrier to understanding the physics represented by these data products, a lab has been developed to enable students to determine the curvature of the universe by comparing actual WMAP data to theoretical maps and power spectra that students themselves calculate using the CAMB web interface.

  • • ATE Workshop for Physics Faculty

    • PST2F02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Thomas O'Kuma
    • Type: Poster
    • The ATE Workshop for Physics Faculty project is into its third year and has finished its 13th workshop/conference. In this poster, we will display information about the project, information about these workshops/conferences, and information about future workshops/conferences. Information concerning development of laboratory activities will also be displayed.

  • • Relativistic Rotation of Simple Objects

    • PST2F04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Kenneth Purcell
    • Type: Poster
    • A typical modern physics course begins with a discussion of special relativity focusing on 1 and 2 dimensional rectilinear motion. Missing from the discussion is the effect of special relativity on an object rotating at high angular speeds. Here I will present a means to introduce the effects of relativistic rotation on real objects at a level that is approachable to undergraduate students that are in a sophomore-level modern physics course and allows for this section of the course to truly serve as a bridge between the introductory and upper-level mechanics courses.

  • • Simulated Sinusitis, Phantoms and Near Infrared Radiation (NIR) Transillumination Imaging

    • PST2F06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Kevin Yang
    • Type: Poster
    • Sinusitis affects 31 million people nationwide annually. A potential imaging tool for the diagnosis of maxillary sinusitis is NIR transillumination through the hard palate of the mouth. To study optimal techniques for detecting maxillary sinusitis with NIR, phantoms simulating the sinuses and hard palate of a human skull were constructed and tested with NIR systems. MatLab analysis of NIR images of the phantom indicated that the light intensity emitted from completely fluid-filled cavities was up to 50% less than that emitted from healthy, air-filled cavities. NIR transillumination was also able to detect partially fluid-filled cavities that mimic the disease condition of a large number of patients. NIR light intensity demonstrated a significant (p<0.05) negative correlation with volume of fluid inside the cavities. Hence, NIR transillumination can distinguish between aerated (healthy) and fluid-filled (diseased) cavities in this phantom, indicating that the phantoms provide a static model that closely mimics maxillary sinusitis.

  • • Refine Elements and Emphasize the Process to Improve Efficiency

    • PST2F08
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Yanlan He
    • Type: Poster
    • A physics experiment course in China independent of theory class with about 60 hours is a compulsory course for engineering college students. A wide range of college students benefit from the course. Each of the physical experimental projects contains elements of physical thinking, specific experimental methods, and experimental technology. A physics experiment course often consists of dozens, or even hundreds, of projects. All the assembled elements of the experiments will be overlapped, if not refined scientifically and concisely. In order to make these refined elements easy to be understand and realized by students, both the training methods and process must be redesigned to improve the experiment course efficiency.

  • • An Investigation of Force Concept and Science Perception by Freshmen Who Participated in an Intensive Class to Teach Mechanics

    • PST2F10
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Nayoung Lee
    • Type: Poster
    • This study will execute an intensive class to teach mechanics for freshmenat university during vacation time and analyze the understanding about the force concept and a change in the science perception. For this, a force concept evaluation sheet and survey on physics expectations created by the physics education group of the University of Maryland were used to conduct examination before/after the class participation. As a research result, after an intensive class during the given period, the overall understanding of the students about the force concept was improved and there was a positive change in the perception for expectations such as attitude or faith towards physics. The results of this study may suggest similar development programs for freshmen to learn physics and improvement of basic learning abilities expected to aid the learning of related major courses during the semesters following class participation.

  • • Promote Students' Interactive Learning Based on Peer Instruction

    • PST2F12
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Helan Wu
    • Type: Poster
    • Through exploring several possible ways to achieve promoting interactive teaching and learning, to increase the participation of the students in the classroom, to enhance the students' learning, this paper presents a technology pathway that carries out interactive teaching and learning by using a mobile phone. According to comparing using Classroom Response System Based on Mobile-Phone (CRSBM) for interactive teaching and learning with traditional teaching, we got some interesting data. The survey shows that just over 94% of students have an actively welcome attitude to CRSBM. More than 89% of students think CRSBM can better stimulate their interaction and discussion. More than 86% think CRSBM can better improve their learning.

  • • A Nontraditional Modern Physics Class for the Life Sciences

    • PST2F14
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Bradley Moser
    • Type: Poster
    • What would it be like to teach Modern Physics without a textbook? To read sources directly from leaders in each field? To strip mathematical rigor from the class in favor of challenging and exciting concepts? At the University of New England, a health sciences university, few students are interested in venturing beyond Physics I and II. To inspire our population to enroll in Modern Physics, the course underwent a major transformation to focus on the concepts and philosophies, rather than on solving equations. Once students were reading the words of Feynman, Gamow, Weinberg, and other leaders, and once class sessions were dedicated to discussing the evidence for our expanding universe and alternatives to the Copenhagen Interpretation, the release from old paradigms felt liberating. This poster will present the philosophy and mechanics behind the course as well as provide an opportunity for one student to share her experience.

