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Agenda Preview

Sessions & Panels

• • • Exhibitor Set-up

    • EXH02
    • Sat 01/09, 12:00PM - 6:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration

  • • Saturday Evening Registration

    • REG03
    • Sat 01/09, 7:30PM - 9:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration

• 30 Demos in 60 Minutes

  • • 30 Demos in 60 Minutes

    • DE
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 12:00PM
    • by Wendy Adams
    • Type: Panel
    • Our panel of physics teachers will present at least 30 dynamic demonstrations that will engage students in the wonder of science. Presenters will share tips on the setup, materials, procedure, and underlying science concepts so the audience can integrate these demos into their own classrooms.

• AP Physics Exam Questions and How They Assess Science Practices

  • • AP Physics Exam Questions and How They Assess Science Practices

    • BA01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 3:00PM

    • by Connie Wells, Dolores Gende

    • Type: Invited
    • Presenters who have worked on development of the AP Physics Curriculum Framework and AP Physics 1 and 2 test development will share insights on test item types, how those item types test science knowledge as well as science practices, and how test item types can be used effectively to inform instruction in the classroom. The language used in the AP Physics Curriculum Framework, such as learning objectives, essential knowledge, and science practices will be clarified and used in the context of question item type examination. The presenters will use sample exam questions with the audience—both multiple choice and free response—to illustrate and practice with question types such as ranking tasks, qualitative/quantitative translation, and paragraph-length responses. Results from the first testing in May 2015 will help to reveal how these item types tested with AP students.

• Astronomy Education Research: Current Trends and Future Directions

  • • Student Progress in Gravity and Dynamics Through an Astronomy Curriculum

    • CE01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:30PM

    • by Julia Plummer*, Chris Palma, Chrysta Ghent, Tim Gleason, Yann Shiou Ong

    • Type: Invited
    • Our team developed a Solar System learning progression that describes how middle and high school students use key physics principles to explain astronomical phenomena (Plummer et al., 2015). We subsequently used this learning progression framework to analyze students’ progress in understanding gravity and dynamics during a 6th grade astronomy unit. Data sources included pre/post interviews with a sample of students (N=24) and classroom video. Students made significant progress in discussing gravity’s role in the Solar System and explaining orbital motion; the use of a coherent science content storyline and multiple opportunities to engage in scientific argumentation shaped the nature of the students’ progress. Also, while students maintained some alternative ideas in their final explanations, the use of the learning progression framework reveals the extent of their movement towards the big idea and suggests ways that future instruction may continue their path towards more sophisticated explanations.

  • • Cosmological Sense-making: Refocusing on Supporting Student Competence

    • CE02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 5:00PM
    • by Zoe Buck Bracey
    • Type: Invited
    • I introduce the constructs of cosmological literacy and cosmological sense-making, and briefly explain how they can be used to refocus our efforts away from what students are getting wrong, and onto supporting student competence. We can tackle this from a pragmatic epistemological perspective following multiple lines of inquiry – both quantitative and qualitative. I will share two examples from my own research around cosmology visualizations. The first uses quantitative, experimental methods to investigate how 122 post-secondary learners rely on color to make sense of dark matter in a cosmology visualization, suggesting ways in which we can better support cosmological sense-making. The second uses qualitative, interpretive methods to investigate how cosmology visualizations are used by small groups of community college students to make sense of content, suggesting a broader view of cosmological sense-making that is more supportive for students from non-dominant linguistic backgrounds.

  • • Investigating Lifelong Learners in an Astronomy Massively Open Online Course

    • CE03
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:30PM

    • by Sanlyn Buxner*, Chris Impey, Matthew Wenger, Martin Formanek

    • Type: Invited
    • We describe a study of learners enrolled in an astronomy-related massivelyopen online course (MOOC). Now, in its third generation of development, students enroll on a rolling basis and complete 11 weeks of content that includes watching videos, completing quizzes, submitting and peer reviewing writing assignments, and participating in citizen science projects. Although tens of thousands of students have signed up for these courses, the level of engagement is much lower. We present demographics and patterns of student use in these courses as a way to understand who signs up for these courses, how they use the resources, and why they complete the courses. Additionally, we compare their basic science knowledge, interest in science, and reported access to science to 25 years of data we have collected from parallel undergraduate non-science major astronomy courses at the University of Arizona. Our analysis has revealed unique characteristics of these learners.

  • • K-12 Teachers Scores on the Test of Astronomy STandards TOAST

    • CE04
    • Sun 01/10, 5:30PM - 5:40PM

    • by Stephanie Slater, Debra Stork, Sharon Schleigh, Timothy Slater

    • Type: Contributed
    • In an informed effort to better focus and improve professional development, systematic surveys of K-12 teacher' knowledge in the domains of science are conducted periodically. In the context of astronomy education research, we used the 29-item multiple-choice Test Of Astronomy STandards, or TOAST, to survey several samples of teachers. The TOAST is a criterion-referenced instrument constructed upon a solid list of clearly articulated and widely agreed upon learning objectives. The results suggest that K-12 teachers still hold many of the same fundamental misconceptions uncovered by earlier surveys. This includes misconceptions about the size, scale, and structure of the cosmos as well as misconceptions about the nature of physical processes at work in astronomy. This suggests that professional development in astronomy is still needed and that modern curriculum materials are best served if they provide substantial support for implementation.

  • • Does the Classroom Matter?

    • CE05
    • Sun 01/10, 5:40PM - 5:50PM

    • by Kaisa Young, Chadwick Young, Adam Beyer

    • Type: Contributed
    • If you got your choice of classroom for your large introductory science class, what would it look like? We compare student learning and perception data from astronomy, physics, and geology courses taught in traditional classrooms with individual movable desks to the same classes taught in a large auditorium. A survey of our students shows a preference for newer traditional classrooms with large desks and ample space. By comparing our grade books and equalizing as many factors as possible, we report differences between classrooms in measures such as average final exam scores and average final grades. Overall, we find larger percentages of students drop or fail courses taught in a large auditorium than a traditional classroom. The results suggest that the weaker students may get “lost” in an auditorium, but that many students are able to adapt to their learning environment.

  • • Using Online Homework in Introductory Astronomy--Student Engagement Matters

    • CE06
    • Sun 01/10, 5:50PM - 6:00PM
    • by Kathy Shan
    • Type: Contributed
    • This study examined the use of online homework in an introductory survey of astronomy course (Astro1010) for non-majors at an open enrollment public university. The study addressed whether student performance depends on the type of online homework assigned. Two sections of Astro1010 were taught by the same instructor during the same semester. Both sections were assigned homework online using Mastering Astronomy, with one section (002) assigned both multiple choice quizzes and interactive homework questions/problems, while the other section (005) was assigned only the multiple choice quizzes (although the more interactive questions were made available for study). All other aspects of instruction were as identical as possible, including lecture notes, in-class peer instruction questions, lecture tutorials, and exams. Preliminary analysis shows that the student success rate (defined as the number of students receiving A, B, or C grades) were significantly higher in section 002 (54 percent) than in section 005 (46 percent).

• Astronomy Paper

  • • NY Times Space/Astronomy Article Applications to Help Teach Physics

    • HA03
    • Tue 01/12, 12:50AM - 1:00PM
    • by John Cise
    • Type: Contributed
    • Since 2007 I have been using New York Times articles with physics applications to help teach physics. The New York Times has many sections (Sports,Automotive, Science, Space, Astronomy, etc.) with articles containing physics applications. Articles and related graphics are placed in WORD then edited to fit on one web page. More graphics are added. Also added are: Introduction, questions, hints, and answers. The one page WORD document is saved as a pdf file and uploaded to the authors N Y Times application site. About 400 physics applications can be found at: http://CisePhysics.homestead.com/files/NYT.htm or http://CisePhysics.homestead.com/files/NYT.pdf. The site specific to this paper on "NY Times Space/Astronomy Article Applications To Help Teach Physics" is: http://CisePhysics.homestead.com/files/NYTSpaceAstApps.pdf. The author uses the N Y Times Applications for: Introduction to new concepts, quizzes, extra credit, and test questions. Students and author enjoy these current news physics applications.

  • • American Eclipse Project (AEP)

    • HA01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 12:40PM
    • by William Dittrich
    • Type: Contributed
    • A recreation of Eddington's Classic Experiment measuring gravitational deflection of light is being planned for the eclipse path across America in 2017. While Einstein published his General Theory in 1915, it was not until Aug. 21, 1917, that the first attempt to verify gravitational lensing was undertaken at an observatory in India. This first attempt was a failure, measuring the deflection of light from the bright star Regulus without an eclipse was most ambitious. 100 years later Regulus once again is near the limb of the Sun and this time it occurs during the eclipse crossing America. Universities and Space Grant Consortia are partnering with Oregon State University to offer the amazing opportunity for hundreds of students to perform a recreation of one of the few most important experiments in physics and astronomy from the 20th century. This is a discussion telling the story of the American Eclipse Project.

  • • Elementary Surprising Facts About the Sun's Path in the Sky

    • HA02
    • Tue 01/12, 12:40PM - 12:50PM

    • by A. Mallmann, Steven Mayer

    • Type: Contributed
    • Over the recent decades investigations and studies of the interactions of rays of sunlight with raindrops and with airborne ice crystals have resulted in a better understanding of rainbows, halos, sun dogs, sun pillars, and many other patterns of light and color in the sky. We will report on a simpler observation of the Sun's path in the sky. Consideration of the Sun's path inspired calculations and measurements that surprised me, and may surprise you as well.

  • • Teaching Light Pollution: The Importance of Dark Skies in Astronomy*

    • HA04
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:10PM
    • by Zodiac Webster
    • Type: Contributed
    • Dark skies are essential to the successful execution of astronomical observations. Light pollution negatively affects the enjoyment of naked eye astronomy and the science of astronomy but is also a concern to the biorhythms and behaviors of insects, birds, sea turtles, and people. I will introduce lesson plans introducing light pollution, how individuals can mitigate it, and ways students can become advocates for dark skies. The cross-disciplinary nature of the topic appeals to adolescents and provides an interesting hook for an astronomy unit, a science club, or a community relations activity. Lesson plans, a link to an online module for use in a course management system, and links to resources will be provided. This lesson sequence was inspired by a Galileo Teacher Training Project workshop and was developed as part of the Georgians Experience Astronomy Research in Schools Project.

• At Home Labs

  • • Using Mobile Devices for Home Laboratories

    • DG01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:30AM

    • by Kyle Forinash, Raymond Wisman

    • Type: Invited
    • We will present ideas for several introductory physics laboratory exercises using smart phones and tablets as data collection devices. Example exercises include the use of the accelerometer, magnetometer, and microphone. We also describe simple external headset circuits that extend the smart phone capabilities for photo gate timing, voltage measurements and the collection of other types of real data. We will present a list of apps (some written by us, all free) that can be adapted for various laboratory exercises involving real data collection that students can preform at home. A sneak preview of some of our ideas can be seen at http://mobilescience.wikispaces.com/home.

  • • Take Home Labs for Struggling Learners

    • DG02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 11:40AM
    • by Stephanie Hawkins
    • Type: Contributed
    • At Barrington High School I teach a co-taught physics class. The students in this course lack academic confidence and study skills. One of the ways we help these students understand the content is through take-home labs. First, we do a lab or activity in class. Then, students go home recreate the lab and teach it to a friend or family member. Finally, students submit a video of their at-home experience. Students appreciate the low-stress atmosphere of teaching someone who doesn't know the content and restarting the videos until they are happy with their performance. I will share examples of take-home activities and student videos.

  • • Take-Out Labs Chicago Style: Inertia & Waves

    • DG03
    • Mon 01/11, 11:40AM - 11:50AM
    • by Diane Riendeau
    • Type: Contributed
    • Using readily available equipment (CDs, water bottles, candles ) students perform actual investigations with their families. I'll share a few of the take-home labs and share a bit of the pedagogy and reasoning behind providing such experiences for our students.

  • • Take-Out Labs, Chicago Style: Electricity & Magnetism

    • DG04
    • Mon 01/11, 11:50AM - 12:00PM
    • by John Lewis
    • Type: Contributed
    • Using readily available equipment (compass, festive lights, batteries, andbulbs) students perform actual investigations with their families. This is not a "show and tell" experience for the kids but rather a gathering of large amounts of data which will later be analyzed in class. I'll share a few of the take-home labs and share a bit of the pedagogy and reasoning behind providing such experiences for our students.

  • • Take-Out Labs, Chicago Style: Physics Phun for Parents!

    • DG05
    • Mon 01/11, 12:00PM - 12:10PM
    • by Scott Beutlich
    • Type: Contributed
    • PPP, Physics Phun for Parents is a way to get your students to learn and teach activities at home with their parents and family. Using readily available equipment (mirrors, rulers, balloons, dollar bills) I will share the handouts and related demos for preparing the students and reviewing their discoveries.

  • • The Power of the Video in the Physics Home Lab

    • DG06
    • Mon 01/11, 12:10PM - 12:20PM

    • by Farook Al-Shamali, Martin Connors

    • Type: Contributed
    • Video production for educational purposes is currently within the reach ofmost instructors and students. The widespread use of smartphones makes this task easy and affordable. We share our experience in using this great tool in the design of home labs at Athabasca University. Instructional videos are embedded in the e-lab manual to explain and demonstrate experimental setup and procedure. Students shoot and analyze videos to study the kinematics and dynamics of moving objects. Students can also submit (for assessment) properly edited videos as a replacement of traditional lab reports.

  • • Labs at Home for Distance and Classroom Education

    • DG07
    • Mon 01/11, 12:20PM - 12:30PM
    • by Martin Connors
    • Type: Contributed
    • Freshman courses value the lab experience since it exposes students to thereal world that physics studies, and develops skills and critical thinking. Traditionally, such labs have been done in an on-campus setting. In distance education, students enroll specifically because they do not wish to come to a campus, so having a comparable lab experience had been a challenge. Almost 20 years ago, Athabasca University solved this problem with home lab kits based mostly on instruments attached to calculators, sent to students on loan by the university library. Meshing student needs with academic requirements caused an enrollment boom, and similar technologies were adopted in other subject areas. Improvements in technology have allowed us to update our home labs and reduce kit costs. They are so successful that we can advocate use of home lab kits even in classroom-based teaching, as supplements or even to completely replace the on-campus lab experience.

• Best Practices in Educational Technologies

  • • Using the Constructivists Learning Cycle to Apply Technology in Education

    • AC01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Andre Bresges
    • Type: Invited
    • Use of technology in the classroom should not be defined by the technologyyou want to use, but by the problems you want to solve. We start with a given problem: conducting hands-on experiments and inquiry learning even in a heterogeneous classroom environment with an inclusive setting. We discuss how tablets may: 1) address the goal of the experiment; 2) identify and confront misconceptions; 3) guide the educational process, 4) take measurements, 5) produce a video report about the experiment, and 6) reflect and share the outcome with others. With regard to the position of teachers and PER researchers, tablets provide research-based tools for assessment and self-assessment, putting Hattie’s “visible teaching” into action. We recommend applying a “design cycle” to record and improve the conduct of a lesson over time, using the aforementioned technology and research tools.

  • • Mathematical Modeling via Computer Programming: From Tools to Pedagogy

    • AC02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 11:00AM
    • by Emmanuel Schanzer
    • Type: Invited
    • Given the important role that functions play in Physics, many have looked to programming as a way of boosting algebraic proficiency. Many assume that "Programming is like Math," and expect stronger mathematical foundations from students who’ve taken Java, Scratch or Python. Meanwhile, the hype surrounding CS has led many teachers to search for authentic ways to integrate programming into their classes. But what does it mean to use programming “authentically” when teaching another discipline? This talk will describe the approach taken with Bootstrap, the research-based algebra and programming curriculum used by hundreds of teachers across the country. Bootstrap teaches students to program their own videogames using purely algebraic and geometric concepts, and is closely aligned with the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. The lessons learned from developing Bootstrap are applicable to physics, offering possible routes forward for an authentic approach to physics education through the appropriate use of computer programming.

