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Plenaries

• APS Plenary Session - The Coming Quantum Revolution

  • • APS Plenary Session - The Coming Quantum Revolution

    • PL09
    • Wed 08/01, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • Speaker: Steven Rolston
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • The Information Revolution was built on the insights of quantum physics - semiconductor properties, lasers, and magnetism. But these did not require considering the things about quantum mechanics that keep people up at night - superposition, measurement, and entanglement. Through technological advances of the last twenty years, we can now trap individual atoms and ions, create superconducting circuits that act as single quantum bits, and create spins embedded in solid state materials with coherence times of seconds. Adding in the insights of information and computer science, we are poised for a second quantum revolution - one where the "weird" features of quantum mechanics will be exploited. Potential applications include quantum computers and simulators, quantum-enhanced sensors, and quantum networks. Countries are beginning to invest billions, and companies large and small are starting quantum efforts. This talk will highlight the science, the technology, the hype, and the future of the quantum revolution to come.

• APS Plenary Session - The Proton Radius Puzzle

  • • APS Plenary Session - The Proton Radius Puzzle

    • PL08
    • Wed 08/01, 11:00AM - 12:30PM
    • Speaker: Evangeline J. Downie
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • The Proton Radius Puzzle is the difference between the radius of the proton when measured with electrons, and that measured with muons. Its potential resolutions could be very exciting, include beyond-standard-model physics. The puzzle has resulted in several papers in Science and Nature, and much popular media interest. It began in 2010 with an ultra-precise radius measurement by the CREMA collaboration using muonic hydrogen, which produced a proton radius result roughly 7 standard deviations away from the accepted value. This caused a flurry of theory development, new experiments, and much thought and discussion. The radius puzzle remains unresolved to this day, with many new experiments proposed and under development and hotly debated theories. We will give an overview of the Puzzle, its potential implications and resolutions, and an overview of the ongoing experimental efforts. to understand the discrepancy in a quantity of relevance for many areas of Physics.

• David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching

  • • David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching

    • PL01
    • Mon 07/30, 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    • Awardee: Brad Ambrose
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • We Teach More Than Physics - For me the enterprise of teaching physics, whether for non-science majors, physics majors, high school teachers, or college and university faculty, has always been guided by lessons learned from my experience working in the physics education research (PER) community. Among the innumerable insights that my colleagues in PER have striven to share, much of their work has helped us all discern more clearly the impact that our teaching can (and should) have on our students. For example, we naturally aim for our students to build for themselves a robust conceptual understanding of physics, and we want them to develop into increasingly sophisticated problem solvers. However, in addition, we can help (or hinder) our students’ understanding of science as a human endeavor; we can help them become more effective communicators with us and with their peers; and we can help them learn how they themselves learn. Along these lines, I intend during this presentation to reflect upon how we all teach more than “just” physics—in ways that may already seem familiar, and hopefully in other ways that will expand this notion a bit further.

• Homer L. Doge Citation for Distinguished Service (DSC) and SM18 Fellows

  • • Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service (DSC) and SM18 Fellows

    • PL05
    • Tue 07/31, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Presider: George A. Amann
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • DSC: Ximena Cid, Jose D’Aruda, Joy Elaine Gwinn, David Jackson Fellows: Brad Ambrose, Kyle Forinash III, John Stewart, Gay Stewart

• John W. Layman and John L. Hubisz Remembrance

  • • John W. Layman and John L. Hubisz Remembrance

    • PL15
    • Tue 07/31, 10:30AM - 11:40AM
    • Presider: George A, Amann
      
    • Type: Plenary

• Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award

  • • Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award

    • PL07
    • Wed 08/01, 8:30AM - 9:30AM
    • Awardee: Clifford V. Johnson
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Black Holes and Time Travel in Your Everyday Life A little over a hundred years ago, Einstein helped us rethink space and time, and shook our conception of the universe to its foundations. Concepts like black holes, warped spacetime, wormholes, the multiverse, and time travel solidified and entered discussions of both our real universe and the universe of our imaginations. I’ll talk about some of these ideas, including aspects of exciting current research into them, and I’ll also talk about the role of these concepts in popular culture, describing my work helping creators to interweave these concepts into their storytelling in blockbuster movies, primetime TV, and bestselling books.