  • • Garage Physics: A Flexible Space for Innovative Student-Focused Undergraduate Research and Education

    • PST2F16
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Duncan Carlsmith
    • Type: Poster
    • Garage Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison provides a new flexible space for innovative student-focused research and education. In the Garage, a student (undergraduate or graduate) is encouraged to explore his or her passions, to find new passions, to learn practical skills, to study in new ways, and to take an active role in their education. The Garage mode of learning compliments the structured learning environment of the regular curriculum. A wide variety of projects are possible in the Garage: basic scientific research, projects for entrepreneurs interested in developing or exploiting new gadgets, and "steAm" projects merging STEM and Arts fields. (www.physics.wisc.edu/garage)

  • • Investigating Students' Difficulties in Charging by Induction: Analysis of Student Data

    • PST2F20
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Lynda Klein
    • Type: Poster
    • In this paper we will present the results of data recently gathered using videos made to collect and analyze student?s difficulties in charging by induction in the introductory calculus-based EM course. Not only do students have difficulty learning but also their instructors have difficulty teaching charging by induction (ref). Ref: "Charging an electroscope by induction." Vol. 3, pp. 29, TPT Jan. 1965

  • • A New Spinning Coil for Measuring the Earth's Magnetic Field

    • PST2F22
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Chris Kaneshiro
    • Type: Poster
    • A common way of measuring Earth's magnetic field in an introductory physics lab is by spinning a coil, and using an oscilloscope to analyze the induced emf. The coil is typically rotated by a motor, but we have constructed a device that uses a falling mass instead. Our device includes an angular velocity sensor and leads for a voltage sensor, so the frequency of rotation can be analyzed in addition to the induced emf. Problems that arise with motorized spinning coils include noise from the generator and large repair costs, but by replacing these motorized models with out apparatus, we are able to not only develop a more efficient way of measuring Earth's magnetic field, but also richer data for students to analyze.

  • • Fresnel Equations with Complex Index of Refraction, Theory and Experiment

    • PST2F24
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Scott Gimbal
    • Type: Poster
    • The Fresnel equations describe the amplitude and phase shift of light whenreflected and/or refracted at the boundary between two media with different index of refraction. If the medium is conductive, such as gold for example, the index of refraction is complex. We will discuss how to evaluate the Fresnel equations for metallic coatings. We will present experimental data for the performance of a gold coated mirror for 45o incidence and linearly polarized laser beam. The experimental results will be compared with the theoretical prediction.

  • • Locating Introductory Mechanics Problems Along the Well-structured – Ill-structured Continuum

    • PST2F26
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jeffrey Phillips
    • Type: Poster
    • Problems, across all disciplines, are typically described as either being well-structured or ill-structured. Simplistically, well-structured problems are defined as those where the goals and parameters are clearly stated and ill-structured as those that lack necessary information, which often leads to multiple solutions. We have found that those definitions do not completely capture the range of complexities that can be found in problems. Instead of this binary description, we prefer to view problems as lying along a continuum where their complexity and difficulty depend on, among other things, the fraction of conditions that are unstated in the problem. This fraction can take on any value, with larger ones implying that a solver to make the more decisions when creating a plan. We will present our coding scheme, which includes many other factors such as reading comprehension level and number of relevant physics concepts, and several example problems.

• Posters on Apparatus

  • • A Simple Model of Relativity

    • EG01
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Robert Close
    • Type: Poster
    • In the early 1900s many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Louis deBroglie, studied the possibility that matter consists of soliton (or standing) waves. Although this model of matter is no longer in vogue, it is a very good model for teaching special relativity. By modeling matter as waves propagating in circles, time dilation and length contraction can be simply measured with a ruler. This demonstration will show you how.

  • • Action Cameras - New Perspectives in Video Capture

    • EG02
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Paul Nord
    • Type: Poster
    • The physics lab and classroom have available a new class of video cameras that are small, lightweight, and record high-resolution images. These "action cameras" can be worn on the body, or be mounted to a bicycle, car, or boat. Manufacturers provide a variety of mounting hardware that allows the instructor to easily put a camera almost anywhere. Such perspectives enable new ways of teaching about frames of reference and relative motion. From the camera's frame of reference, the rest of the world seems to move, twist, or spin about. The poster will show measurements of fictitious forces observed from within a rotating frame of reference, and how observations of a ball toss seen from a moving car (a different inertial frame) still follow a parabolic path. If space allows, I will demonstrate some of the mounting hardware as well as wireless remote viewing and control of the cameras using an iPad.

  • • An Eclectic Potpourri of Physics Labs

    • EG03
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Gregory Puskar
    • Type: Poster
    • Students typically regard physics laboratory as a necessary evil. One frequently voiced reason for this dissatisfaction is a perceived lack of relevance. In spite of this, the same experiments with the same methods of presentation persist, hiding the utility of many interesting and broadly useful concepts from most students. A selection of changes to standard physics laboratories that aim to improve student attitudes will be presented.

  • • An Open Source Physics Laboratory Data Acquisition System Project

    • EG05
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Zengqiang Liu
    • Type: Poster
    • Open source physics laboratory (OSPL) project is a collection of laboratory data acquisition system (DAQ) hardware and software developed for laboratory physics teaching, similar to commercially available counterparts. However, circuit designs, sensors, and firmware are all open source, meaning no royalties to produce and modify. This not only drastically reduces the cost of a DAQ from hundreds of dollars to $60, but also allows instructors and students to be actively involved in the design, construction, and customization of their own lab equipment, giving them a sense of ownership that commercial units do not offer. With the low-cost OSPL, besides offering regular laboratory curriculum, instructors may now develop new curriculum to extend student experiential learning beyond lab rooms and lab sessions and offer laboratory experience to students enrolled in distance education courses. The software and hardware designs of the OSPL and some curriculum development opportunities are presented.

  • • Electronics Laboratory Projects with Arduino Microcontrollers

    • EG06
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Herbert Jaeger
    • Type: Poster
    • Arduino is a popular microcontroller that is easily programmed to perform data acquisition and control functions. We have recently begun to design electronics lab exercises to be used in our sophomore Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory. We will present a number of these experiments to illustrate the Arduino platform's utility and versatility.