  • • Students Reading Real Science: Primary Literature in the Classroom

    • AC03
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by Melissa McCartney
    • Type: Invited
    • “Science in the Classroom” (http://scienceintheclassroom.org) is a collection of annotated research papers and accompanying teaching materials designed to help students at the advanced high school, community college, and undergraduate level understand the structure of professional scientific research. Each annotated science paper contains a “Learning Lens,” which is used to selectively highlight and explain original text of the research article. Discussion questions, connections to learning frameworks, and additional activities designed around raw data provided by the authors accompany each annotated paper. Science in the Classroom promotes the development of transferable learning skills by engaging students in the fundamental scientific principles of experimental design and critical analysis. In essence, students will be exposed to the process of science. By focusing on the universal language of experimental design and data analysis, Science in the Classroom presents science as an endeavor grounded on common principles, rather than a disjointed sum of individual disciplines.

  • • Simultaneous Use of Sensors in Experiments with Smartphones

    • AC04
    • Sun 01/10, 11:30AM - 12:00PM

    • by Martín Monteiro, Cecilia Stari, Cecilia Cabeza, Arturo Martí

    • Type: Invited
    • The use of smartphones in physics has been increasing during the last years. Several experiments have been proposed that exploit the functionality of the sensors incorporated in these devices. The most important mechanical sensor of the smartphone is the accelerometer, then mechanical experiments are mainly based on the use of this sensor. The other mechanical sensor, the gyroscope or rotation sensor, has received less attention. Our purpose is to show, in first place, the value of this important sensor alone, the gyroscope, and in a step forward, that an additional advantage is obtained in the simultaneous use of both sensors, the accelerometer and the gyroscope.

• Big Science Data in the Classroom

  • • Big Ideas and Big Science in the Classroom

    • GF01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 8:55AM
    • by Lynn Cominsky
    • Type: Invited
    • SSU's education and public outreach programs have integrated big science and big data in a variety of innovative ways that bring NGSS-aligned scientific practices to physics classrooms. Through NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope education program, we train students to use a robotic ground-based telescope that acquires visible light data that can be correlated with Fermi's space-based observations. We have also developed a two-semester course that uses real scientific data for advanced high school or general education college students entitled "Big Ideas in Cosmology." Fermi data are used by citizen scientists to discover new gamma-ray pulsars through the Einstein@Home project, developed by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany. In this talk, I will provide examples of scientific discoveries made by students and citizen scientists and will demonstrate how big science and big data can be used to improve teaching and learning in your classroom.

  • • Big Accelerator Means Big Data

    • GF02
    • Tue 01/12, 8:55AM - 9:20AM
    • by Don Lincoln
    • Type: Invited
    • The Large Hadron Collider is the world’s largest scientific facility and enables scientists to collide particles together with center of mass energies last common in the universe a mere tenth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Since it began operation in 2008, scientists using the facility have published over a thousand scientific papers, most notably including the discovery of the Higgs boson. In this talk, I will talk the magnitude of the accelerator and the detectors involved in this prodigious enterprise. I will also describe the size of the data sets involved, from the individual channel counts in the detectors to the amount of data recorded. I will describe methods for people to analyze this data on their own, including LHC@Home and CERN Open Data. This talk dovetails with Ken Cecire’s talk in which he focuses on programs for bringing this data to classrooms.

  • • Big Data on Student Desktops*

    • GF03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:20AM - 9:45AM
    • by Kenneth Cecire
    • Type: Invited
    • The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN produces billions of proton collision events every second, each sending tens or hundreds of particles into a giant detector like the Complact Muon Solenoid (CMS). A small portion of this data - still multiple orders of magnitude more than most students normally see in their classes or labs – is found in the CMS masterclass and the CMS e-Lab. We will see how students characterize large numbers of events and analyze them statistically to make scientific assertions about the most fundamental particles. *This work is sponsored under the QuarkNet program by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy Office of Science.

  • • Motivating Elementary Mechanics with Large Asteroid Data Sets

    • GF05
    • Tue 01/12, 10:10AM - 10:20AM

    • by Jordan Steckloff, Steven Dail, Rebecca Lindell

    • Type: Contributed
    • Elementary Mechanics is typically motivated with examples on the Earth that are familiar to students. However, such examples are subject to non-ideal conditions (e.g. air drag, rolling friction, non-inertial reference frames), and their use may unintentionally reinforce incorrect schema that students have on their underlying physical processes (e.g. moving objects naturally come to rest without a driving force). In this talk we present a motivation for gravitation and circular motion using the Minor Planet Center’s most recent published data set of asteroid spin periods and radii, which are obtained from asteroid light curve studies. Asteroid motion is not subject to friction, which complicates the understanding of Newton’s laws on the Earth. Additionally, students are typically unfamiliar with asteroid mechanics and therefore possess fewer preconceived notions of how asteroids should behave.

  • • Incorporating Large Asteroid Data Sets into IB Physics

    • GF06
    • Tue 01/12, 10:20AM - 10:30AM

    • by Steve Dail, Jordan Steckloff, Rebecca Lindell

    • Type: Contributed
    • Modern astronomy has produced large data sets of small planetary body behavior, which exhibit gravitational and circular motion under ideal (i.e. frictionless) conditions. Modern high school students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) Physics courses are already familiar with the software and skills needed to manipulate these data sets. Here we present an inquiry-based classroom activity in which students use Microsoft Excel to manipulate the Minor Planet Center’s most recent light curve-based asteroid data set. The students use Excel to plot different variables within the data set against one another, and look for obvious trends (size vs. spin rate). This pair of variables shows that asteroid spin rates pile up at a period of ~2.2 hours, but seldom spin faster. The students then determine that this spin barrier is the result of a critical spin rate above which gravity fails to hold the asteroid together.

• Celebrating Latina/Hispanic Women Physicists

  • • Personal Reflections of a Chicana Physicist

    • BE01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Ximena Cid
    • Type: Invited
    • The celebration and embrace of my culture has sometimes been in conflict with my identity as a scientist. Likewise, my identity as a scientist has sometimes been in conflict with my ability to remain routed in my culture. This has led me to ask, “how is culture represented in STEM? Does the community still have the idea that ‘physics is a culture of no culture’, and if it does, how do I fit into this culture?” I was asked to participate in this session that celebrates “Hispanic/Latina” women physicists. My approach for this will be 1) What terms do I use to identify myself, 2) How does that identity relate to a physicist identity, and 3) How has my culture influenced my approaches to conducting physics research.

  • • Professional Development That Connects Content, Students' Ideas, and Pedagogical Strategies

    • BE02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM
    • by Carolina Alvarado
    • Type: Invited
    • In the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (MainePSP), we have been working with teachers to better use a common set of teaching materials. Our design asks teachers to talk about content, students' ideas about the content, and how to address student difficulties by using student strengths. To measure the progress in teacher understanding of these three strands, we have asked a survey over several years and have followed individual teachers over several years. We have analyzed teacher responses and collected the best results to bring back to teachers. As the teachers reflect on the anonymous answers they (or their colleagues) have given, they engage in all three strands, regardless of which is being asked about. Consistent with our design, the three strands are intertwined: talk of content brings up talk of students, talk of pedagogy brings up talk of content, and so on. To illustrate the value of our PD model, we present several examples of the rich intellectual space that the collaborative group of teachers inhabit during these PD activities.

• Climate Change

  • • Volcanic Effects on Climate in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries

    • DD01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by Benjamin Santer
    • Type: Invited
    • The relatively muted warming of the surface and lower troposphere since 1998 has attracted considerable attention. One contributory factor to this “warming hiatus” is an increase in volcanic cooling over the early 21st century. Our recent research has identified the signals of late 20th and early 21st century volcanic activity in multiple observed climate variables. Volcanic signals are statistically discernible in spatial averages of tropical and near-global sea-surface temperature, tropospheric temperature, net clear-sky short-wave radiation, and atmospheric water vapor. Signals of late 20th and early 21st century volcanic eruptions are also detectable in near-global averages of rainfall. Successful volcanic signal detection is critically dependent on removal of variability induced by the El Nino–Southern Oscillation. Prospects for improved quantification of volcanic effects on climate.

  • • Understanding Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Teaching and Learning*

    • DD02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 12:00PM
    • by Doug Lombardi
    • Type: Invited
    • Climate change is a topic that is not easy to understand. Deepening students’ understanding of climate change may be difficult both because the underlying scientific principles are complex and because students have difficulty understanding why scientists think that Earth’s global climate is changing. Many assume that students’ difficulties are caused by a lack of coherence and clarity when explaining the topic (i.e., students have an information deficit). However, my research, and the research of my colleagues, reveals a broad array of challenges that must be overcome for students and the public to understand why Earth’s climate is changing. These include overcoming prior misconceptions, negative attitudes, cognitive biases, and motivated reasoning. This presentation will highlight areas of challenge and discuss the implications of these for teaching and learning about climate change.

  • • Engaging Prospective Elementary Teachers in Learning about Global Climate Change

    • DD03
    • Mon 01/11, 12:00PM - 12:10PM
    • by Emily Van Zee
    • Type: Contributed
    • As the instructor of a physics course for prospective elementary teachers,I have been pondering the following questions: What aspects of the physics of global climate change are accessible for students with little preparation in science and mathematics, especially for those with high anxiety about enrolling in a physics course now required for entry into my university’s teacher education program? What resources are available to instructors contemplating adding the topic of global climate change to a physics course? How does one decide what to include as well as what to cut when redesigning an already full course? How have prospective teachers responded to explorations, discussions, readings, homework assignments, and field experiences designed to raise awareness and understanding of some of the science underlying claims about climate change? How can I encourage my students to share their knowledge with friends and families? What next steps am I contemplating for this course?

  • • Connecting Racism, Climate Change, and Justice with a Teach-in

    • DD04
    • Mon 01/11, 12:10PM - 12:20PM

    • by Madeleine Msall, Mark Battle

    • Type: Contributed
    • Strong student activism on our campus calls for divestment from fossil fuels and for broader engagement in the fight against racism. In response, a faculty and student coalition named Intersections: People, Planet and Power proposed a day long Teach-in that would use campus expertise to explore the intersections of these issues. As physicists working on a general education course, Energy, Physics and Technology, we joined students and colleagues from all college divisions on the core leadership team. This was a unique opportunity to engage deeply with issues across the college and to develop interdisciplinary partnerships. Our focus was an educational conversation promoting awareness of structural inequity, the impacts of climate change, and the connections between these threats. We will report on our success in promoting campus-wide dialogue, the many lessons learned and the patience required to make that dialogue inclusive and substantial.

  • • Communicating the Radiation Physics of Global Warming

    • DD05
    • Mon 01/11, 12:20PM - 12:30PM
    • by Wolfgang Bauer
    • Type: Contributed
    • Climate change skeptics find it hard to believe that parts-per-million level changes to our atmospheric composition can make a difference in the global temperature. However, fairly straightforward application of concepts of radiation physics can make communication of these concepts much easier and more understandable. The present talk will give examples, which were derived from NIMBUS satellite data.

• Climate Change B

  • • Climate Physics in the Classroom

    • EA02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Michael Wiescher
    • Type: Invited
    • The question of climate and climate change is dominated by emotional discussion and by ideological agendas. A new course was developed to investigate the science conditions that determine climate and that instigate climate change. The presentation will provide an overview on motivation and content of the course that includes topics such as energy physics of climate, the microphysics of climate, the atmospheric and hydrospheric physics of climate, climate history, climate proxies and signatures, closing with possible methods for climate stabilization.

  • • Climate Change and Non-Science Majors: Non-believing to Understanding

    • EA03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 4:40PM
    • by Paul Ashcraft
    • Type: Contributed
    • Pedagogical methods used in an Energy Science course are examined, relating global energy use to the historical increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and, using models, examine how changes in climatological variables can change global temperature and precipitation patterns. Non-science majors examine their beliefs about global climate change and the basis for those beliefs at the start of class. Physical concepts, used to examine historical and current research on global climate change, are used with models/simulations to look at feedback mechanisms.

  • • Ideas and Resources for Teaching Environmental Physics

    • EA04
    • Mon 01/11, 4:40PM - 4:50PM
    • by Kyle Forinash
    • Type: Contributed
    • Beginning physics students often need concrete examples in order to comprehend abstract physical concepts. The environment is a significant source of interesting examples where the principles of physics can be applied to the real world. Fossil fuels, energy conversion processes, renewable energy, and climate are all fertile topics for the introduction of basic concepts of physics such as conservation of energy, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, electromagnetic radiation and many more. This talk will present classroom presentation ideas and several online resources for using environmental processes, including climate as starting points for introducing fundamental concepts in physics. The material, drawn from 15 years experience teaching environmental physics courses, can be introduced into existing courses or used to teach a stand alone environmental course.

  • • Climate Change in the Introductory Course

    • EA05
    • Mon 01/11, 4:50PM - 5:00PM
    • by Thomas Moore
    • Type: Contributed
    • In this talk, I will describe a simple but surprisingly accurate climate change model suitable for presentation in an introductory physics course. This model shows students how global warming is linked to basic physical principles and how even they can generate some basic quantitative predictions from those principles, while at the same time illustrating some important aspects the modeling process itself.

• Decorator Set-up in Exhibit Hall

  • • Decorator Set-up in Exhibit Hall

    • EXH01
    • Fri 01/08, 12:00PM - 5:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Exhibit Hall

• Developing and Sustaining Collaborations in IPLS: The Role of Focused Conferences

  • • Physics of Medicine Collaborations

    • FE01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by Nancy Donaldson
    • Type: Invited
    • Conferences addressing topics in physics for the health sciences broaden faculty understanding of ways to bring the study of physics to our students in a relevant, long-lasting method that enhances their study of the life sciences and their future careers in medicine and health-related professions. The Physics of Medicine Program at Rockhurst University, first implemented in 2009, was designed to serve our large population of pre-health students by deepening their understanding of the relevance of physics principles to medicine. An inaugural population of nine students has successfully grown to a current enrollment of 50 declared majors/minors in Physics of Medicine. As a small university of 1500 undergraduates, collaboration was essential to the development of our program. This talk will discuss successful collaborations that directly led to innovative ideas, new active-learning curriculum, an increased number of physics students, a NSF grant award and great enjoyment by faculty and students!

  • • Physics for the Modern World

    • FE02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM

    • by Donald Franklin, Gigi Nevils-Noe

    • Type: Invited
    • This etext is designed to help prepare students for medical careers. The first chapter starts with Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics, which shows the the students that Physics is relevant. The rest of the chapters explore the use of Physics in understanding how the body functions. Using online textbooks cuts the cost of the text and allows the educator to design the course for their students. Multiple texts can be used to develop your course to cover the material that is relevant to their careers. This also allows for the educator to design the ebook to fit their syllabus.

  • • Epistemological and Methodological Balancing Acts in IPLS Collaboration

    • FE03
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00PM - 8:30PM
    • by Benjamin Geller
    • Type: Invited
    • In this talk I will describe the epistemological and methodological balancing acts that are inherent to IPLS collaborative work. My efforts in IPLS curricular development have been driven by interactions with members of the community who possess particular (and sometimes disparate) conceptual and epistemological commitments about the role that biological examples should play in a physics classroom. In particular, I will describe how curricular choices must resolve an apparent tension between the desire to make life science students’ experiences across the sciences more coherent, and the desire to foreground ways of thinking that students may be unlikely to encounter outside of the physics classroom. Methodologically, my current work is a blend of quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding student interest in IPLS examples, and I will describe the challenges and successes of blending these methodological approaches.

• Discovery Physics in the Classroom

  • • High School Students Discovering the World of Particle Physics

    • CA01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Shane Wood
    • Type: Invited
    • What is dark matter? Do supersymmetrical particles exist? Are there extra dimensions that are not yet known? On June 3, 2015 after a two-year period of maintenance and upgrades, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began its second research run, ushering in an exciting new chapter of cutting-edge physics research that could help answer such questions. This talk will focus on opportunities for high school teachers and students to discover the world of quarks and leptons and engage in the analysis of real data while covering required standards, including many Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

  • • Preparing Producers and Consumers of Science

    • CA02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 5:00PM
    • by Chris Stoughton
    • Type: Invited
    • Science continues to revolutionize society. Educational systems can do an even better job of preparing students by considering two aspects: as producers and as consumers of science. I will give examples of how we address these with the outreach activities of the Fermilab/University of Chicago Quarknet group.