• PERC Bridging Session

  • • PERC Bridging Session

    • PL10
    • Wed 08/01, 3:00PM - 4:30PM
    • Presider: PERC PERC
      
    • Type: Plenary

• Paul W. Zitzewitz Award for Excellence in K-12 Physics Teaching

  • • Paul W. Zitzewitz Award for Excellence in K-12 Physics Teaching

    • PL02
    • Mon 07/30, 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    • Awardee: Frank Noschese
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • #iTeachPhysics – Can Social Media Make Us Better Educators? - Social mediahas moved beyond status updates about breakfast and is changing how we engage in our profession as educators. Social media allows classroom teachers to connect with each other and share lesson ideas. But social media can also evoke empathy – allowing us to see the previously unknown personal and professional struggles of others. It can transform our perceptions about our students and colleagues and thus spark action to seek change within ourselves and within our institutions.

• PhysTEC Teacher of the Year

  • • PhysTEC Teacher of the Year

    • PL02A
    • Mon 07/30, 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    • Awardee: Tiffany Taylor
      
    • Type: Plenary

• Plenary - A Conversation with Shirley Malcom

  • • Plenary - A Conversation with Shirley Malcom

    • PL03
    • Mon 07/30, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • Speaker: Shirley Malcom
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • In this plenary session we have invited four members of the diverse AAPT community to participate in a discussion with Dr. Malcom. Shirley Malcom is Head of Education and Human Resources Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The directorate includes AAAS programs in education, activities for underrepresented groups, and public understanding of science and technology. AAPT members participating in this conversation represent students, high school teachers, two year college faculty, and four year college and university faculty. Representatives from each group will ask Dr. Malcom pressing questions from their unique perspectives about the state of science education. In this setting we leverage the expertise of Dr. Malcom, as well as the expertise of AAPT members, in developing a better understanding of the science education landscape. Participants in the conversation: Shirley Malcom, Director, Education and Human Resources Programs (EHR) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Facilitator: Bethany Johns, American Institute of Physics Student representative: Eleanor Hook, Rhodes College High School representative: Alice Flarend, Bellwood-Antis High School Two Year College representative: Arlisa Richardson, Chandler-Gilbert Community College Four Year College and University representative: Scott Franklin, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Plenary - David Cash

  • • Plenary - David Cash

    • PL06
    • Tue 07/31, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • Speaker: David Cash
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Dispatch from the Front Lines: Confessions of a Science Teacher, Researcher and Government Bureaucrat - In the last year, scientists have taken to the streets in two national marches for science, science curricula in a number of states are under fundamental review, and federal rules that govern the use of science in the US Environmental Protection Agency are being revised. These are just a few of the data points that show that science, scientific research, the science-policy interface, science education and scientific literacy are being defined, re-defined, re-cast, transformed, re-imagined, and re-conceived. This presentation will explore the turbulent world we as science educators and practitioners find ourselves in.

• Robert A. Millikan Medal

  • • Robert A. Millikan Medal

    • PL04
    • Tue 07/31, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Awardee: Kyle Forinash
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Breaking out of the Physics Silo - According to his autobiography, Robert Millikan became a physics teacher when his Greek professor at Oberlin College asked him to teach a preparatory class in physics at the college. I’m sure this was not an easy transition for Millikan but the world is better off for him having been obliged to venture into unfamiliar territory. Most of us would prefer to stay within our comfort zone, especially in the classroom. But sometimes we decide (or are forced, kicking and screaming) to try something new that can make us flourish as teachers. Millikan had good advice for anyone faced with a new challenge: "All right, said I, you will have to take the consequences, but I will try and see what I can do with it." In this presentation I will offer some suggestions, grounded in fortuitous events that have caused me to grow as a teacher, for ways to take risks, leave the physics silo and learn new things. Your teaching will be better for it.

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