  • • Examining Inelastic Collisions

    • EG07
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Mark Masters
    • Type: Poster
    • In introductory physics, we talk about inelastic and elastic collisions. Generally, students are quite happy about elastic collisions because they have conservation of momentum AND conservation of energy. But if we set up a perfectly inelastic collision, the student's dilemma is the decrease in kinetic energy after the collision. The student's question of "where does the energy go?" generally relies upon our describing immeasurable loss mechanisms such as deformation of the object and sound. But that description is a telling rather than the students' discovery. What if the students could perform an investigation that allows them to see what happens to the energy? To this end we built a collision system in which a spring is compressed during a collision and a ratchet holds the spring at maximum collision. This allows the students to actually find the "ost" kinetic energy.

  • • Make and Take FIZMO Style

    • EG08
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Christopher Doscher
    • Type: Poster
    • Physics modeling workshops are an intense and powerful way to not only begin a successful career as a physics teacher, but also to sustain and recharge after working for a time. As a participant and workshop leader it is evident that a sustainable professional network can be invaluable. At Florida International University, physics teachers are invited nationally to attend modeling workshops and as part of the year-round professional development support for attendees in the South Florida area, teachers attend periodic FIZics MOdelers meetings where best practices are discussed and laboratory apparatus constructed using the least expensive quality building materials (and anything we can recycle or scrounge for free) in a "Make and Take" back to our classrooms. Make and take ideas are borrowed from past workshops, gleaned from TPT, and born from the ideas of new teachers. This poster showcases make and take projects for the introductory mechanics course.

  • • On the Road with the University of Maine's Mainely Physics

    • EG09
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by David Sturm
    • Type: Poster
    • For over eight years (and longer in previous incarnations) the Mainely Physics Road Show has provided physics outreach across Maine and New England. This poster includes a summary of that history. Adding "upreach" opportunities for student achievement, Mainely Physics has become the statewide organizer for the Maine Middle School State Science Olympiad (M²S³O). Also, a new outreach variation called Mainely Physics: P.S.I. (Physics Scene Investigation) alters the Road Show concept into a 'physics hands-on event' with multiple "content learning unit environments" (CLUEs) with ~50 stations of a variety of experiments providing clues to the solution of a "meta-problem" mystery. Poster will detail some of the apparatus used in this programming. Initial support funding from the WYP2005 Physics on the Road program, with additional support from the Bauder Fund.

  • • Quantized Conductance in a Constricted Gold Wire

    • EG10
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Herbert Jaeger
    • Type: Poster
    • Quantum mechanical behavior of electrons in a gold wire manifests itself by steps in the conductivity that are clearly observed as the wire is stretched. We present a setup that demonstrates this effect using a manually operated bending beam to break and reconnect the gold wire to obtain the quantized behavior. In order to have better process control we have added a computer-controlled piezo-crystal. Data accumulation is performed with a National Instruments DAQ system controlled by a computer running LabVIEW software. Moreover we will present details on a stand-alone control and acquisition system using the newly introduced Arduino Due microcontroller.

  • • Stokes-Mueller Polarimeters for the Advanced Lab

    • EG11
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Adam Green
    • Type: Poster
    • A versatile, low-cost polarimeter can be constructed from circularly polarizing film and a filter wheel. The polarimeter can incorporate a standard photodiode to measure all four Stokes parameters of light. An optional addition of a chopper wheel and lock-in amplifier allows for detection of low levels of diffusely scattered light. If used with an inexpensive camera in place of the photodiode, the device becomes a Stokes imaging polarimeter, and color filters in front of the camera allow for rudimentary spectropolarimetric imaging. Furthermore, two filter-wheel polarimeters can be used in conjunction; one as a polarization state generator and the other as an analyzer; to determine the complete 4x4 Mueller matrix of a target. As with the Stokes polarimeter, this configuration can be used in imaging or non-imaging applications. These polarimeters, which can be manually operated or automated, open up a broad range of experimental opportunities for students.

  • • Systematic Error in Ultrasonic Rangefinder Acceleration Measurements

    • EG12
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Chris Kaneshiro
    • Type: Poster
    • Ultrasonic rangefinders measure the position of an object by sending out apulse of high-frequency sound and timing how long it takes for an echo to return from the object. When measuring moving objects, the speed-of-sound delay in the outgoing pulse causes a systematic error in the distance measurement. The distance error is generally negligible if object velocities are small compared to the speed of sound; but we show that the functional form of the position error causes a significant systematic error in the acceleration calculated from that position data. The systematic error in calculated acceleration, for a typical free-fall experiment, is sufficient to explain the error seen in an introductory-lab measurement of g.

  • • Teaching Labs on Electronics for Instrumentation Training

    • EG13
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Yongkang Le
    • Type: Poster
    • Aimed processing of electric signal is a very important part of the realization of many instruments. Teaching labs designed for training on instrumentation should reveal the art and science of this process. Two teaching labs designed for this purpose will be reported. The first lab demonstrates the influence of the sampling resistor on the time response of a optoelectric detector. The second lab demonstrates a simple possibility to extract varying weak signal from a strong DC background.

  • • The iPAD as a Virtual Oscilloscope in Introductory Physics Laboratories

    • EG14
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Roberto Ramos
    • Type: Poster
    • The use of tablets as pedagogical tools in physics and electronics is becoming popular. While the many knobs and switches of a conventional oscilloscope may cause anxiety to non-physics, non-engineering students, a tablet such as an iPAD is less intimidating and has a friendlier touchpad interface. We report our experience in using the iPAD as a virtual oscilloscope in an introductory algebra-based physics laboratory course. Using a commercial electronic accessory called OSCIUM iMSO-104, we turned the iPAD into a single-channel, virtual oscilloscope for measuring the relaxation time constant of RC- and RL-circuits. Using student surveys and direct observation, we report student responses to this new platform, versus using a conventional oscilloscope. We evaluate the iPAD-based virtual oscilloscope and its current technical limitations.