  • • Investigate Exoplanets from Your Classroom Using Online Telescopes*

    • CA03
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:10PM

    • by Mary Dussault, Nathan Carle, Roy Gould

    • Type: Contributed
    • Bring the excitement of the search for habitable worlds into your classroom while helping your students to consolidate and apply core ideas in physical science. The Laboratory for the Study of Exoplanets (ExoLab) aims to create a model for how to integrate content learning with the practices of authentic scientific study. Using robotic telescopes from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, high school students detect actual alien worlds orbiting distant stars, and use their own data sets to determine the size and orbital parameters of these exoplanets. Students learn to deal with the messiness of real data, and use the same analytical methods that professional scientists use every day to separate the signal from the noise in their investigations. This talk will highlight examples of student results using the Exolab, and describe how you can join the ExoLab online learning community of educators, students, and professional exoplanet researchers. *Supported in part by NSF DRL-1222588. Additional support provided by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/smgphp/otherworlds/ExoLab/

• Doubling Minority PhDs: The APS Bridge Program

  • • The APS Bridge Program at Florida State University

    • BG01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Simon Capstick
    • Type: Invited
    • This talk describes what we have learned from establishing in 2014 at Florida State University (FSU) an APS and FSU-funded Masters program that bridges minority students to PhD programs in physics, and how this knowledge has led to improvements in our graduate program for all students.

  • • Recruiting Graduate Students from Minority Serving Institutions: The Impact of the APS Bridge Program

    • BG02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM
    • by Ramon Lopez
    • Type: Invited
    • In this presentation I will discuss the challenges of recruiting students from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to our graduate PhD program. I will present some general comments, and then discuss our experiences at UT Arlington before we became a partner institution in the APS Bridge program. Since we became a partner institution we have had mixed success in recruiting students, but great success in developing institutional support to recruiting students from the program.

  • • APS Bridge Program: Overview and Evidence for Success*

    • BG03
    • Sun 01/10, 3:00PM - 3:30PM
    • by Theodore Hodapp
    • Type: Invited
    • In nearly every science, math, and engineering field there is a significant falloff in participation by underrepresented minority (URM) students who fail to make the transition between undergraduate and graduate studies. The American Physical Society (APS) has realized that a professional society can erase this gap by acting as a national recruiter of URM physics students and connecting these individuals with graduate programs that are eager to a) attract motivated students to their program, b) increase domestic student participation, and c) improve the diversity of their program. Now in its fourth year the APS has is placing enough students into graduate programs nationwide to effectively eliminate this achievement gap. The program has low costs, is popular among graduate programs, and has inspired other departments to adopt practices that improve graduate admissions and URM student retention. This presentation will review project activities, present data that demonstrate effectiveness, and discuss future actions.

• Educational Applications of 3D Printers

  • • Educational Applications from the Fab Lab

    • GA01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM
    • by Kendra Sibbernsen
    • Type: Invited
    • Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha hosts a Fab Lab, or Fabrication Laboratory, a program originally developed at the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT. The MCC Fab Lab equipment available includes several 3D printers, a 3D laser scanner, a laser cutter/engraver, vinyl cutter, soldering station, and computer lab. Examples of how the Fab Lab has been used in the physics department at MCC are printing models for classroom demonstrations, making custom prototypes for specialized research equipment, and having students design undergraduate research projects. Suggestions on how 3D printing can be used in science education, in collaboration with business, and with the general public will also be presented.

  • • The Suitability of 3D Printed Parts for Laboratory Use

    • GA02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM

    • by Andrew Zwicker, Josh Bloom, Robert Albertson, Sophia Gershman

    • Type: Invited
    • 3D printing has become popular for a variety of users, from home hobbyiststo scientists and engineers interested in producing their own laboratory equipment. In order to determine the suitability of 3D printed parts for our plasma physics laboratory, we measured the accuracy, strength, vacuum compatibility, and electrical properties of pieces printed in plastic. The flexibility of rapidly creating custom parts has led to the 3D printer becoming an invaluable resource in our laboratory. The 3D printer is also suitable for producing equipment for advanced undergraduate laboratories.

  • • 3D Printing in the S-Lab: Concepts, Prototypes and Models that Facilitate Training in non-English Speaking Countries

    • GA03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 9:40AM

    • by Stephen Mecca, Claire Kleinschmidt

    • Type: Contributed
    • The S-Lab has been operating in its current state for over a decade in theDepartment of Engineering-Physics-Systems at Providence College creating and managing meaningful research experiences for many students in both the sciences and other academic disciplines. When successful, the projects can impact schools, communities, and families in the developing world. One of the many tools of the lab is its Leap Frog 3D printer, a dual extrusion multi-plastic system that prints both full scale parts for use in prototyping designed components and production molds. A recent use of the 3D system has allowed us to cross the language barrier to train indigenous women masons as GSAP Microflush toilet MAKERs in Bolivia. The toilet is one of the innovations of the S-Lab that has now been introduced to 15 countries around the world.

  • • 3D Printing Opto-Mechanics

    • GA04
    • Tue 01/12, 9:40AM - 9:50AM

    • by David Starling, Mari Magabo, Joseph Ranalli, Kenneth Dudeck

    • Type: Contributed
    • Optics labs require a host of specialized equipment to perform basic measurements. Much of this equipment has precision requirements at the micron scale. However, some devices require only moderate precision and are able to be constructed via 3D printing. To that end, we report on the results of the construction of a computer-controlled opto-mechanical rotation mount for use in quantum optics polarization measurements. The worm, worm gear, and enclosure are 3D printed and the rotation is done via stepper motors controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. This project is ideal for undergraduate science or engineering students and is fundamentally multidisciplinary, incorporating 3D CAD drawing, design, electronics and programming.

• Educational Applications of Arduino Microcontrollers

  • • Beyond Blinking Lights: Real-world lab Solutions Using Arduinos

    • EE01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM
    • by Eric Ayars
    • Type: Invited
    • The usual reaction people have on first being introduced to the Arduino microcontroller development board is something like "Wow! I'm going to use this for x" without much thought as to whether an Arduino is the most effective solution to x. Physics teachers are not immune to this "Arduino effect." In this talk I would like to address a few areas in lab for which a microcontroller may be the best solution; areas such as faking data, acting as a communications bridge, and creating new instruments. I will also address a few more areas for which an Arduino is probably not the best solution, such as analog data collection. Finally, I'll discuss alternatives to the "real" Arduino and when and why you should consider using those alternatives.

  • • A Quick Introduction to Arduino and Sensors

    • EE02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Philip Fulmer
    • Type: Invited
    • The Arduino microcontroller board has celebrated its 10th birthday in the commercial world and has opened up electronics prototyping for non-technical hobbyists. The power of the Arduino board has made possible a wide variety of applications; a designer could envision a project and within a matter of a few minutes or hours have a working prototype. Arduino finds its greatest success in the world of physical computing whereby a sensor provides input to the Arduino, which then causes some other action to occur based on the measurement. In the classroom, students can quickly learn how to assemble a working circuit and have a satisfying learning experience that helps remove much of the mystery of scientific measurement. This presentation will give an overview of some quick projects that teach basic physics of measurements and discuss the available sensors that can be used with Arduino.

  • • Generating Audio-Frequency Analog Signals with Arduino

    • EE03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 4:40PM
    • by Jeffrey Groff
    • Type: Contributed
    • The microcontrollers onboard Arduino hardware are capable of natively generating digital pulse-width-modulated signals. However, analog signals such as sine, sawtooth, and triangle waves are often more useful for teaching the physics of sound, resonance, standing waves, and harmonics. This talk will discuss a method for generating audio-frequency analog signals with an Arduino Uno by rapidly varying the duty-cycle of a pulse-width-modulated waveform and applying a low-pass filter to the output. A low-cost open-source Arduino Uno-compatible function generator utilizing this method of subtractive synthesis will be shared. The function generator can be used to drive a small speaker for resonance experiments, to provide a signal for teaching the electronics of filter design, or as a voltage-controlled oscillator for a modular synthesizer. The act of building the function generator itself can be used to teach students about 3D printing, electronics, and Arduino programming.

  • • Arduino-based Digital/Optical Communication System

    • EE04
    • Mon 01/11, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Neal Gallagher. III*, Joshua C. and Nicholas M. Fair, Brandon Mayle, Jason Cannon-Silber, Maura Gallagher

    • Type: Contributed
    • Using a clear flexible PVC tube filled with mineral oil as an optical fiber, a laser diode is submerged in one tube side with a photo-resistor in the other side. A transmitter and a receiver Arduino are connected to the laser and resistor respectively. A message typed into a laptop is passed to the transmitter Arduino that converts a text message into binary ASCII, one character at a time. It transmits each character as a packet with a leading sync pulse to align timing for the transmitter and the receiver. Each received packet is converted back to a character by the receiver Arduino and then displayed on a connected laptop.

  • • Learning Through Tinkering in Engineering Class

    • EE05
    • Mon 01/11, 4:50PM - 5:00PM
    • by Yusuf Dogan
    • Type: Contributed
    • In this presentation, I would like to share how a regular engineering class (CTE) turned into a tinkering workshop and which projects that we have utilized and what was different from other regular classes. I will show the Arduino projects that we have been working on. Everything is evolving for each second, and we should consider that this progress affects education--especially if your are bringing technology to your classroom, you will see this change faster than other classrooms. In Engineering class, we heavily rely on technology. As a result, tools, curriculum, perspective, and understanding of engineering education is changing, and it evolves into the something different than the past. In these days, it looks like a next step is learning though tinkering. Last two years I have been trying to implement tinkering in engineering and physics classes. I would like to share Arduino projects and some ideas about how we can turn any regular project to the tinkering based education. I would also like to share some details about effects of tinkering in students such as it increases independent work and making.

• Effective Practices in Educational Technologies

  • • Interaction Effects of Video Vignettes on Student Understanding*

    • CI01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:10PM

    • by Kathleen Koenig, Robert Teese, Priscilla Laws, David Jackson, Maxine Willis

    • Type: Contributed
    • Multiple short, single topic interactive video vignettes (IVVs) have now been developed and tested by the LivePhoto Physics Group (www.compadre.org/IVV). As part of an evaluation to determine the impact of each IVV on student understanding of certain concepts, studies have been conducted that compared two groups of students; those completing the IVVs as homework assignments in college level introductory courses to those who did not complete them. Both groups were pre- and post-tested using the Force Concept Inventory. Past presentations of our research findings focused on the impact on student understanding for single IVVs. This presentation will focus on how multiple IVVs, when used in combination, better target student learning of certain concepts. * Supported by NSF TUES (DUE 1123118 & 1122828).

  • • Use of a Curriculum App in Teaching and Learning

    • CI02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:10PM - 4:20PM

    • by Meera Chandrasekhar, Deepika Menon, Dorina Kosztin, Douglas Steinhoff

    • Type: Contributed
    • Mobile devices are replacing textbooks in classrooms. We describe a conceptual physics curriculum app and its use in a college-level class for elementary education majors. The Exploring Physics curriculum app, based on inquiry and modeling pedagogies, is a combination textbook, workbook and lab-book. Students can enter text, drawings, graphs, tables, or data in the app. They submit their work for grading and receive feedback through the app. Two studies have been conducted on the use of this app in the classroom. The first study compared the technology self-efficacy of two sections of the class; in one that used a traditional workbook, and the other that used the app. In the second study students’ growth in physical science content knowledge was measured as they used the app. Results of the studies will be presented. Findings have implications for pre-service teacher preparation for future use of technology in science teaching.

  • • Teaching Computational Modeling: The Basics

    • CI03
    • Sun 01/10, 4:20PM - 4:30PM

    • by Ruth Chabay, Bruce Sherwood

    • Type: Contributed
    • Most students in introductory physics courses have never written a computer program. This is true for many instructors as well. As interest in incorporating computational modeling into physics instruction increases, many novices, both students and instructors, are encountering computational ideas for the first time. There’s a lot to learn. What should be omitted, what should be included, and how should it be taught? We’ll describe one functional model, based on nearly two decades of experience in integrating computation into introductory physics.

  • • The Maxima CAS as a Tool for Teaching Physics

    • CI04
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 4:40PM
    • by Todd Timberlake
    • Type: Contributed
    • Maxima is an open-source computer algebra system (CAS) that runs on all major platforms. It can serve as a free alternative to commercial CAS programs like Mathematica or Maple. The combination of Maxima and a tool for building interactive simulations (like Easy Java Simulations) provides a free but powerful set of tools for introducing students to computational physics. I will briefly discuss the advantages of using open-source software before describing some features of Maxima and how they can be used for teaching computational physics, with particular emphasis on topics in classical mechanics. A list of resources (both online and in print) for learning and using Maxima is available at sites.berry.edu/ttimberlake/cm_maxima/.

  • • Using IPython Electronic Notebooks in the Introductory Physics Laboratories

    • CI05
    • Sun 01/10, 4:40PM - 4:50PM
    • by Tatiana Krivosheev
    • Type: Contributed
    • We present our experience with conversion of the traditional laboratory manuals used in the Introductory Physics courses into an integrated IPython notebook: a web-based interactive computational environment to combine code execution, text, mathematics, plots, and rich media into a single document. The electronic notebooks are provided to students as a free of charge, electronically shareable file, which amounts to an average savings of $25 per student per semester. The IPython environment also generates additional student learning opportunities such as numerical simulations and programming.

  • • FormScanner: An Open-Source Solution for Grading Multiple Choice Exams

    • CI06
    • Sun 01/10, 4:50PM - 5:00PM

    • by Chadwick Young, Alberto Borsetta, Glenn Lo, Kaisa Young

    • Type: Contributed
    • We present software for grading multiple choice exams. FormScanner allows the instructor greater flexibility in grading and is much preferred over the "scantron" machines on campus for several reasons. 1) The software provides detailed item analysis, so instructors can better assess the effectiveness of questions. 2) Grading is considerably faster with FormScanner than on a scanner because one uses a photocopier machine to scan; these can scan hundreds of forms in a matter of seconds. 3) Faculty can create their own custom forms for a particular test; also, researchers can administer and analyze surveys with FormScanner. 4) Finally, FormScanner is open-source, free, and without in-software advertising. Similar commercial products cost thousands of dollars and do not provide the same quality of results. We show how to use FormScanner, analyze a set of student papers, and share faculty experiences with this software. More information about the process is at www.formscanner.org

  • • Using Python and pdfLaTex to Generate Customized Physics Problems

    • CI07
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:10PM

    • by William Nettles, Geoffrey Poore

    • Type: Contributed
    • Physics teaching routinely utilizes drill problems to teach physics concepts, problem-solving skills, and mathematical techniques. Answers for end-of-chapter problems are being published and accessed by students. Generating new initial conditions and their answers for individual students is laborious. pdfLaTeX is a free typesetting system and PythonTex is a package that allows a pdfLaTeX document to execute code in Python and then typeset output from the code under user control. Using random numbers, we generate randomized initial conditions for standard physics problems and present these problems in typeset form. We also program Python to generate the answers and write them, along with a student name, to a file; we don’t need to hand-calculate each student’s answer. A custom Python class and a custom script automatically handle batch generation of problems for students. One or several student(s) can have multiple instances of a standard problem, each instance with a different answer. Emphasis can be placed on conceptual understanding of the problem. This approach also enhances peer instruction.

  • • Using Spreadsheets for Self-Assessment

    • CI08
    • Sun 01/10, 5:10PM - 5:20PM
    • by Stephen Robinson
    • Type: Contributed
    • “Am I fair to students?” “What external factors influence my teaching effectiveness?” “Am I getting any better at teaching?” These are questions most teachers ask themselves, but it can be difficult to reach clear conclusions. This discussion will introduce a few simple statistical tools (e.g., t-tests, regressions, and standard errors) in spreadsheets to help teachers gather data about themselves for self-assessment.

  • • Integrating Computation: It’s Time to Start!*

    • CI09
    • Sun 01/10, 5:20PM - 5:30PM

    • by Larry Engelhardt, Marie Lopez del Puerto, Kelly Roos, Danny Caballero, Norman Chonacky

    • Type: Contributed
    • In physics classes, we should expect our students to use computers to solve problems, just as we expect them to use algebra and calculus. That is the goal of the PICUP organization -- the "Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics." One of PICUP’s current projects involves offering a series of faculty-development workshops and building a national community of faculty to support one another in realizing this goal. Come find out how you can be a part of this project, and how you can help your students develop computational skills that will help them in their future jobs and education. *This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under DUE IUSE grants 1524128, 1524493, 1524963, 1525062, and 1525525.

  • • Results from Applying Two Learning Sequences with Simulations, Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Low-Cost Experiments for the Learning of Electric Circuits’ Concepts in High School Students

    • CI10
    • Sun 01/10, 5:30PM - 5:40PM

    • by Daniel Sanchez Guzman, Ricarco Garcia Salcedo, Diana Berenice Lopez Tavares

    • Type: Contributed
    • Active learning and technology have demonstrated to be an effective group of methodologies and tools for the learning process. Based on all the help that teachers can use and the results in a useful impact on students, we can formulate the next question: which tools and learning sequences can be more effective to learn electric circuits’ concepts in high school students? To answer this question we design and compare two active learning sequences, both involve a similar approach supported by the active learning, but they used different learning strategies like interactive simulations using PhET, demonstrative experiments realized by students and intelligent tutoring systems for the problem-solving process. The experiment was applied to four groups of students with ages between 15 and 17 years old. We analyze normalized gain, concentration factor and a semantic differential test in both groups for measuring the impact of the different learning sequences and to comprehend that both approaches were effective in the learning process with students.

  • • Video Analysis for Science & Physics Classrooms

    • CI11
    • Sun 01/10, 5:40PM - 5:50PM
    • by Kerem Ekinci
    • Type: Contributed
    • Capture, Analyze, and Share with Video Analysis: Video Physics app brings automated object tracking and video analysis to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Capture video of an object in motion, then tap to track the object automatically. Video Physics app instantly creates trajectory, position, and velocity graphs for the object. Video Physics app is perfect for science students and instructors. Perform on-the-go analysis of interesting motion. Measure the velocity of a child’s swing, a roller-coaster, or a car. Or, take a video of a basketball free throw shot. Video Physics app will display the path of the ball and provide graphs of y vs. x as well as the x and y position and velocity as a function of time. Video Physics app is intended for use in science education.

• Electronic Physics Education Resources for Teachers and Teacher Educators

  • • Electronic Physics Education Resources for Teachers and Teacher Educators

    • by John Stewart , Wallace Dominey

    • Type: Panel
    • The panel members form a spectrum of experts who have successfully delivered educational resources and materials to teachers and teacher educators. The panel will discuss their successes in and the challenges of delivering resources for teachers and teacher educators over the internet. Multiple delivery methods including digital libraries, open online courses, and targeted websites will be discussed. Each panel member will introduce their online resources and the efforts taken to make the teacher education community aware of these resources. The panel will talk about their most successful products and some that did not reach a broad audience.

  • • Electronic Physics Education Resources for Teachers and Teacher Educators

    • CH
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 6:00PM
    • by John Stewart
    • Type: Panel
    • The panel members form a spectrum of experts who have successfully delivered educational resources and materials to teachers and teacher educators. The panel will discuss their successes in and the challenges of delivering resources for teachers and teacher educators over the internet. Multiple delivery methods including digital libraries, open online courses, and targeted websites will be discussed. Each panel member will introduce their online resources and the efforts taken to make the teacher education community aware of these resources. The panel will talk about their most successful products and some that did not reach a broad audience.

• Energy in the classroom

  • • RC Solar Car: An Effective Method to Introduce Solar Energy

    • HB04
    • Tue 01/12, 1:20AM - 1:30AM
    • by Mehmet Gokcek
    • Type: Contributed
    • As the world is facing bigger environmental and social problems everyday it becomes urgent for physics teachers to take action and implement possible solutions into the physics curriculum. Solar energy stands out as one of the leading contestants to solve future energy crises while helping today's environmental pollution issues. Building a remote-controlled solar car is a great affordable way of teaching the basics of solar energy systems and how they function. The project is called Chariot of Ra, where students start out by constructing a solar panel using simple cheap solar cells. Members of the physics class take on this engineering challenge and solder bus lines, learn about use of diodes to avoid issues of the system overheating. They also design a light body using a simple solution; insulating foam as well as an affordable cutting edge material; carbon fiber frame. Remote control unit helps introduce fundamentals of digital electronics.

  • • Energy First - How We Do It and Why You Should Too

    • HB01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 1:00PM

    • by Jesse Southwick, Aaron Osowiecki

    • Type: Invited
    • Traditional physics courses begin with the kinematic equations and Newton’s laws of motion. Though Isaac Newton’s laws of motion help students understand why objects move, they aren’t prerequisites for active citizenship. However, contemporary society constantly faces important energy questions. Shouldn’t our physics courses emphasize this important topic? At Boston Latin School our introductory physics course begins with energy -- providing a unifying theme throughout the course. Come find out how we do “energy first” and why you should too.

  • • Energy-based High School Physics Curriculum

    • HB02
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:10PM
    • by Laura Lang
    • Type: Contributed
    • Energy concepts are woven into all aspects of my high school physics curriculum. Students learn how to analyze data and form conclusions based on the consumption, production, exportation and importation of fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and renewable sources of energy. They investigate the household consumption of energy due to heating, cooling, or operation of appliances. After discussing why fuel conservation is important to our society, they analyze the factors that affect gas prices, compare gas mileage for different vehicles, and determine how gas mileage can be maximized for a given vehicle. Together we investigate the energy production of our solar panels. After sharing their individual research on new technology that uses alternative forms of energy to produce electricity, each student writes a letter to the President with a recommendation of what to include in the next national energy plan demonstrating their knowledge of the importance of energy to our society.

  • • EnergyTeachers.org Compiles Best Practices in Energy Education

    • HB03
    • Tue 01/12, 1:10PM - 1:20PM
    • by Shawn Reeves
    • Type: Contributed
    • Not only do topics in energy production and use give learners impetus for learning the standard physics curriculum, but a new field is emerging with the help of physics teachers and educators in other fields. We will describe the many effective ways of learning about energy we've found since our organization in 2004 began to investigate. We will also review some of the ways energy (and electronics) topics have improved learners attitudes towards physics in general.

• Enhancing Diversity in Astronomy

  • • Building Bridges to Diversity: The Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Program

    • GG01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM

    • by Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Arnold Burger, Keivan Stassun, Dina Stroud

    • Type: Invited
    • We describe the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge program as a successful model to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in the physical sciences. Since 2004 the program has admitted 98 students, 80 of them underrepresented minorities (52% female), with a retention rate to STEM PhD programs of 82% (compared to the national average of 50%). We summarize the main features of the Bridge program, including our methods to recognize and select for unrealized potential during the admissions process, and how we cultivate that unrealized potential toward development of successful scientists and leaders. We specifically discuss our mentoring and student tracking strategies, and note that a large number of our materials available online as part of the Bridge Program Architects Toolkit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool/bridge/tools.htm.

  • • Using New Research Lens to Address Diversity Issues in Astronomy

    • GG02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM
    • by Stephanie Slater
    • Type: Invited
    • While the majority of STEM fields have met or are near gender parity, the fields of astronomy and physics have stubbornly resisted improvement related to gender diversity, despite impressive levels of financial and human resource investment. This reality provides warrant to question if we truly understand the problem’s relevant underlying issues and variables, and whether we are applying resources in ways that meaningfully address our fields’ sociological problems. This paper presents results from two longitudinal studies of women in astronomy, within the context of NSFs longstanding REU program. Results from 15 years of interpretive, grounded theory research suggest that the program did not influence retention, or provide a substantive educational experience; instead participants began the REU with pre-existing, remarkably strong conceptions related to science and to the “self,” which the REU did not alter. Data additionally suggests that participants’ stable scientific identities were shaped by pre-college, familiar, long-term mentoring relationships.

  • • A Feminist Physics Education: Minoritized Students’ (Dis)Connections with Physics

    • GG03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 10:00AM
    • by Diane Jammula
    • Type: Contributed
    • While interactive physics curricula have doubled students’ learning gains,gender and race gaps persist. A modified version of the Modeling curriculum was taught in an algebra-based interactive physics course at an urban public college to see how minoritized students (dis)connect with physics in an interactive classroom. A “feminist physics” conceptual framework was developed by indentifying dichotomies in conventional physics education (e.g. rational/emotional, theoretical/practical, and elite/accessible). The denigrated terms were then included in the modified Modeling curriculum. Participants were 7 female and 16 male students of different race and ethnic backgrounds, and I was the course instructor. Field notes, students’ journals, and classroom artifacts were analyzed using open coding to see how students (dis)connect with physics. Results show some students affiliated with perceptions of physics as personal, in the everyday, accessible, and collaborative, suggesting that broadening notions of physics may allow a wider range of students to connect with the discipline.

• Exhibit Hall Open

  • • Exhibit Hall Open

    • EXH04
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 5:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Exhibit Hall

  • • Exhibit Hall Open

    • EXH07
    • Mon 01/11, 10:00AM - 4:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Exhibit Hall

• Flipped Classrooms

  • • Flipped Upper-Division Physics at the Colorado School of Mines

    • BD01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM

    • by Patrick Kohl, Mark Lusk, Eric Toberer

    • Type: Invited
    • The Colorado School of Mines physics department has been teaching one or more upper-division courses using a flipped approach since the fall of 2013. In a typical implementation, students are asked to watch one or more videos before class as preparation, with the actual class period occupied by Q&A, clicker questions, group problem solving, and various other activities. This year, we expect to have three courses conducted using a full or partial flip, including senior-level electrodynamics, junior-level mechanics, and senior-level solid state physics. Two of the instructors involved are non-PER faculty. In this talk, we’ll report on variations on the flipping theme, including different methods of generating online content and the incorporation of Just in Time Teaching elements. We’ll also discuss available data, including but not limited to Youtube analytics, qualitative surveys, course evaluations, and senior exit interviews.

  • • Using the Flipped Classroom to Teach Strategic Problem Solving

    • BD02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM

    • by Zhongzhou Chen, Dave Pritchard

    • Type: Invited
    • In a flipped classroom, important facts and procedures are learned before class (online for us). Instructors can then use class time to build higher level knowledge and skills. We focus on developing strategic problem solving ability through small group activities supervised by instructors. Our RELATE Group (http://RELATE.MIT.edu) has developed “MAPS” (Modeling applied to problem solving) and uses it in two introductory mechanics courses 8.IAP and 8.011. These “flipped” classes not only improve students’ problem solving ability, but also improve students’ attitudes about learning science as measured by CLASS. Moreover, this improvement carries forward to their subsequent E&M course. I will also discuss pedagogical experiments in the online contents of the courses, now evolved into an Advance Placement C level MOOC. Starting fall 2015, teachers will be using the contents of this MOOC to flip their own classroom through a new functionality called Custom Coach Course (CCx) that MIT has built.

  • • Using Case Studies in a Flipped Classroom

    • BD03
    • Sun 01/10, 3:00PM - 3:10PM
    • by Debora Katz
    • Type: Contributed
    • Like medical students in a hospital, physics students in a flipped classroom come to class prepared to practice physics rather than to listen to a lecture about physics. Our role, in the flipped classroom, is to guide our students into thinking like physicists as they work on answering conceptual questions, completing simple exercises and solving complex problems. We would like our students to apply the skills they develop in our classroom to questions and problems that arise in their lives outside of the classroom. To help students to bridge the gap between simplified classroom activities and the complex problems found outside the classroom, I use case studies. Case studies play an important role in education at medical, law, and business schools as a way to help students to think like professionals in their fields. In my talk I will provide some examples of case studies written by me, as well as of others written by my students.

  • • Lessons Learned from a Project-based, Flipped Classroom

    • BD04
    • Sun 01/10, 3:10PM - 3:20PM

    • by Rachael Lancor, Brian Lancor

    • Type: Contributed
    • At our school, the introductory physics courses meet for two hour periods,three times per week. The longer class periods give us the opportunity to engage students in group work on a daily basis, and minimize time spent on lectures. Outside of class, students do readings and complete daily online quizzes and homework assignments. Group work includes problem solving, laboratory investigations, tutorials, and projects. In particular, we have recently redesigned our algebra-based courses so that the curriculum is a series of project-based units. For example, the unit on solar cookers involves learning about heat transfer, reflection, blackbody radiation, and the greenhouse effect. The students then demonstrate their understanding of these concepts by constructing a solar oven and writing a paper explaining how their design decisions were based on physics principles. Additional units include video analysis, bridge design, alternative energy, power generation, optics, and cell signaling.

  • • Preparing for the AP® Physics 1 Exam - Part 1: Linear Motion

    • BD05
    • Sun 01/10, 3:20PM - 3:30PM

    • by Donald Franklin, GiGi Nevils-Noe

    • Type: Contributed
    • Learn how to use free online course content to both integrate digital resources in a traditional classroom and “flip” your classroom. We will demonstrate using Rice Online's "Preparing for the AP® Physics 1 Exam,” free online course, OpenStax College’s College Physics for AP® Courses textbook. These resources include inquiry investigations, Phet simulations, Direct Measurement Videos and engaging Concept Trailers. We model research-driven tools shown to promote long-term retention of AP® physics concepts.

• Flipped Classrooms B

  • • The Half-flipped Classroom: Just-in-Time Teaching

    • CB01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Andrew Gavrin
    • Type: Invited
    • Many reports suggest the existence of a dichotomy between “traditional” and “flipped” classrooms. This dichotomy is false. Rather, there is a continuum of possibilities that includes these options near the extremes. Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) provides one intermediate point between traditional lectures and flipped classroom formats. From the student’s point of view, the pre-class preparation is lighter, but still more rigorous than the traditional model. From the instructor’s point of view, JiTT requires substantially less investment in developing videos and other materials, and offers an opportunity to expand in-class interactivity without taking over the entire session. In this talk, we will explore the spectrum of approaches that are available to faculty, and the possibilities for moving along that continuum to optimize learning.

  • • Faculty Experiences Teaching Studio-mode Classes to Diverse Student Populations*

    • CB02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Jacquelyn Chini, Jarrad Pond

    • Type: Contributed
    • Many studio-mode courses make use of “flipped classroom” pedagogy. Students are expected to introduce themselves to the content before class so that they can practice using the content during class. While there are many good reasons to flip your classroom, the fact that it is “flipped” indicates it varies from students’ typical experiences. We are exploring faculty and students’ experiences with this course format in algebra-based introductory physics courses at a variety of schools. Here, we discuss the course from the instructors’ points-of-view, based on interviews with faculty from two universities with large numbers of students from ethnic groups traditionally under-represented in science fields. We will focus on the ways in which instructors feel the course provides support or acts as a barrier for students with diverse backgrounds. *This work is support in part by NSF Grant No. 1347515.

  • • Flipping General Physics: First Experience and Lessons Learned

    • CB03
    • Sun 01/10, 4:40PM - 4:50PM
    • by George Matthews
    • Type: Contributed
    • My first experience in flipping a first year calculus-based general physics class showed good learning outcomes but yielded important lessons for future success. Class time included little planned lecture, with nearly all content delivery happening via lecture videos viewed before class. Class time was dedicated to active learning, alternating between ConcepTests and small group problem solving. What brief in-class lecture did occur was prompted by gaps in understanding uncovered during small group problem solving. Critical success factors: communicate reasons for flipping; quiz students on lecture video content; provide each small group with its own whiteboard; choose in-class problems with great care. Students reported little concern over the modest production quality of lecture videos. Students overwhelmingly reported that they would advise other science faculty to flip their classes. For additional information, see http://users.wfu.edu/matthews/teaching/aapt2016/.