  • • Using Smartphones as Science Laboratory Instruments

    • EG15
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Kyle Forinash
    • Type: Poster
    • Smartphones and tablets available today have the computational power for data analysis such as the Fast Fourier Transform as well as built-in sensors such as accelerometers, magnetometers, microphones, speakers, and GPS. With existing apps, portable electronic devices can potentially bring a laboratory experience to the student outside of the classroom or lab. An additional valuable feature of smartphones and similar devices is the headset port which offers a method to communicate with external circuits and sensors, greatly enhancing the potential for use as a laboratory data collection tool. In this presentation we look at the use of mobile devices as laboratory data collection tools and demonstrate simple examples of a smartphone communicating with an external circuit via the headset port. Reference: R. Wisman and K. Forinash, "Smartphones as portable oscilloscopes for physics labs", The Physics Teacher, Vol. 50 No. 4 (2012) p242. K. Forinash and R. Wisman, "Smartphones- Experiments with an External Thermistor Circuit", The Physics Teacher, Vol. 50 No. 9 (2012) p566.

  • • Wind Tunnel and Fluid Dynamics

    • EG16
    • Tue 07/16, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • by Joel Berlinghieri
    • Type: Poster
    • Undergraduate students at The Citadel majoring in the physical sciences orengineering, and therefore having the proper prerequisites, may add a minor in aeronautics to their major degree. As part of the equipment for that program the Physics Department has an AEROLAB EWT wind tunnel. An experiment for the measurement and analysis of drag coefficients for simple-shaped objects is presented with scaling in size and airspeed. All airspeeds are slow enough that the analysis can treat air as an incompressible fluid.

• Pre-college/Informal and Outreach

  • • CA$HEd: Integrating Heliophysics Concepts into the Classroom

    • PST1E01
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Kathryn Whitman
    • Type: Poster
    • At the beginning of 2010, the Center for Advancing $ystemic Heliophysics Education (CA$HEd) was established to promote the education and outreach of solar astronomy and heliophysics. CA$HEd strives to engage teachers, students, and the general public through educational activities that promote the conceptual understanding of the Sun and solar physics. Over the past three years, CA$HEd has applied many approaches to advancing heliophysics outreach including public lectures, workshops for students and teachers, curriculum development with Master Teachers, mentoring science fair research projects by middle and high school students, and classroom visits by astronomers. CA$HEd scientists have worked closely with 10 Master Teachers in Hawaii to develop classroom curriculum that provides students with the concepts they need to understand topics in heliophysics while satisfying science standards. An overview of the CA$HEd program and a selection of key heliophysics concepts will be presented.

  • • Connecting Scientists and Children through In-Person and Virtual Lab Tours

    • PST1E03
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Robert Niederriter
    • Type: Poster
    • Through the Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) program, undergraduate and graduate student volunteers from the University of Colorado aim to increase interest in and understanding of science among students at local elementary and middle schools. Many children might never imagine themselves as scientists without the chance to get to know scientists and see the daily work they do. Field trips to the University of Colorado, featuring tours of labs, have long been a staple of PISEC and are much enjoyed by students. To further connect students to the science and scientists, we have filmed virtual lab tours which give an inside view into the research of PISEC scientist volunteers. We expect these videos to further bridge the gap between students and scientists, encouraging children to consider studying science.

  • • CAPStone: An MSP Program in Durham, North Carolina

    • PST1E05
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Alice Churukian
    • Type: Poster
    • Durham Public Schools and members of the UNC Physics and Astronomy Department partnered to develop a professional development program in physical science content for K-8 teachers' Curriculum Alignment in Physical Science: Taking Ownership of New Essentials (CAPStone). The focus of the program is improving physical science education for kindergarten through 8th grade students by providing a high-quality professional development program that will increase teachers' content knowledge and provide them with an instructional toolkit for teaching physical science content. In its third year, the program has reached nearly 100 teachers in Durham and surrounding school districts and impacted over 10,000 students. An overview of the program and its impact on teachers and students will be discussed.

  • • Comprehensive Model for Meaningful STEM Integration in the Physics Classroom

    • PST1E02
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Heather Buskirk
    • Type: Poster
    • Together, the Patterns Approach for Physics, data driven engineering projects, and computational reasoning provide a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning physics. Instruction throughout the course is framed using the question "How do we find and use patterns in nature to predict the future and understand the past"? Each instructional unit begins with scenario and accompanying research question which prompts them to an investigation. Students start by making initial guesses which is contrasted with a data-informed prediction, found through extrapolation of the pattern in the data. Additionally, each unit involves an iterative, data- driven engineering project require students to apply patterns of physics, mathematical problem solving, and the tools of technology to solve a problem. Throughout the experience students are repeatedly modeling the real work of scientists and engineers and thus gain a greater understanding of the nature of both physics and engineering.

  • • Physical Science Day: Design, Implementation, and Assessment

    • PST1E04
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Liang Zeng
    • Type: Poster
    • Science coordinators from local school districts have reported their students do not know what physics is about or about the wide range of professions physicists qualify for, and thus lack interest in learning physics. Physical Science Day at The University of Texas- Pan American (UTPA), in collaboration with Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, has been designed, developed, and implemented to raise the awareness of physics as a foundation of science, engineering, and technology disciplines and promote students to study in physical science degree programs at UTPA. Through activities including lab experiments and student testimonies, our results show that the event is effective at increasing student knowledge about Physics, Physical Science and Chemistry programs as well as in stimulating youth interest toward studying such disciplines at UTPA. Due to the success of Physical Science Day, we are currently expanding the scale of the event to support the participation of other interested school districts.