  • • Modern Physics for Engineers, A Flipped Course at Purdue

    • CB04
    • Sun 01/10, 4:50PM - 5:00PM

    • by Ronald Reifenberger*, Joseph Cychosz, Rick DeSutter

    • Type: Contributed
    • Purdue’s Department of Physics and Astronomy now offers a flipped modern physics course for engineers. Using a more traditional lecture format in prior course offerings, few if any questions were ever asked, ostensibly because there was insufficient time to process the new information. To address this issue, the course was flipped and students now spend the majority of their time watching video lectures on the web. Utilizing Purdue’s nanoHUB, 85 videos have been produced in a format that allows students to pause, navigate, and review the material as often as they choose. A graded multiple choice lecture quiz is available on-line following each video and tracks daily progress. At the end of each calendar week, the class meets for one 50-minute discussion period. The improvements in learning, the marked increase in the pace and scope of the discussion sections, and the students’ response to the course will be summarized.

  • • Flipping a Modern Physics Class

    • CB05
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:10PM

    • by Juliet Brosing, James Butler

    • Type: Contributed
    • We have "flipped" the classroom for our Modern Physics with Health Applications class. As part of their pre-class work, students watch videos of lectures we have prepared and complete "Web Warm-Ups" (a form of Just-in-Time Teaching). We then spend class time on tutorials, Peer Instruction via "clickers," solving homework problems, and other group work. The class also has an intensive lab component in which the students do a few standard labs along with health professions-related projects. The Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey (QMCS) developed by the University of Colorado PER group was administered. Results of the survey will be presented as well as the challenges and successes of the class.

• Focused Collection on Upper-Division PER

  • • Becoming a Physicist: The Roles of Research, Mindsets, and Milestones

    • EC01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM

    • by Paul Irving, Eleanor Sayre

    • Type: Invited
    • As part of a longitudinal study into identity development in upper-level physics students, we used a phenomenographic research method to examine students' perceptions of what it means to be a physicist. Analysis revealed six different categories of perception of what it means to be a physicist with an importance placed on the following themes: research and its association with being a physicist; differences in mindset, and exclusivity of accomplishments. The paper highlights how these perceptions relate to two communities of practice that the students are members of, and highlights the importance of undergraduate research for students to transition from the physics undergraduate community of practice to the community of practicing physicists.

  • • Evolution of Student Ideas in Quantum Mechanics

    • EC02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Gina Passante
    • Type: Invited
    • Energy measurements and time dependence play a fundamental role in the theory of quantum mechanics, yet there is evidence that these ideas are difficult for many students, even after all undergraduate instruction. As part of the process of developing curriculum to address these difficulties we have analyzed student responses to open-ended questions given after lecture instruction. In this talk I will describe some results that show how students’ ideas evolve (or fail to evolve) throughout instruction from sophomore modern physics to graduate quantum mechanics. This work has been done in collaboration with Paul J. Emigh (University of Washington) and Peter S. Shaffer (University of Washington).

  • • Identifying and Addressing Student Difficulties in Advanced Thermal Physics Courses*

    • EC03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 5:00PM

    • by Trevor Smith, Warren Christensen, Donald Mountcastle, John Thompson

    • Type: Invited
    • We present results from a multi-year investigation of student understanding of advanced undergraduate thermal physics. We focus on identifying specific student difficulties with classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, and addressing these difficulties by designing guided-inquiry tutorial activities for students to complete either in additional to or in place of traditional lecture instruction. We find evidence that many of the difficulties identified at the introductory level persist into the upper division. However, we also find evidence of more sophisticated difficulties that are indicative of the more advanced thinking required of students at the upper division. Their developing knowledge and understanding give rise to questions and struggles that are inaccessible to novices. Difficulties often stem from needing to synthesize various pieces of information and lines of reasoning into a coherent whole. We preset specific examples in the context of students reasoning about the density of states function and the Boltzmann factor. *Supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE-0817282 and PHY-0406764) and the Maine Academic Prominence Initiative.

  • • Development and Uses of Upper-division Conceptual Assessments

    • EC04
    • Mon 01/11, 5:00PM - 5:30PM

    • by Bethany Wilcox, Marcos Caballero, Charles Baily, Homeyra Sadagiani, Steven Pollock

    • Type: Invited
    • The use of validated conceptual assessments alongside conventional course exams as a measure of student learning in introductory courses has become common practice in many physics departments. These assessments provide a more standard measure of certain learning goals, thus allowing for comparisons of student learning across instructors, semesters, institutions, and pedagogies. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) have developed several assessments designed to target the more advanced physics of upper-division classical mechanics, electrostatics, quantum mechanics, and electrodynamics courses. Here, we synthesize the existing research on CU's upper-division assessments and discuss some of the barriers and challenges associated with their development, validation, and implementation as well as some of the strategies we have used to overcome these barriers.

• Forum on Teaching Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers

  • • Forum on Teaching Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers

    • TOP2B
    • Sun 01/10, 6:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by Beth Marchant
    • Type: Topical
    • Do you work with in-service or pre-service teachers? Teach elementary education majors or conduct professional development? Come to this forum to discuss your ideas, ask questions and learn from others. Prior to this session think about what is most important to you, as we will spend the first 5 minutes self-organizing around those topics. We will break at the 30- and 60-minute marks to quickly summarize and reorganize in an effort to accommodate those who may not be able to attend the entire session and those who want to focus on more than 1 topic.

• Friday Registration

  • • Friday Registration

    • REG01
    • Fri 01/08, 4:00PM - 7:00PM
    • Pearl Watson
      
    • Type: Registration
    • Set by 12:00 p.m. on 1/8/16

• Graduate International Experiences

  • • High Speed Cameras in Physics Education

    • EG01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM
    • by Michael Vollmer
    • Type: Invited
    • Video analysis is an important tool to investigate the dynamics of transient physics phenomena. Although there are processes that may be studied using available simple and inexpensive cameras with 25 or 30 Hz frame rate, there is also a very large number of phenomena in all fields of physics which happen too fast for regular video analysis. Fortunately, enormous progress has been made recently in the fields of microsystems, microelectronics and computer science leading to many new products including also affordable high speed cameras. Nowadays high-speed imaging with subsequent analysis can support physics teaching at all levels and dozens of relevant refs are available. The presentation introduces the topic, discusses specifics of high speed imaging compared to regular video analysis and gives selected examples from all fields of physics. The author is interested in cooperating with US teachers and physicists sharing interest in High Speed Imaging in physics education.

  • • Possibilities for Strengthening the U.S. and International PER Community

    • EG02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM

    • by Florian Genz, André Bresges, Daniel MacIsaac, Jeremias Weber

    • Type: Invited
    • As mandatory part of the Physics Teacher Training of University of Cologne, Germany, students learn how to use tablets to capture short science movies. This idea was adapted to two teacher preparation courses at the Buffalo State College, NY, USA. This was done in two cycles, in accordance with the methods of Design and Action Based Research. The results show that the adaption is fruitful for both the two teacher preparation courses and the Teacher Training Programme of Cologne, but also highlights the rewards and challenges in adapting new teaching methods from other learning cultures. In the presentation both the underlying idea as well as the implementation will be described. The outcomes of this adaption will be described in detail, with examples from the students. Finally, further possibilities for cooperation in the international learning and teaching community will be brought up and discussed.

  • • How to broaden your horizons with international PER

    • EG03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 5:00PM
    • by Christine Lindstrøm
    • Type: Invited
    • I am an international PER person: I grew up in Norway, went to university in Australia for eight years, subsequently worked in Norway for four years, during which time I also taught a graduate course at a university in Thailand and had three month-long visits to South Africa. I am currently a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder, and will spend the next year in South Africa. In my talk, I will elaborate on how these opportunities arose, share some of the benefits and challenges of such an international focus, and discuss how graduate students may seek out similar experiences and opportunities for collaboration with PER people around the world.

  • • Crossing Borders as Part of your Graduate Studies Development Process

    • EG04
    • Mon 01/11, 5:00PM - 5:30PM
    • by Carolina Alvarado
    • Type: Invited
    • We live in a world that tends to set borders, so you can be aware on whereyou are in a certain moment. I want to share with you how crossing borders is a crucial way to improve your experience as a graduate student while shaping yourself as a future researchers. Borders can be defined in several ways, in my personal experience, I had an opportunity to do a research visit for six months as a graduate student that pushed several borders: geographical, institutional, changing research group, exploring new theoretical framework, working with a completely different population, using someone else's data, among others. The interesting part of this change, it was not deviating me from my personal research plan, but strengthening it from new unexplored areas. Getting out of your comfort zone and expanding your horizons as a graduate student allows you to explore new dimensions of Physics Education Research areas that you might not have been able to explore if you don't push yourself beyond your current borders. I share my personal journey as a graduate student having a redefining visiting scholar experience.

• Graduate Student Topical Discussion

  • • Graduate Student Topical Discussion

    • TOP5E
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00AM - 9:30AM
    • by Gina Quan
    • Type: Topical
    • This session is the primary opportunity for members of the PER graduate students community to meet and discuss common issues.

• High School

  • • AP Physics 1 and 2 in a Single Traditional Year

    • FG01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:10PM
    • by Elizabeth Hondorf
    • Type: Contributed
    • The change from Physics B to Physics 1 and 2 has provided opportunities for students to deepen their conceptual understanding of Physics and to experience more hands-on learning through lab activities. However, finding a way to offer the complete sequence of AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C Mechanics and AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism in a traditional, 8 period day provides scheduling challenges for students, teachers and administrators since this amounts to three years of Physics courses. This session will examine a solution developed at Oak Ridge High School (Tennessee) that allows students to complete both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2, with appropriate lab time, in a single school year, which prepares them to take both AP Physics C courses in a subsequent year.

  • • Educating Students in More Than Just Physics

    • FG02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:10PM - 7:20PM
    • by Michelle Tantillo
    • Type: Contributed
    • Social emotional learning is important and powerful for teaching all students. This session will inspire teachers to not only teach physics in their high school classrooms, but to teach students tools for their emotional well being. It only takes a few minutes each week out of physics content to help students grow in character and values and learn tools for success outside of any classroom. Resources and activities will be shared that can be added to any physics curriculum to help give extra inspiration for students of all levels.

  • • How to Organize STEM Festivals (Contribution of Physics Hands-ons)

    • FG03
    • Mon 01/11, 7:20PM - 7:30PM
    • by Ali Dal
    • Type: Contributed
    • STEM Festivals are the fun way of engaging students interests into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. By using "magic" in physics to spark students' interest in these fields. I will be presenting some of the mysterious hands-on activities. I will go through the process of how to engage students into festivals and how to organize one in your schools.

  • • Using the AAPT Photo Contest Photos in Introductory Courses

    • FG04
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 7:40PM
    • by Frank Lock
    • Type: Contributed
    • Files of the winning entries to the AAPT High School Physics Photo contestfrom 1998 through 2015 are available on the AAPT website (http://aapt.org/Programs/contests/photocontest.cfm). This presentation will introduce an activity using these photos in an introductory lesson in your high school or university first course in physics.

  • • Physics-related Contexts in Mathematics Textbooks for Mexican Secondary School

    • FG05
    • Mon 01/11, 7:40PM - 7:50PM

    • by Josip Slisko, Adrián Corona Cruz, Honorina Ruiz Estrada

    • Type: Contributed
    • Problem solving skills are among the most important 21st century competences. Mathematics teaching should help students identify, practice and improve those skills in real-world contexts. A school problem is “authentic” if (a) event or situation happens or could happen in the real world; (b) numerical data describing event or situation are real or, in principle, possible and (c) question asked in problem is reasonable. Otherwise, a problem is “artificially contextualized.” In that case, students’ real-world knowledge and common sense might lead them to conclude that mathematics problems are useless for their lives and future professional work. In this talk, a collection of alarming, artificially -- contextualized physics-related problems found in mathematics textbooks for Mexican secondary school will be presented and commented. These problems, along with others, were collected within the research project “The use of physics contexts in mathematics education: the defects and the didactic remedies,” funded by the VIEP-BUAP.

  • • Individualized Instruction in Physics with STEM Students on the Stage Model (SOS)

    • FG06
    • Mon 01/11, 7:50PM - 8:00PM
    • by Levent Sakar
    • Type: Contributed
    • STEM SOS is a rigorous, interdisciplinary, standards-focused, and engagingSTEM teaching approach that is teacher-facilitated, student-centered and directed through sets of project- and inquiry-based (P&IBL) projects. The Harmony PBL approach is to maintain the focus on standards-based teaching while enriching and extending the learning of students through PBL projects. The goal is to promote not only collaborative skills and student ownership of learning but also to promote student success in state and national standards. I will show samples of students' e-portfolios as final products of physics projects. There is high level technology integration and digital citizenship as 21th century skills. These e-portfolios allows online collaboration among students from different classes and teachers from different subjects.

• History of Physics and Astronomy

  • • Hooke and Newton

    • ED01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM
    • by Robert Purrington
    • Type: Invited
    • Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton had an antagonistic relationship that deeplyaffected each other’s lives. Newton triumphed not only because of his greater genius and especially his mathematical knowledge, but also by refusing to acknowledge Hooke’s very important contributions and in particular his statement of universal gravitation in 1665, as well as the key he gave Newton to understanding “attraction toward the center and motion by the tangent” which led to the Principia. We attempt to show just what Newton’s debt to Hooke was why the two were continually at odds. “Everything you Thought You Knew About the History of Quantum Mechanics is Wrong” [tougher] While we all understand the formalism of quantum mechanics, as developed in 1925-32 by Heisenberg, Born, Jordan, Dirac, and von Neumann, often the history of that “heroic era” is bowdlerized if taught at all. We highlight a few episodes which are typically distorted or misunderstood, with a view toward setting the record straight.

  • • Augustin Fresnel and the Lighthouse Revolution

    • ED02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Theresa Levitt*
    • Type: Invited
    • Augustin Fresnel was one of the most important physicists of the 19th century, responsible for a wave theory of light that served as a model for mathematical physics. But he is best known by many as the inventor of the Fresnel lens, the lighthouse lens that is now a staple of museum displays. The invention of the lens in the 1820s made lighthouses reliably visible from a great distance for the first time, and signaled the transition from harbor lights to genuine coastal lights. A study of Fresnel's career reveals interesting relations between the pursuit of theoretical physics and engineering practice. Although employed as an engineer, Fresnel's ambitions lay primarily in physical theory. As the social consequences of his lighthouse work became clearer, however, he devoted himself more to the practical elements.

  • • The Physicist Robert H. Dicke and Experiments in Gravitation

    • ED03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 5:00PM
    • by Martin McHugh
    • Type: Invited
    • Robert Dicke was one of the late 20th century’s most influential physicists. After a PhD thesis in nuclear physics, and wartime work on microwave radar, Dicke made his early impact in the area of atomic physics. But by the mid 1950’s his interests had shifted towards gravitation and Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. Dicke was a primary force behind the then nascent field of experimental relativity. His approach to precision measurements has remained extremely influential.

  • • Magic, Science, and Religion: Lessons Learned from Interdisciplinary Team-Teaching

    • ED04
    • Mon 01/11, 5:00PM - 5:10PM
    • by Donald Smith
    • Type: Contributed
    • Religious Studies Professor Eric Mortensen and I have developed an interdisciplinary course we call “Magic, Science, and Religion.” This course represents a general education capstone experience and can be taken by any senior at Guilford College. We establish an aggressive reading schedule and guide the students through some of the best writers in human thought on the question of how we make sense of the world. We grapple with history, philosophy, anthropology, quantum mechanics, neurobiology, folklore, and Tibetan Buddhism, among other topics. The students must digest readings from authors as diverse as Annie Dillard, Ibn Tufayl, and J. Z. Smith. In this talk, I will present highlights from the three times we have taught the course, I will introduce some of the readings I think might be most useful or provocative for physics teachers, and I will describe some of the ways interdisciplinary team-teaching has informed my physics teaching.

  • • Reacting to History: Role-Playing Science for Non-Majors

    • ED05
    • Mon 01/11, 5:10PM - 5:20PM
    • by Shawn Weatherford
    • Type: Contributed
    • The "Reacting to the Past" immersive role-playing curriculum is gaining popularity among historians as a vehicle for analyzing the positions of major participants during moments of radical change. The curriculum emphasizes how factions of common thinkers build consensus by convincing those who are indeterminate of the merits of new ideas. Students engage background readings and original sourced documents to prepare for a series of debates, while personifying historical figures. This presentation will focus on and explore the author's experience utilizing "The Trial of Galileo," a science-themed game used to explore the consequences of Galileo’s discoveries during a course called “Scientific Revolutions” at Saint Leo University. During the game, students are responsible for learning and teaching the arguments for and against heliocentricity, while considering the nature of knowledge and the role of the Catholic Church in the 17th century.

• Innovations in Online Education

  • • Peer Instruction in Online Introductory Physics

    • HD01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 12:40PM
    • by Kent Price
    • Type: Contributed
    • Peer Instruction (PI) has been well-established as more effective at teaching introductory physics concepts than traditional lecture in face-to-face classrooms. Yet in the traditional implementation of PI, students communicate with one another in real time. Because one of the significant advantages of online instruction is its asynchronous nature that allows students to work on their own schedules, traditional PI is not feasible in online courses. The author will present the results of utilizing a modified form of PI in online algebra-based physics at Morehead State University. The modified method retains the ‘initial commitment to a response’ and ‘peer interaction’ aspects of PI, while allowing the peer interaction to occur in an asynchronous manner. The method will be described and compared to traditional face-to-face PI. Force Concepts Inventory assessments and individual student responses will be presented showing that online PI can be effective in increasing student understanding of elementary physics concepts.

  • • Using an Online Course to Supplement an On-Campus Course

    • HD02
    • Tue 01/12, 12:40PM - 12:50PM
    • by Andrew Duffy
    • Type: Contributed
    • During spring 2015, we developed and taught an AP Physics 1 course on edX (currently running again). Because there is so much overlap of that content with the first semester of our university-level algebra-based introductory physics class, we set up a local instance of the online course, supplemented the material with additional units on fluids, heat, and thermodynamics, and provided it to our on-campus students as an additional free resource. In this talk, we report on the outcomes of the fall 2015 experience, including results of student surveys regarding whether they found this additional material to be useful, how often they used it, and their comments regarding how it could be improved.

  • • Facilitating Students’ Problem Solving Using Computer Coaches in Classroom

    • HD03
    • Tue 01/12, 12:50PM - 1:00PM
    • by Bijaya Aryal
    • Type: Contributed
    • Computer Coaches allow students to pace their own interaction while receiving coaching from the tool. Instructors at University of Minnesota Rochester have utilized web-based Computer Coaches for problem solving activities in a small classroom setting in an introductory level physics course for the last three years. However, to improve flexibility for students in choosing their solution paths, the University of Minnesota Physics Education Research Group has been developing Customizable Computer Coaches for Physics Online (C3PO). We have explored various strategies to make the tool appealing to more students and improve the effectiveness of the usage. We report the results derived from students’ quiz and exam grades pertaining to physics problem solving in order to describe the educational impact of the tool. Using student interviews, observation of student interactions and a survey we compare the effectiveness of the two versions of the coaches on students’ usability and their problem solving performances.

  • • Research Validated Distance Learning Labs for Introductory Physics Using IOLab

    • HD04
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:10PM

    • by David Sokoloff, Erik Bodegom, Erik Jensen

    • Type: Contributed
    • The IOLab is a versatile, relatively inexpensive data acquisition device developed by Mats Selen and his colleagues at University of Illinois (1). It is self-contained in a cart that can roll on its own wheels, while an optical encoder measures motion quantities. It also contains probes to measure a variety of other physical quantities like force, temperature, light intensity, sound intensity and current and voltage. With a cost of around $100, students can purchase their own individual device (like a clicker), and can—in theory—use it to do hands-on laboratory, pre-lecture (flipped classroom) and homework activities at home. We report on the preliminary results of a National Science Foundation-funded project to develop distance-learning (DL) laboratories using the IOLab (2). We plan to develop RealTime Physics (3,4)-like mechanics labs based on the IOLab, test them in a supervised laboratory environment at PSU, and then test them as DL labs at PSU and Chemeketa. Research on student learning and epistemological issues will be done with the FMCE (5) and ECLASS (6).

  • • Adaptations of Learning Glass Technology in Undergraduate Physics Education

    • HD05
    • Tue 01/12, 1:10PM - 1:20PM

    • by Matt Anderson, Shawn Firouzian, Lorah Bodie, Chris Rasmussen

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Learning Glass is an innovative new instructional technology that holds considerable promise for engaging STEM class students and improving their learning outcomes. The Learning Glass screen acts as a transparent whiteboard. The instructor writes on a glass screen with LED illuminated edges. A camera on the opposite side of the glass records the video and horizontally flips the image (and hence the instructor is not required to write backward). In this report we share the results of an efficacy study between an online calculus-based physics course using Learning Glass technology and a large auditorium-style lecture hall taught via document projector. Both courses were taught with the same instructor using identical content and materials. Our quasi-experimental design involved identical pre- and post-course assessments evaluating students’ attitudes and their conceptual learning gains. Results are promising, with similar learning gains for all students, including minority and economically disadvantaged students.

• Interactive Lecture Demonstrations - What's New? ILDs Using Clickers and Video Analysis

  • • Interactive Lecture Demonstrations: Active Learning in Lecture Including Clickers and Video Analysis

    • FF01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM

    • by David Sokoloff, Ronald Thornton

    • Type: Invited
    • The results of physics education research and the availability of computer-based tools have led to the development of the Activity Based Physics Suite.(1) Most of the Suite materials are designed for hands-on learning, for example student-oriented laboratory curricula such as RealTime Physics. One reason for the success of these materials is that they encourage students to take an active part in their learning. This interactive session will demonstrate--through active audience participation--Suite materials designed to promote active learning in lecture, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs)(2), including those using clickers and video analysis.

  • • Interactive Lecture Demonstrations: Effectiveness in Teaching Concepts

    • FF02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM

    • by Ronald Thornton, David Sokoloff

    • Type: Invited
    • The effectiveness of Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs) in teachingphysics concepts has been studied using physics education research based, multiple-choice conceptual evaluations.(1) Results of such studies will be presented, including studies with clicker ILDs. These results should be encouraging to those who wish to improve conceptual learning in their introductory physics course.

• International Programs and Teaching Experiences

  • • An American Instructor in an Upper-Level Italian Physics Class

    • CG01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Gerald Feldman
    • Type: Invited
    • In spring 2014, I taught an upper-level Nuclear Experimental Techniques class in Italy, utilizing an active-learning pedagogical approach that was undoubtedly novel for the students. The class was an elective for third-year undergraduates, so their enrollment was optional, and a balance had to be established between trying these interactive methods in class and “testing the tolerance” of the students who had mostly been raised in a more passive classroom environment. In addition, the class was taught in English, which is not the norm for Italian undergraduate classes, so the language issue became an important factor to consider. Questions to address included: (1) Did students like the interactive environment? (2) Did they participate fully in the classroom activities? (3) Did they perceive any educational benefit from the higher level of engagement? I will present the details of this experiment and a summary of the outcome, along with student feedback on their perceptions of the active-learning experience in this class.

  • • Taking U.S. Students to a German University Lab*

    • CG02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 5:00PM

    • by Evangeline Downie, Raluca Teodorescu, William Briscoe

    • Type: Invited
    • For many years the George Washington University has taken summer research students to Mainz, Germany, to gain experience at the Mainzer Microtron (MAMI). With the award in 2014 of an NSF IRES grant, it was decided to add more structure to the program and use PER techniques to investigate the student experience and establish some best-practice guidelines for such experiences. We will report on the procedures we have implemented and their effect on the student outcomes. We will share the initial experiences and the gains we have found from local, pre-travel training and regular meeting and monitoring structures throughout the summer. *This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIA-1358175.

  • • Teaching Physics in Afghanistan and Math in the D.P.R.K.

    • CG03
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:10PM
    • by Marek Radzikowski
    • Type: Contributed
    • I discuss some of my experiences teaching Introductory Physics I and II atthe American University of Afghanistan 2011--2015, and teaching Advanced Calculus to graduate students at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, D.P.R.K., for three weeks in the summer of 2012.

  • • Teaching Physics in Refugee Camps

    • CG04
    • Sun 01/10, 5:10PM - 5:20PM

    • by Mary Lowe, Harry Lee, Ben Doyle

    • Type: Contributed
    • In 2015, in collaboration with the academic program led by Jesuit Commons:Higher Education at the Margins, an online physical science course was developed and administered to 115 students at six refugee sites in Kakuma Camp, Kenya; Dzaleka Camp, Malawi; Amman, Jordan; and Taunggyi, Myanmar. The course was constructed in two modules: physics and chemistry. The latter was taught by Dr. Patrick Daubenmire, Loyola University Chicago. The physics portion covered Newton’s laws, thermodynamics, gravity, and electricity. Online review questions and onsite activities (in electrical circuits) were incorporated. We will describe the infrastructure needed to conduct this course, the choice and delivery of physics course materials prepared by the professor, and the resulting online course developed by the JesuitNET Global production team. Despite having no prior knowledge of the subject matter, some students achieved the highest possible letter grade. Evaluations by the students and facilitators at the sites will be provided.

  • • Real Experimentation Across the Internet and Across Borders, Ampere’s Law

    • CG05
    • Sun 01/10, 5:20PM - 5:30PM

    • by Jeremiah Bechtold, Perry Tompkins

    • Type: Contributed
    • Virtual instrumentation allows the formation of real experiments that are served to remote locations, even across international borders. This is especially useful in international contexts that often are trying to educate physics students in resource-limited environments. In these environments, often physics theory is prevalent, but experimentation can be lacking. This presentation outlines a project that makes the measurement of the magnetic field of a long straight wire, served across the internet using National Instrument’s LabVIEW software. This experiment is available to anyone that can reasonably access the internet. The measurement is an actual measurement that combines video, control of the position of a hall-probe and a high current power-supply. Measurement of the permeability of free space is typically made within errors less than 10%. This overall strategy is envisioned as a way that national universities can provide local high-schools and regional universities access to experimentation that would otherwise be unavailable.

• International Women in Physics

  • • Training Women in Physics at Two Georgia Women’s Colleges

    • FD01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM

    • by Marta Dark, Amy Lovell

    • Type: Invited
    • This paper will discuss our experiences at two Atlanta area women’s colleges: Agnes Scott and Spelman. The majority of physics majors at these two colleges are from the United States, where many students will need additional mathematics preparation before attempting calculus.  Engaging such students meaningfully in physics and encouraging their interest while they gain mathematics expertise is a challenge in sequenced curriculum design. After graduation, in addition to further study in related disciplines, our physics majors pursue careers in diverse fields such as patent law, biomedical devices, education, and finance.

  • • Women Physicists in Canada

    • FD02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM
    • by Tetyana Antimirova
    • Type: Invited
    • Over the past four decades the representation of female physicists in Canada has been steadily growing at each educational level and in academic careers, but the progress remains slow compared to other professions previously dominated by males. Overall, the pattern of gender participation in Canadian STEM is somewhat similar to that in the U.S. The Canadian gender participation rates in physics largely reflect the number of high school graduates with physics background. The relatively low participation rate of women students in high school physics is identified as an important contributing factor for female under-representation in Canadian undergraduate STEM education. Although relatively few females obtain an undergraduate degree in physics, the attrition rates are similar for female and male students at the Masters and PhD levels. This talk will also discuss current initiatives to increase female representation in physics and provide case studies of female student success across Canada.

• Introductory Courses

  • • Get Real! -- Appropriate Values for Introductory Electrostatics Problems

    • GD01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 8:40AM
    • by Robert Morse
    • Type: Contributed
    • Novice physics students must work problems using unfamiliar quantities with unfamiliar magnitudes and unfamiliar units. Good practice should be to use physically reasonable values with magnitudes within students experience, when possible. Textbook mechanics problems usually meet this criterion, but in a sampling of about 20 introductory texts, this was not usually true in simple electrostatics problems, possibly because problem posers have little experience with reasonable charge values in an introductory laboratory. Electrostatic charge sensors (1) now available let students measure actual charge values in simple electrostatic experiments, so problem writers can in many cases use values consistent with observable charge magnitudes.

  • • Electric Field Line Diagrams Can Work (Better)

    • GD02
    • Tue 01/12, 8:40AM - 8:50AM

    • by James Martin, Lauren Rast, David Shealy, Anca Lungu, Takahisa Tokumoto

    • Type: Contributed
    • For 20 years electric field line diagrams (EFLDs) have been known to contain issues with 3D -> 2D projection and other distortions.(1) Yet internet apps still produce EFLDs with prominent artifacts. EFLDs displayed in introductory physics texts seem to come from the art department, rather than from calculations. Technical issues and changing pedagogical approaches to E&M have led some to question the utility of EFLDs in introductory courses.(2) We will discuss: 1. improved computational approaches yielding 2D EFLDs which are physically valid and useful for teaching; and 2. related pedagogical issues (improving students’ initial understanding of field abstractions and strategies for selecting physical examples). We will describe an ISLE-inspired observational Gauss’s Law experiment emphasizing multiple student-initiated explanations based on 2D EFLDs.

  • • Surface Charge in Electrostatics and Circuits

    • GD03
    • Tue 01/12, 8:50AM - 9:00AM

    • by Bruce Sherwood, Ruth Chabay

    • Type: Contributed
    • In electrostatics and in circuits, charge buildups on the surfaces of conductors contribute to the electric field inside and outside of the conductors. A relaxation method based on field [1] was used to compute the surface charge distributions in 3D for a number of interesting configurations. These distributions and the associated fields can be explored interactively with a GlowScript VPython program at tinyurl.com/SurfaceCharge. The talk will highlight some of the interesting features of these charge distributions. In the calculus-based intro E&M course this interactive program can help students to acquire a deeper sense of mechanism of circuit behavior, and to unify the explanations of electrostatic and circuit phenomena.

  • • Harmonics from Overdriven Guitar Amplifier Tubes

    • GD04
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:10AM
    • by David Keeports
    • Type: Contributed
    • Most electric guitar players who desire an overdriven or distorted sound prefer tube amplifiers to transistor amplifiers. The superior sound of tubes is usually attributed to the fact that when overdriven, tubes produce strong second harmonics while transistors produce strong third harmonics. In turn, second harmonics add pleasant complexity to sound while third harmonics can produce dissonance. But do tubes and transistors really produce the harmonics they are commonly said to produce? To answer this question, I will present the results of tests I performed upon a variety of tube amplifiers and tube amplifier simulators. For each test, I input a sine wave and increased amplifier gain while observing output with a frequency analyzer. The answer to my question is, “more yes than no, and with an interesting twist.”

  • • Investigating Instructor Credibility in a Studio-Style Physics Class

    • GD05
    • Tue 01/12, 9:10AM - 9:20AM

    • by Jonathan Gaffney, Amy Housley Gaffney

    • Type: Contributed
    • Instructor credibility refers to students’ perceptions of the competence, trustworthiness, and caring of instructors. Difficult to gain but easy to lose, credibility is often closely correlated with overall course satisfaction. In this short talk, we present the curious case of an instructor who received unusually low credibility and satisfaction scores. We highlight potential explanations for those scores based on students’ reported expectations and experiences in the course. By connecting students’ perceptions to their expectations and experiences, we underscore the possible impact of course structure, student expectations, and instructor behavior on overall student satisfaction.