• SPS Undergraduate Research and Outreach Poster Session

  • • Similar Density Questions with Very Different Results

    • SPS01
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Ashley Lindow
    • Type: Poster
    • While developing a standardized fluids assessment covering buoyancy and pressure, we discovered deficiencies in student understanding of density. In particular, many college students do not recognize that density is a fixed property of a solid substance, such as aluminum or gold. We added questions to our diagnostic exam to probe the extent of student difficulties. In one of our questions, only 50-60% of students recognize that the density of gold is a fixed value. When similar questions from an existing diagnostic [1] are used, however, 85-90% of students correctly identify the density of a piece of wood and of a diamond as fixed values. In this paper we discuss the differences between these questions and how those differences affect student responses.

  • • A low-cost Photolithography System for Simple Device Fabrication

    • SPS02
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Chris Nuzzi
    • Type: Poster
    • We have built and tested a mask-less photolithographic prototyping system using a low-cost consumer digital projector and an inexpensive trinocular stereomicroscope. Photolithography is a key step in the fabrication of modern electronic devices. Specifically, we have used the microscope optics in reverse to project micrometer-sized patterns onto substrates spin-coated in commercially obtained photoresist. Patterns can be quickly designed using presentation software, such as PowerPoint, and developed in under one hour. We present optical and atomic force microscopy images of our university logo at micrometer scale outlined in aluminum on a silicon substrate. We also present the fabrication of metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector devices and their characterization.

  • • An Accretion Model for a Falling Raindrop

    • SPS03
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Ngan Le
    • Type: Poster
    • This mechanics problem involves a raindrop gaining mass due to accretion as it falls through a cloud of droplets in a non-uniform gravitational field. This article investigates the motion of very small droplets, those of diameter less than 0.003 inches, which are falling at relatively slow speed, less than 0.188 m/s. With these conditions, the raindrop is experiencing mostly laminar air flow without turbulent air flow when the Reynolds number is less than 1. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we are able to predict the existence of terminal velocity of falling raindrop, and terminal acceleration in the case of accretion. This mathematical model of falling raindrops proposes a relationship to rocket ship problem which is considered a reversed process.

  • • Capacitive Multiplexing on a High-Purity, Germanium, 2-D, Planar Detector

    • SPS04
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Lena Heffern
    • Type: Poster
    • Gamma-ray imagers based on high-purity germanium (HPGe) utilize multiple segmented strips of germanium to determine the position of gamma emitters. To cut down on the need for electronics, a simple readout method involving capacitive multiplexing was developed. The goals of this new method include maximizing the number of multiplexed channels, maintaining high resolution, and determining the intrinsic capacitance and ground capacitance. Theoretical results are confirmed by experiment on an 8 strip, 2-D, dual planar, HPGe detector.

  • • Energy Efficiency vs. Tire Pressure and Rolling Weight in Bicycles

    • SPS05
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Brody Boeger
    • Type: Poster
    • Cycling is one of the fastest growing modes of transportation in large cities. As a result, bicycles and their function are of increasing interest to an environmentally minded society. When utilized for transportation, maintenance and efficiency become important aspects of cycling, but are often overlooked by everyday riders. Using a standard bicycle, digital force plates, and a power-metering hub it is possible to quantify the individual and combined effects of tire pressure and weight on the bicycle in terms of energy expended by the rider. Similar to studies on fuel efficiency in automobiles, assessing an energy-efficiency value for bicycles provides additional motivation for adopting sustainable transportation.

  • • Integrated Physics Laboratory Assessment

    • SPS06
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Amanda Skuriat
    • Type: Poster
    • The Engineering Physics program at Ramapo College of New Jersey has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the department's laboratory curriculum in order to determine how to improve our student learning outcomes. The data collected highlight the significant progress made through the introduction of innovative laboratory equipment and teaching methods. However, evaluative feedback provided by the students on their work was overly optimistic in comparison with feedback of their professors. The findings also showed that there was a minimal increase in interest of pursuing independent research among students. Therefore, it is imperative to further analyze what aspects can be improved upon in the curriculum as well as how to improve students' evaluative skills and propagate increased interest in the field. Several suggested tactics and future plans of action are included with the best interests of our students in mind.

  • • Temperature Dependence of the Persistent Photoconductivity for ZnO

    • SPS07
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Cody Thompson
    • Type: Poster
    • We have investigated the temperature dependence of the persistent photocurrent observed for polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film photodetectors. ZnO films were grown on c-plane sapphire substrates with aluminum contacts, forming a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) planar structure. The current across the ZnO films was measured before, during, and after exposure to ultraviolet light with a 5 V bias across the contacts. Ambient temperatures ranged from 20°C to 150°C. This process was completed with several different ambient temperatures to observe changes in the persistent photocurrent after removal of illumination. Results were fitted to a temperature-dependent phenomenological model based on thermionic electron transport across a time-varying surface-to-bulk energy barrier.

  • • Modeling Gyroscopic Motion in Terms of Linear Quantities

    • SPS08
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Harvey Kaplan
    • Type: Poster
    • Gyroscopic motion is often described in terms of torque and angular momentum. This method of describing gyroscopic motion proves to be powerful, but conceals the forces responsible for the motion. Using the VPython programming language, a simplified version of a gyroscope of four identical masses is used to study the forces on each mass. The program allows for effective analysis of gyroscopic motion in terms of forces and linear momentum, and permits the user to increase the number of masses until the limit of a physical gyroscope is reached. This program is intended to serve as a pedagogical tool for understanding gyroscopic motion in terms of forces.