  • • Impact on Student Performance of an Introductory Physics Course at the PI

    • GD06
    • Tue 01/12, 9:20AM - 9:30AM
    • by Hagop Aynedjian
    • Type: Contributed
    • As part of a drive by the physics department at The Petroleum Institute inAbu Dhabi to address the developmental needs of our students, a zero level introductory physics course [PHYS060] was introduced in 2013. The introductory course follows the studio physics approach previously adopted by the department. This paper will highlight preliminary results on student performance within the course itself and the impact it has had on student performances in the level one physics course [Phys 191]. As a more detailed review is under way the current paper will only focus on results from a summative assessment, learning environment surveys, and student interviews. The paper will include a discussion on the areas in need of improvement and future redevelopment efforts.

  • • Game Show Review Sessions

    • GD07
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 9:40AM
    • by David Dixon
    • Type: Contributed
    • A style of review session for an introductory physics class in the form ofa game of Jeopardy! will be presented. Students work together in teams to solve simple physics problems, which they pick from a game board for a given point value. A sample question set will be provided.

  • • Physics and Psychology: Integrating Disciplines Through Video Analysis

    • GD08
    • Tue 01/12, 9:40AM - 9:50AM

    • by Chamaree de Silva, Jeff Pullen, Katharine Northcutt, Jarred Jenkins

    • Type: Contributed
    • Program in Integrative Science and Mathematics (PRISM) is a pilot project at Mercer University. It is designed to guide a selected cohort of our at-risk, non-calculus ready, incoming student population. Traditionally, this group of students has had a lower freshmen retention rate compared to that of our calculus-ready students. In this program, students study Physics, Psychology, Biology, Statistics, and Precalculus in an integrated manner with four faculty members over the first two semesters. Students learn how these subjects are not stand-alone disciplines, but are intertwined with one another giving these at-risk students an early introduction to what science is, as a whole. All PRISM students conduct and present authentic research on how the velocity and acceleration of predators (humans) affect the Flight Initiation Distance (FID) of squirrels. Here we integrate kinematics with psychology of small mammal behavior and statistics. Students record scenarios of their peers approaching squirrels on-campus and in the wild using a high-speed, high-resolution camera. Video analysis is performed using Logger Pro to determine the FID, velocity, and acceleration of humans and squirrels. Students gather conclusions based on this evidence and perform group presentations at the end of fall, and poster presentations at the end of the school year.

  • • Diffusion, Drug Elimination, Radioactive Decay and Osmosis for Introductory Courses

    • GD09
    • Tue 01/12, 9:50AM - 10:00AM
    • by Peter Nelson
    • Type: Contributed
    • Teaching materials have been developed for introductory physics for the life sciences. They are written as self-contained self-study guides. The first chapter introduces students to using Excel using an authentic computational model of diffusion that introduces students to equilibrium as a dynamic stochastic process in the context of the oxygen cascade. Students discover that Fick’s law is a consequence of Brownian motion in an active learning exercise using a kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of their own construction. Subsequent chapters introduce students to: algorithms and computational thinking; exponential decay in drug elimination and radioactive decay; half-life and semi-log plots; finite difference methods (and calculus); the principles of scientific modeling; model validation and residual analysis; and osmosis. Analysis of published clinical data and Nobel Prize winning research is featured. Because the materials are self-contained they can be used in a flipped-classroom approach. The chapters are available for free at http://circle4.com/biophysics/chapters/

  • • Tracking a System’s Evolving Energy Distribution with a Ternary Diagram

    • GD10
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:10AM

    • by Bob Brazzle, Anne Tapp

    • Type: Contributed
    • Ternary diagrams can be used to display a system's evolving energy distribution, provided the system has exactly three categories of energy. This type of graph is well-suited to systems involving transfers and transformations among Gravitational, Kinetic and Thermal energy (e.g. roller coaster) or Electric, Magnetic, and Thermal (e.g. LRC circuit). The advantages of using a ternary diagram in these contexts are: 1) an entire energy transformation scenario can be represented in a single graph, 2) on the same graph, changes can be tracked across very small time-steps, and 3) relative rates of energy changes can be directly seen. Though few students have ever encountered ternary diagrams, they are able to easily learn how to use and interpret them. The presenter will briefly introduce the ternary diagram, describe how he has used them in his introductory (calculus-based) physics course, and discuss initial assessments of the resulting student understanding of energy concepts.

  • • Pencasts: A Piece of the Inexhaustible Resource Tool Kit

    • GD11
    • Tue 01/12, 10:10AM - 10:20AM
    • by Jerry Ross
    • Type: Contributed
    • Between time constraints, flipped classrooms, differentiation goals, and the push for a more inquiry-based classroom, today's average physics professor has an increased demand for materials both inside and outside the classroom. As part of my goal to create a nearly inexhaustible set of study materials I have begun to use Livescribe’s Pencast recordings as ancillary material. Instead of using pencasts as primary lecture tools in a flipped classroom environment, as has been shown quite effective, I have employed student instructors to record examples problems as worked out during class sessions. Each semester I then choose a new set of example problems and add another set of pencast examples to my collection. In this presentation I will show how in a few short years a wealth of over one hundred recorded practice problems have been created without adding much overhead time for the professor.

• Introductory Labs/Apparatus

  • • The Electrophorus

    • GH01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 8:40AM
    • by John Welch
    • Type: Contributed
    • The Electrophorus is a simple device invented in the late 1700's to produce electrostatic charge via induction. It's a great activity for teaching about induction and polarization, a good source of charge for electrostatics demos and labs, and is very easy to make. Construction and use will be discussed and demonstrated.

  • • Beyond Hook’s Law in Scale Bungee Jumping with Rubber Bands

    • GH02
    • Tue 01/12, 8:40AM - 8:50AM
    • by Michael Gallis
    • Type: Contributed
    • Scaled bungee jumping activities are popular at many levels, often implemented as "Barbie Bungee Jumping" using dolls or action figures and elastic cord made from rubber bands. The departure from Hooke’s law in the elastic behavior of the cord can be significant in these activities, and can be a worthwhile part of a discussion of Hooke’s law and its limitations. In this presentation, the measurement of features such as non-linearity, hysteresis, and plastic deformation measured as part of a pre-drop activity will be discussed. An Easy Java-Script Simulation of a bungee jumper has been developed which incorporates a student measured model of the hysteresis envelope and a phenomenological model of the effects of hysteresis during the dynamics of the drop. This simulation will be presented. Finally, some techniques that facilitate the extraction of data from video analysis programs like Tracker will be discussed.

  • • Using Sensors Sensibly in the Introductory Lab

    • GH03
    • Tue 01/12, 8:50AM - 9:00AM
    • by Joseph Kozminski
    • Type: Contributed
    • The use of technology in the introductory lab has increased rapidly over the last two decades with the emergence of relatively affordable sensor systems with accompanying software and lab manuals. These sensors allow for a wide range of experiments to be performed at the introductory level with a low threshold for implementation. However, these systems can also cover up much of the underlying physics and analysis such that they can essentially become black boxes spitting out nice results. Two questions that will be addressed in this talk are: How can we use these sensors sensibly in the lab? and When do we need to unplug?

  • • Recycling Christmas Light for an Onquiry-based Lab

    • GH04
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:10AM
    • by James Kernohan
    • Type: Contributed
    • I will present a simple, inquiry-based lab I use in my high school freshman physics class. I recycle white Christmas lights and challenge students to wire them so that they are all the same brightness, all are the same brightness but dimmer than the first circuit, that three are bright and one is dim, etc. When I give them ammeters and volt meters, they can start to discover Kirchhoff's laws. The most advanced students will discover that resistance of these bulbs depends on their brightnesses. By letting students use equipment that is recycled and recognizable, they are unafraid that they will break anything and more willing to play and take risks.

  • • Laboratory Experiments in Forensic Physics*

    • GH05
    • Tue 01/12, 9:10AM - 9:20AM

    • by Frederick Becchetti, Ramon Torres-Isea, Andrew Stenberg

    • Type: Contributed
    • Using recent developments in affordable research-level instrumentation suitable for student laboratory work, we have developed several experiments in physics-based forensics. The latter is used in the general sense although some experiments do involve crime-scene analysis. The experiments cover physics-related techniques used in various fields of scientific investigation: forensic metallurgy, art forgery, geosciences including lunar and planetary mineralogy, environmental sciences, earth and climate sciences, medical sciences, anthropology, etc. Students are thus introduced to fields outside conventional physics, but areas that often utilize physics technology with important consequences. As an example analysis of ancient coinage using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) provides insight to the rise, expansion and fall of past civilizations e.g. the Roman Empire. Using various techniques, the students analyze many interesting samples: ancient coins (authentic and forged), meteors and terrestrial rock samples, various paint pigments (old and new formula), preserved small animal specimens, and crime-scene evidence as appropriate.

  • • Peer-Review in the Introductory Lab

    • GH06
    • Tue 01/12, 9:20AM - 9:30AM
    • by Dyan Jones
    • Type: Contributed
    • We are currently undertaking initiatives to incorporate best practices of science into the introductory physics sequence. This talk explicates how we've incorporated a peer-review process in the introductory labs, and includes information about implementation, successes and challenges, and some trends regarding student participation and learning.

  • • From Psychology Experiment to Physics Lab: Feeling Angular Momentum

    • GH07
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 9:40AM

    • by Susan Fischer, Alison Ryder, Carly Kontra, Daniel Lyons, Sian Beilock

    • Type: Contributed
    • In a recent study,[1] we found that when students performed embodied activities in which they directly felt the consequences of the vector nature of angular momentum, their performance on related quiz questions improved relative to students who received similar information, but without the embodied component. Our study involved highly controlled lab classrooms that required students to stick to their assigned embodied or non-embodied role and perform the designed activities in a scripted order. These are, however, undesirable features for a physics lab built around active engagement and peer instruction. This talk will report on the preliminary assessment and analysis of a lab activity that has been designed to transform the original psychology experiment on physics students into a physics lab that employs research-based teaching methods while preserving the most important aspects of the embodied activities.

  • • Latent Heat of Fusion of Ice

    • GH08
    • Tue 01/12, 9:40AM - 9:50AM

    • by Pei Xiong-Skiba, Anthony Mendez

    • Type: Contributed
    • One of the popular experiments in an introductory physics and/or chemistrylaboratory course is to measure the latent heat of fusion of ice using calorimeter. Like most heat related experiments, measurement errors are often significant, possibly up to 50%. This presentation explores what experimental conditions systematically affect the calculated percentage errors, especially the sensitivity to initial water bath temperatures and ice forms. Heat losses through various mechanisms are also examined. It is found that under “proper” experimental conditions, the calculated percentage errors can be 5% or less, making the experiment more “meaningful” to students.

  • • IOLab Status and Outlook

    • GH09
    • Tue 01/12, 9:50AM - 10:00AM
    • by Mats Selen
    • Type: Contributed
    • IOLab an inexpensive battery-powered wireless laboratory system that allows students to do hands-on physics activities outside the classroom. The system combines flexible software with a wireless data acquisition platform containing an array of sensors. Interest by the physics community has grown steadily over the past year and over 500 devices are currently in the hands of collaborators across the country. In this talk I will describe the status and outlook on all IOLab fronts: pedagogy, content, hardware, software, and user community.

  • • Simple Video-Recorded Spring Force Sensor

    • GH10
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:10AM

    • by Lauren Rast, Robert Collins, James Martin, David Shealy, Anca Lungu

    • Type: Contributed
    • Introductory physics lab hardware and software can measure almost any relevant physical parameter with elegance and ease. The problem now is deciding what to measure; and WHO will decide what to measure (students or lab creators). Tools for online courses with labs are still an issue. But even outside physics labs, motion-based data is easy to grab with ubiquitous cell phone cameras and electronic info captured with cheap open-source boards. Providing affordable and understandable force sensors for online students is a challenge. We are investigating simple spring-based force sensors with video data recording, and analysis software such as Tracker. We will discuss sensor design for several experimental situations, easy calibration methods, operating details, performance limitations, and extension strategies for other sensor types.

• K-12 PER

  • • Forgetting History and Other Reasons Change Is Hard: Structural Barriers*

    • DC01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by David Meltzer
    • Type: Invited
    • Physics educators have been working since the 1880s to revise and improve the high school physics course, yet change has come quite slowly [1]. To some extent, the slow pace of change can be traced to the ways in which science courses first became part of U.S. high schools, and to how the U.S. physics teacher education system developed [2]. Another key factor has been the inconsistent role played by physicists in the evolution of K-12 education: at certain times, physicists' involvement has been intense and productive; at other times, it has been distant and neglectful. (For example, in the 1880s, early 1900s, and 1960s, physicists were among the leaders in high school curriculum development and instructional reform.) I will review the evolution of physics teaching in the high schools and examine some of the various forces that have both driven and impeded change. *Supported in part by NSF DUE #1256333 [1] D. Meltzer and V. Otero, AJP 83, 447 (2015); [2] D. Meltzer and V. Otero, AJP 82, 633 (2014).

  • • Forgetting History and Other Reasons Change Is Hard: Clashing Perspectives*

    • DC02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 12:00PM
    • by Valerie Otero
    • Type: Invited
    • Since the 1880s, physics education reformers have been calling for increased engagement by physics students in the inductive method (called “inquiry” or a “scientific practice” in more recent times). This theme was repeatedly “rediscovered” in each era, as the intense and passionate debates of previous times were largely forgotten, overlooked, or misinterpreted[1]. I will describe differences in how physics reform movements (such as the project method, the inductive method, and physics for everyday life) have been interpreted by science education reformers with different educational backgrounds and commitments. By highlighting debates originating from diverse objectives, I conjecture that these differences have served to impede educational change and continue to do so today. I will also discuss how certain perspectives held by well-meaning scholars may serve to exclude, rather than include, students from physics and other sciences. Based on this analysis, I will provide recommendations for physics teacher preparation and physics instruction. [1] D. Meltzer and V. Otero, AJP 83, 447 (2015). *Supported in part by NSF grant #DUE-0934921

  • • Quantification of School Students’ Reasoning Abilities Updated

    • DC03
    • Mon 01/11, 12:00PM - 12:10PM

    • by Gordon Aubrecht, Jessica Creamer, Jennifer Esswein, Bill Schmitt

    • Type: Contributed
    • Middle school teachers in our program give students pre- and post-common formative assessments (CFAs) and analyze them. We recruited teachers in the same district's middle school as controls. We created a rubric to assess student communication, correctness, use of evidence, and reasoning on the CFAs. We presented preliminary results in College Park [1], and will present final results of our analysis of samples of students of control and treatment teachers.

• K-16 Physics Education Collaboratives

  • • Bringing LIGO Outreach into the Formal Education Setting

    • GB01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM
    • by Amber Stuver
    • Type: Invited
    • The LIGO Science Education Center (SEC) in Livingston, Louisiana and the larger, nationwide LIGO Scientific Collaboration have been active in developing outreach to bring the basic science concepts underlying the complex field of gravitational waves to the public. Besides our extensive experience with student field trips and school visits, the LIGO SEC makes targeted efforts to train K-12 teachers through presenting professional development on how to make inexpensive versions of the museum-grade exhibits housed at the center in order to bring that science into their classrooms. Further, our outreach also reaches into the undergraduate curriculum by presenting to students, having those students participate in outreach delivery, and training STEM and education majors from Southern University, a HBCU, to serve as docents in the SEC. This talk will summarize the migration of public outreach into formal education setting at all levels.

  • • Informal and Formal STEM - How Do They Influence Each Other?

    • GB02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM
    • by Michele McColgan
    • Type: Invited
    • Teaching physics as part of an informal STEM program for middle school students from a high needs district has influenced my formal college physics teaching and vice versa. To maintain enrollment in this voluntary program requires a high level of engagement while making physics topics relevant and conceptually understandable. Working in informal STEM challenges you as an instructor to try to capture the engagement and enthusiasm and learning that happens in these informal settings. The other challenge is to bridge the gap between the rich type of experiences in informal STEM programs versus the very specific activities that we believe we need in a formal classroom setting, even in the best interactive engagement environment. Can we use the lessons learned in the informal environment to make these activities more engaging? Examples of MinecraftEDU physics lessons from both the informal classes and the general physics college classroom will be presented along with assessments we've used for both.