  • • Kerr Microscopy of Spin Currents in a Metallic Nanowire

    • SPS09
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by James Delles
    • Type: Poster
    • When a beam of polarized light is reflected off a magnetized surface, the angle of polarization of the light changes with regards to the magnitude and direction of the magnetization. This is known as the magneto-optic Kerr effect. A spin valve is a device in which current is passed through a ferromagnet and due to the density of states of the electrons in the ferromagnet, the leaving current is all of the same spin direction. It should be possible to use the Kerr effect to measure this spin current created in a nanowire from ferromagnets with their magnetization being out of the plane.

  • • Mpemba Effect in Water

    • SPS10
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Yuxin Wang
    • Type: Poster
    • Mpemba effect, referring to a phenomenon that hot water freezes faster than cold under certain conditions, has been under discussion for a long period of time. Based on the freezing mechanism, we first figure out that the Mpemba effect is scientific by deducing the Newton's law of cooling, and then discuss the mechanism of Mpemba effect in theory. Experiments about Mpemba effect were done on our own specific and certain conditions. Via the experimental phenomena and data, we make further analysis of the mechanism of Mpemba effect. In addition, we make assumptions of a type of phenomenon about high energy level back to ground state, and imply the applications from both microscopic view and macroscopic view.

  • • Introduction and Research on Touch Screen Technology

    • SPS11
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Yupeng Wang
    • Type: Poster
    • Recently, touch-screen technology has been more and more widely used in production and living. With the improvement of people's living standard, there will be a continuing increase in demand for electronic products, so touch-screen technology has good development prospects. Our paper is based on the principles of different types of touch screen and we focus on the projected capacitive touch screen. We design a principal experiment to have a better understanding of the projected capacitive touch screen and do the preliminary research on it. We will introduce the three newest touch screen technologies, "sol," "on-cell," and "in-cell," in the paper. Ideas about how to make the touch screen thinner, more sensitive and user-friendly are discussed, based on "in-cell" technology. We hope this paper will have a positive effect on the research of optimizing the structure of future touch screens.

  • • Forced Vibration of Nonlinear Oscillator System

    • SPS12
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Zeyang Shen
    • Type: Poster
    • Linear harmonic oscillator is a classical model for simple harmonic vibration. When applied by an external force with a stabilized frequency, the closer the frequency of the external force comes to natural frequency of the oscillator, the larger amplitude can be observed. For non-linear harmonic oscillator system, numerical results show something distinguishing. The ball which is set between two springs, moves in a frequency identical to the frequency of the external force applied to the system. By increasing the frequency of the external force from very small, the ball vibrates with an increasing magnitude of amplitude. When the frequency reaches to a certain level, a jump can be clearly seen on the amplitude of the ball. A realistic experiment is being conducted to verify the results.

  • • Theoretical Calculation of a New Type Superconductor

    • SPS13
    • Sun 07/14, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Jingrong Ji
    • Type: Poster
    • Human beings have been explorinsuperconductors with critical temperature at room temperature since the discovery of the super-conduction phenomenon about one hundred years ago. Although the superconductors have some profound and lasting significance in many fields, there are still various factors that will limit the superconductors from being widely used in our daily life in each period of the research process. This thesis is based on the pre-existing superconductivity theories and improves the calculation formula about the transition temperature about the superconductors and puts forward a new type of superconductor: metal-copper-based-iron-based superconductor material and calculates the formula and simulates the molecular structure of this kind of superconductor material with these theories so that we can get a special kind of superconductor with the critical temperature at an even higher temperature. We hope this research can broaden our train of thought of discovering this potential material and help us find the superconductors that can be widely used in our daily life.

• Teacher Training/Enhancement

  • • Connecting Three Pivotal Concepts in K-12 Science State Standards and Maps of Conceptual Growth to Research in Physics Education

    • PST1D01
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Chandralekha Singh
    • Type: Poster
    • We discuss three conceptual areas in physics that are particularly important targets for educational interventions in K-12 science. These conceptual areas are force and motion, conservation of energy, and geometrical optics, which were prominent in the U.S. national and four state standards that we examined. The four state standards that were analyzed to explore the extent to which the K-12 science standards differ in different states were selected to include states in varied geographic regions and size. The three conceptual areas that were common to all four state standards are conceptual building blocks for other science concepts covered in the K-12 curriculum. We discuss the nature of difficulties in these areas along with pointers toward approaches that have met with some success in each conceptual area.

  • • Physics Teachers' Arguments About Physics Content: A Comparison between Verbal and Written Arguments

    • PST1D03
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Eun Kyung Lee
    • Type: Poster
    • The purpose of this study was to explore whether physics teachers argue about physics content between verbal and written arguments. In this study, five physics teachers who were enrolled in a graduate-level physics education course completed a series of tasks in which they had opportunities to argue about physics content. Data sources included group discussions, written arguments, and individual interviews. Group discussions and interviews were transcribed for analyses. Using Toulmin's argumentation scheme (Toulmin, 2003), the physics teachers' arguments during group discussion and in writing were analyzed. The finding showed that the teachers constructed much more elaborated arguments in writing than in group discussion. They used more grounds and warrants in making claims. Another finding was that the teachers selectively utilized what their colleagues' ideas shared during group discussion in their written arguments. In particular, other teachers' ideas were utilized in constructing rebuttals. Reasons behind these findings were inferred.

  • • What Happens When Light from the Sun Shines on Earth?

    • PST1D05
    • Mon 07/15, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Emily van Zee
    • Type: Poster
    • This question was the guiding theme for a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers. Emphasis was on questioning, predicting, exploring, and discussing what one thinks and why. The course also emphasized integrating physics and literacy learning. Units included the nature of light phenomena, the nature of thermal phenomena, the influence of light and thermal phenomena on local weather, the influence of light and thermal phenomena on global climate, the nature of astronomical phenomena such as the phases of the moon, and reflection on science teaching and learning. The course engaged the prospective teachers in identifying resources upon which to build, developing powerful ideas based on evidence, using those powerful ideas to develop an explanation for an intriguing physical phenomenon, developing mathematical representations for the phenomenon, and then using those mathematical representations to estimate a quantity of interest. Partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. DUE-0633752.

  • • Content and Depth of Reflection on Teaching: Does Evolution Occur?

    • PST1D02
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Marina Malysheva
    • Type: Poster
    • The poster will show the patterns that emerged from our analysis of pre-service teachers' reflections on teaching in an introductory physics course. The teaching occurred before and after the formal student teaching internship. Over 300 reflections were coded for the study. We were interested in the changes in reflections, specifically the content (what the pre-service teachers focus on) and the nature of the reflections (how deeply they analyze teaching situations). To accomplish this goal we developed and validated a coding scheme.

  • • The Education Program for Physics Teachers in South Korea from the Viewpoint of PCK

    • PST1D04
    • Mon 07/15, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Chang Hyun Lee
    • Type: Poster
    • Teaching quality is the most important factor in determining the quality of education. The teacher is the critical medium of teaching quality. As for subject matter teaching, pedagogical content knowledge is the core of teacher quality. Even though pre-service physics teachers exit a teacher education program with some preparation in PCK, their knowledge is further developed through various kinds of professional development courses sponsored by Korea Ministry of Education, Local Educational Agencies after appointment in schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which PCK was emphasized in continuing professional development provided to inservice physics teachers and whether the opportunities were meeting the needs of the teachers. Data included observation and survey of four physics teachers in a professional development course. Findings showed that among the currently available PD programs, 32% were about PCK. The PCK content mostly focused on teaching strategies while knowledge about students and resources were less focused. The four teachers interviewed indicated that the PD programs were short of meeting their professional needs. Implications from the findings were discussed.

• Technologies

  • • Designing a Model Rocket to Deliver Air Quality Sensors

    • PST2D01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Kathleen Melious
    • Type: Poster
    • In 2013 the EPA estimates that it will spend close to $1 billion on projects related to improving the air quality of the United States 1. While the air quality across a community is easily monitored at ground level, crucial data about the health of an area's atmosphere can be obtained by monitoring conditions at low altitudes (100 - 800 meters) across a community 2. The goal of our project is to construct a delivery system for air quality sensors from commonly available amateur rocketry supplies. The delivery system must be reliable in delivering the payload to a constant and reproducible altitude and allowing for safe and reliable recovery of the system after each flight. 1. FY 2013 - EPA Budget in Brief, www.epa.gov 2. Campaign to diagnose air quality concludes in California, http://climate.nasa.gov/news/870 Blake Compton T Wingate Andrews High School

  • • High Performance Computing System at Community and Liberal Arts Colleges

    • PST2D03
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Tae Song Lee
    • Type: Poster
    • We investigate possibility of a high performance computing (HPC) system atCommunity and Liberal Arts College settings (Adams & Vos 2002; Adams & Brom 2008). HPC systems are used in many scientific, engineering, and even business related applications. As a teaching orientated institution, fairly low cost high-end computer servers might bring great attentions from school executives and students simultaneously. For our first attempt, a five-server cluster with 40 core xenon processors connected via a gigabit switch is constructed under a second-hand purchase to overcome financial obstacles at a community college. We test its performance with an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), grid-based hybrid code known as ENZO from the University of California, San Diego.

  • • Introducing PhET Simulations' New Teaching Portal

    • PST2D05
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Stephanie Chasteen
    • Type: Poster
    • The PhET Interactive Simulations project at University of Colorado is embarking on development of an extensive new portal to the website, geared specifically at teachers. The new website will enable teachers to modify and share lesson plans, to connect with other PhET users, to explore different ways of using the simulations in the classroom, and to learn more about research-based strategies for simulation use. Stop by the poster to find out about progress on the website, share feedback, and maybe even test-drive a beta version!

  • • Randomness and Structure 1: Introductory-level Conceptual Framework for Biological Materials

    • PST2D07
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Edit Yerushalmi
    • Type: Poster
    • Explaining the spontaneous formation of molecules into mesoscopic (nanometric) or even micron-sized structures that are important in biological materials (i.e. membranes, polymers, colloids), requires an understanding of cooperative behavior in interacting multi-particle systems. We present a conceptual framework for treating these phenomena with introductory-level students, which was tested in a pilot interdisciplinary course entitled "Soft and messy matter." We first discuss the competition of configurational entropy (that promotes randomness) and interparticle interactions (that promote order) in terms of a lattice model in the context of binary mixtures. The lattice model, allowing for concrete visualization, is later used to model the phase behavior of fluid mixtures, wetting, and self-assembly of surfactants via free-energy minimization. This approach can be incorporated into restructured introductory physics courses for life sciences, allowing students to understand how the competition between interactions and entropy is resolved to determine how molecules self-organize to form mesoscopic structures.

  • • Randomness and Structure 3: Explicating Nature's Choices with Computational Tools

    • PST2D09
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by Nava Schulmann
    • Type: Poster
    • Understanding the balance between randomness and structure in multi-particle systems via statistical thermodynamics methods requires construction of a concrete mental model for the process of weighing between configurations. We present two computational tools intended to support introductory-level students in constructing such a representation. One tool allows students to explore the plausibility of the ergodic principle and the meaning of entropy by displaying systems evolving in time versus their corresponding sets of microstates; another tool provides insights into the crucial role of the Boltzmann factor in determining the behavior of multi particle systems by explicitly tracking the mechanism of the Metropolis algorithm. We integrate these tools in an introductory-level course on soft and biological materials, where the understanding of the spontaneous formation of structures such as polymers, colloidal dispersions and membranes, is grounded in statistical thermodynamics descriptions of matter.

  • • Fluid Simulations for Undergraduates

    • PST2D02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Daniel Schroeder
    • Type: Poster
    • Modern computers and algorithms make it feasible to teach many aspects of fluid dynamics through interactive simulations. Two-dimensional simulations, on grids of 10,000 to 100,000 sites, now run fast enough on personal computers for students to immediately see the effects of viscosity, flow speed, and obstacle shapes and sizes. While low Reynolds numbers result in stable, laminar flow, it is also easy to observe instability and vortex shedding at somewhat higher Reynolds numbers. Using a simple lattice-Boltzmann algorithm, students in an introductory computational physics course can code their own fluid simulations in C, Java, JavaScript, or Python. This algorithm can be derived directly from the Boltzmann distribution of statistical mechanics, without reference to the Navier-Stokes equations.

  • • Implementation of an Introductory Physics MOOC with Video Lab Reports

    • PST2D04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Scott Douglas
    • Type: Poster
    • In this talk, we describe the implementation of an introductory physics Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) through Coursera which incorporates computational modeling, peer review, and laboratory exercises. We place special emphasis on the laboratory exercises, in which students capture video of real-world objects with their smartphones, then analyze the motion of these objects with the open-source program Tracker. Following their video experiments, students create computational models in VPython of the phenomena they captured on video, then compare their models to their observations in a manner consistent with the way expert scientists use computational models. Finally, students create and submit video lab reports in which they describe their video-capture experiment, the physical model they are exploring, their computational implementation of that model, and how each of these things relates to the others. Students then rate their peers' video lab reports in terms of the quality of the physics content.

  • • Progress in Easy-to-Use 3D Programming Environments

    • PST2D06
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Bruce Sherwood
    • Type: Poster
    • VPython (vpython.org), a free open-source module for the popular Python programming language, lets even novice programmers write programs that model physical systems and generate navigable real-time 3D animations. VPython plays an important role in several recent computational physics textbooks. At matterandinteractions.org are many lecture demo programs written in VPython. There are about 50,000 downloads of VPython per year, including by thousands of students in intro physics courses. In January 2013 VPython 6 was released, based on the cross-platform GUI library wxPython, which has made it possible for VPython animations to share a window with standard widgets (buttons, sliders, scrolling text boxes, etc.). VPython is quite mature; GlowScript (glowscript.org) is a related but very new environment under development that executes programs written in JavaScript or CoffeeScript in a browser. There are converters that facilitate translation from VPython to GlowScript. VPython and GlowScript will be demonstrated at the poster session.

  • • Randomness and Structure 2: Computational Modeling of Interacting Multiparticle Systems

    • PST2D08
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Ruth Chabay
    • Type: Poster
    • The concepts of entropy and equilibrium are central to the understanding of the spontaneous formation of structure in soft matter systems such as membranes. We are developing a suite of computational modeling tools with a strong visual component to support the development of these concepts by students in an introductory level course on soft matter. In the context of the lattice gas model, which is commonly used in the analytical treatment of such systems, students can explore the consequences of random motion, observe the dynamics of the approach to equilibrium, monitor bulk properties of the system, and observe that interparticle interactions are required for the spontaneous formation of mesoscale structures. These tools can be extended to allow students to do significant computational modeling projects by the end of the course. They provide, as well, a stimulus for discussion about the nature of scientific models.

• Upper Division and Graduate

  • • Investigation on Combined Black-Body Radiation Facility and Related Experiment

    • PST2E01
    • Wed 07/17, 8:30AM - 9:15AM
    • by SHIHONG MA
    • Type: Poster
    • HFY-200BII Blackbody source, with thermal radiation detector and microvoltmeter, can be used to set up a combined black-body radiation experimental facility. The experimental facility with good scalability has been developed completely and the operation steps by the students are simple and direct. Therefore, students can fully understand the physical model of black-body radiation through the experiment. In this article, the author verified the basic law of black-body radiation, demonstrated the feasibility of the method and gave a future prospect of the experiment.

  • • Sources and Resources for Training Physics Students to Write

    • PST2E02
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jean-Francois Van Huele
    • Type: Poster
    • Whether you assign term papers, require lab reports, supervise publishablestudent research, or teach an advanced writing class in physics, there are lots of resources for you out there. This poster collects and organizes available sources and provides expert resources, including some practical do's and don'ts for physics students, their teaching assistants, and their writing instructors.

  • • Visualizing Differential Forms in Thermodynamics

    • PST2E04
    • Wed 07/17, 9:15AM - 10:00AM
    • by Roberto Salgado
    • Type: Poster
    • Following Caratheodory's approach to thermodynamics, some geometrically oriented mathematical physics textbooks (e.g. Bamberg and Sternberg, Burke, Frankel, Schutz) formulate classical thermodynamics using the exterior calculus of differential forms. Work and heat are inexact differential forms. We present visualizations of differential forms by studying the Carnot cycle for an ideal gas in the entropy-volume diagram.