  • • Reaching the Next Generation of STEM Majors: Outreach Efforts

    • GB03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 10:00AM
    • by Jackie Spears
    • Type: Invited
    • NSF’s inclusion of ‘broader impacts’ as a separate and discrete proposal review criterion in 1997 coupled with increasing needs in the STEM workforce have focused greater attention on STEM outreach to K-12 audiences. Outreach efforts vary in terms of the audience served and whether instruction is provided in or out of classroom settings. This presentation will describe illustrative outreach efforts made by STEM faculty at Kansas State University: (1) directly to K-12 students, (2) indirectly to K-12 students through K-12 teachers, and (3) indirectly to K-12 students and prents/adults. Based on evaluation data collected, the impact of these outreach activities as well as lessons learned will be described. Unexpected impacts and the redesign of outreach activities as a result of those impacts will also be presented. Finally, the extent to which institutional policy can play a role in encouraging and better focusing outreach to K-12 audiences will be discussed.

  • • A Study of Undergraduate Engineering Students Problem Solving Abilities

    • GB04
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:10AM

    • by Bayram Akarsu, Josip Slisko, Beyhan Akarsu

    • Type: Contributed
    • Critical thinking and problem solving abilities are recognized as fundamental and crucial abilities in teaching science concept. The current study aims to explore undergraduate engineering students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills. In addition, their problem solving and puzzle-based learning abilities were examined. Data were collected from 139 freshman students enrolled in different engineering department including Mechatronic, Civil, Electrical and Electronics, Biomedical, Industrial, Computer and Metallurgical and Materials engineering during spring semester of 2013. In terms of gender, a majority of them (N= 94) were male and % 33 (N=46) were female. In conclusion, findings revealed that most of the students lack of employing critical thinking and problem solving skills and are not prepared for puzzle-based learning science activities.

  • • K-16 Science at Edgewood: A Three School Collaboration

    • GB05
    • Tue 01/12, 10:10AM - 10:20AM

    • by Amy Schiebel, Rachael Lancor

    • Type: Contributed
    • In 1999, the Sonderegger Science Center was constructed on the Edgewood Campus. It was the first kindergarten through college science facility in the nation. The grade school, high school and college that inhabit the Edgewood Campus all share the Science Center and teach all, or most, of their science classes within its walls. The charge to the faculty is to work together to maximize the expertise and resources of each institution to create a comprehensive and coordinated science experience for all students. In the 16 years since the building’s dedication, programs involving formal classroom science, informal science, science outreach, and faculty and student professional development have been developed and tested. In this talk, the general program will be discussed with an emphasis on the role of physics instruction and learning in creating a comprehensive science education program.

  • • Self-organized Physics Teacher Communities

    • GB06
    • Tue 01/12, 10:20AM - 10:30AM
    • by M Colleen Megowan- Romanowicz
    • Type: Contributed
    • Teaching is often solitary work. Where can a physics teacher go to connectwith others who do what they do—to share thoughts and ideas, get help with persistent problems, pick up fresh ideas, learn to use the latest technology, stay up-to-date on available resources and opportunities? Teachers participate in local, regional, and national teacher communities for a variety of reasons, and sometimes, when there’s nothing that quite answers their need, they invent a community of their own. In this presentation I will describe how three teachers’ communities self-organized—one national, one regional, and one local. I will offer some data that may provide clues as to what motivates teachers to invest their energy and resources in such a community, the ways in which they want to engage with their respective communities, and what it takes to keep such communities healthy and vital.

• Lab Guidelines Focus Area 2: Designing Experiments

  • • Designing Lab Experiences that Build Experimental Design Skills

    • BI01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Melissa Eblen Zayas
    • Type: Invited
    • The AAPT Lab Guidelines recommend students in both the introductory and advanced labs get experience posing scientific questions and designing experiments to answer them. How can instructors provide experiences with experimental design in introductory labs? And how do instructors continue to support development of experimental design skills in more advanced labs? In this talk, I will provide examples of laboratory activities that provide students opportunities to develop experimental design skills and practice troubleshooting experimental set-ups. In addition, I will discuss some of the challenges of supporting students and assessing learning goals in these types of lab activities.

  • • Planning Experiments for a Freshman Project Course

    • BI02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM
    • by Gordon Ramsey
    • Type: Invited
    • Undergraduate research is strongly encouraged in our department. All incoming freshmen are required to engage a one-semester elementary research project. Under the guidance of a faculty member, groups of four carry out research in an area of first year of physics. The faculty advisor and the group discuss possible projects that would have the students’ interest. They decide on objectives, tasks to be performed, equipment needed and a timeline. Projects involve an initial proposal, designing and building an experiment, performing theoretical calculations, followed by experimentation and analysis. Finally, they orally present their results to other students and faculty. These projects help our students gain skills such as teamwork, taking a leadership role, engaging in research and communicating results to an audience. I will discuss procedures in selecting projects and subsequent management and outcomes of the projects.

  • • Student Use of Modeling When Troubleshooting an Electronic Circuit

    • BI03
    • Sun 01/10, 3:00PM - 3:10PM

    • by Dimitri Dounas-Frazer, Kevin Van De Bogart, MacKenzie Stetzer, H. Lewandowski

    • Type: Contributed
    • Troubleshooting systems is an integral part of experimental physics in both research and educational settings. The AAPT recommendations for laboratory courses identify ability to troubleshoot as an important learning outcome for undergraduate physics students. We investigate students' model-based reasoning on a troubleshooting task using data collected in think-aloud interviews during which pairs of students from two institutions attempted to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning circuit. Our analysis scheme is informed by the Experimental Modeling Framework, which describes physicists' use of mathematical and conceptual models when reasoning about experimental systems. We show that this framework is a useful lens through which to characterize the troubleshooting process. We further highlight how students' model-based reasoning facilitates effective troubleshooting.

  • • Experiment Design in a First-Year Thermal Physics Course

    • BI04
    • Sun 01/10, 3:10PM - 3:20PM

    • by Mary Ann Klassen, Peter Collings

    • Type: Contributed
    • Many of us are daunted by the prospect of developing entirely new lab curricula. A first step can be adapting existing experiments, even "cookbook" ones, so they explicitly teach laboratory skills such as experiment design. In this talk, we describe our experience adapting existing labs for our first-year thermal physics course to allow students time to design their own procedure. Strategies to help students develop good laboratory habits like error estimation and record-keeping will also be discussed.

• Lessons Learned from the Demise of the SSC

  • • SSC Death and the Renaissance of Physics Advocacy

    • FH01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by Philip Hammer
    • Type: Invited
    • The death of the Superconducting Super Collider at the hands of Congress was the beginning of a renaissance in how the physics community advocates for taxpayer support of R&D. I will argue that despite ongoing negative repurcussions for U.S. high energy physics, there have been numerous unexpected positive outcomes for science because the physics community came to realize that as far as Congress is concerned, science is just another interest group and we have to behave like one. As a result, science funding has not suffered as badly as it might have over the last two decades, because our community has learned how to lobby Congress and argue effectively for the societal benefits of federally funded R&D.

  • • How America Losing the Higgs Launched a New Era

    • FH02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM
    • by Mark Elsesser
    • Type: Invited
    • Almost 25 years ago near Waxahachie, TX, construction began on the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) – a U.S. version of the Large Hadron Collider. Two years, $2 billion and 14 miles of tunnels later, Congress officially cancelled the project. But the end of the SSC may have marked the beginning of science lobbying in Washington, DC. While the science and political landscapes have changed, lessons learned from the SSC are still relevant today. I will present a brief history of the SSC, discuss how its cancellation influenced the American Physical Society (APS) to establish its Office of Public Affairs, and describe how the SSC’s story helps inform our advocacy efforts. Additionally, I will present the early findings of a new APS initiative – A Roundtable Series on U.S. Participation in Large-Scale, International Collaborations – that aims to develop an effective script for advocating for future projects.

  • • Lessons from the SSC - A Scientist’s View

    • FH03
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00PM - 8:30PM
    • by Patricia McBride
    • Type: Invited
    • The SSC project was the flagship project of the U.S. particle physics community and its cancellation had significant impact on the particle physics program in the U.S. and on a generation of physicists who planned their to do their research at the laboratory’s facilities. The lessons learned from the SSC project have long been debated within the physics community. The experience served to educate the physics community of the value of outreach and advocacy and highlighted the need for international collaboration in all stages of the development of future large scientific facilities. The global particle physics community pulled together to construct the Large Hadron Collider. I will give a personal recollection on the life of a scientist at the laboratory and on the efforts to advocate for the scientific promise of the SSC project.

• Lessons from the Pre-HS Classroom

  • • Lessons from the Pre-High School Classroom

    • BC01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Amy Nicholl
    • Type: Invited
    • Watching a child swing, skateboard, bounce a ball, or just their never ceasing motion informs us that the basic concepts of physics apply from preschool all the way through to high school and beyond. Building the conceptual understanding of physics, the study of matter and motion through space and time needs to start as early as possible. If we begin early on by helping curious students discover relationships with different kinds of forces that make something move, we will build a confidence in students that will allow them to tackle the tougher physics problems later on their learning career. By allowing young students to explore the how’s and whys of something as simple as rolling different balls down ramps on different surfaces and then discussing variables such as: gravity, motion, force, and friction curiosity will be kindled and carried on through the grades.

  • • Development of a Pre-Engineerging Course for 8th Grade

    • BC02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM
    • by Marsha Hobbs
    • Type: Invited
    • A semester-long elective course, “Engineering Design,” was developed to serve 8th grade students. Many students lose interest in science during the middle school years, and the course was designed as a project-oriented course to engage students in the scientific process while introducing them to fundamental concepts of engineering. The course includes units on Lego EV3 robotics, 3-D printing, Sketch-Up, bridge design, programmable controllers (Arduino), and wearable technology. Success of the course is evident through increases in enrollment as well as increased demand for high school engineering courses. This talk will focus on the curriculum and lessons learned from the first year.

• Licensure Issues for Teachers: Alternative and State Level Challenges

  • • Easing Pathway to Certification with a Little Help from PhysTEC

    • BF01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Talat Rahman
    • Type: Invited
    • In 2013 University of Central Florida became a PhysTEC comprehensive site embracing three goals: engage the Physics Department in the preparation of teachers; establish successful models for increasing the number of highly qualified physics teachers; promote transformations that foster an active learning, inquiry-based environment in physics courses. I will comment on how the key elements of PhysTEC: teacher-in-residence (TIR), the learning assistant (LA) program, and infusion of pedagogical content knowledge have conspired not only in attracting quality students but also in changing departmental climate. The weekly offerings of pedagogy seminar is having a powerful impact on the teaching skills of graduate students and LAs alike. The LAs, mentored by the TIR, engage in lesson planning, both for early teaching experience and networking with local physics teachers, who in turn mentor our LAs at the semester-end poster presentations. Several pathways to certifications exist and the process is expected to get smoother.

  • • Paths to Licensure: Things Physicists Should Know*

    • BF02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM

    • by Gay Stewart, John Stewart

    • Type: Invited
    • The path to licensure can be quite complicated, and can thwart a physics department's efforts to produce more and better prepared high school physics teachers. Each state has different pathways. CAEP and SPA are not within the normal physics vocabulary. Some understanding of these topics can allow us to help our students so that fewer are derailed on their path to the classroom, or take a path that will leave them less well prepared. Examples of different approaches that work within state licensure systems from two different states will be presented.

• Maker Movement (FabLab/Tech. Shop/Maker Space)

  • • Maker Infancy at EMCC

    • AB01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Dwain Desbien
    • Type: Invited
    • The make movement means many things to different people. At EMCC while we don't have (currently but that is changing) space with the common maker tools (3d printers...) students have been making and creating devices and projects for years. In this talk I will share how we have been involved in the maker movement even if we are in the infancy in terms of the tools we have used. I will share some of the projects and how the students built their projects with little more than simple power tools.

  • • What Do YOU Make of This?

    • AB02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 11:00AM
    • by David Weaver
    • Type: Invited
    • Many of us became “makers” in grad school as we worked on experimental apparatus, etc. and many physics teachers have included projects in their classes that made their students “makers.” Many/most of our students have not had the experience of taking stuff apart and trying to fix it or figure out how it works. However, a recent Horizon Report indicated that an educational trend at work is students morphing from educational consumers to educational creators. With the proliferation of maker spaces (Fab Labs, Tech Shops, Maker/Hacker Spaces), society is recognizing the utility of using tools to solve problems in their world. I’ll talk about electric guitar building, wearable electronic art creation, Arduino cool projects, building solar death rays, light boards, and a muon detector in two year college physics classes. Have I mentioned 3D printers and LASER cutters? I will in this talk.

  • • MAKE-ing Opportunities for Computational Thinking

    • AB03
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by Marcos Caballero
    • Type: Invited
    • The Maker movement encourages people to design, hack, build, and invent using a wide variety of media. Makers design new web tools, hack existing electronics, build robotic gadgetry, and, generally, invent new ways of doing things. While these activities are diverse, what underlies the myriad of ways that people MAKE is computational thinking. In this talk, I will introduce different ideas around computational thinking, how we might bring those ideas into the physics classroom, and some tools that we, as the physics education community, might use in our classrooms to give students opportunities to think computationally.

  • • Teaching Engineering Design and Entrepreneurship to Physics Students

    • AB04
    • Sun 01/10, 11:30AM - 11:40AM
    • by Eric Martell
    • Type: Contributed
    • Many students majoring in physics have an interest in pursuing careers in Engineering, but historically, physics programs do not offer courses focusing on foundational knowledge and skills designed to help prepare students for these careers. Moreover, in part due to the growth of DIY resources such as Arduinos, 3D printers, and Maker Spaces, as well as cultural shifts from an evolving global economy, an increasing number of students are coming to the classroom with entrepreneurial mindsets, looking to either open their own business or carve out a unique career path. In the Engineering Design course, we teamed students up with clients from the community to explore the design process, relationships with clients, and the risks and rewards of real-world Performance Learning. Students utilized a variety of tools to brainstorm, model, and prototype their projects, including the Business Model Canvas, a woodshop, and a nascent “fab-lab” including a 3D printer.

  • • Engineering a STEM Exhibit

    • AB05
    • Sun 01/10, 11:40AM - 11:50AM
    • by Anne Cox
    • Type: Contributed
    • We have developed a new first-year course for potential physics and engineering students with a Maker-ethos. Students build demonstrations and hands-on activities to take to a local science festival and area schools. This gets students doing service-learning (for general education) and building things while taking the intro calculus and physics sequence. This talk will discuss how and why we added the course to the curriculum and what worked well and what didn’t.

• Meeting the Breadth of NGSS

  • • Projected Impacts on K-12 Classrooms of the Next Generation Science Standards

    • AA01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Kevin Niemi
    • Type: Invited
    • The National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas lays out a new approach to K-12 science education. The writing team of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) followed the philosophy of the Framework and composed three-dimensional Performance Expectations for the K-12 science education community. The three dimensions are the Practices of Science and Engineering, the Crosscutting Concepts, and the Disciplinary Core Ideas. This session will present an overview of the NGSS with an emphasis on its physics concepts, the three dimensions of the Performance Expectations, discuss the status of adoption of NGSS by states, highlight the actions of a state (Wisconsin) that has not adopted NGSS, and finally explore some of the anticipated professional development needed by teachers so that the NGSS can be fully implemented with fidelity in the classroom.

  • • Preparing the Next Generation of Ambitious Science Teachers

    • AA02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 11:00AM
    • by Melissa Braaten
    • Type: Invited
    • The NRC Framework for K12 Science Education and the NGSS are grounded in research on student learning and research on professional practice in science and engineering fields. However, these documents do not give guidance about science teaching and do not suggest how to support teachers as learners. This presents an ongoing dilemma for science education – we have refined visions for student learning in science, but not for science teaching or teacher education. In-depth research on science teacher learning and novice practice is beginning to offer insights that can help to fill this gap in science education. This session will share results from on-going research into teacher learning and teacher preparation from a decade of longitudinal studies examining how beginning teachers learn ambitious and equitable science teaching practices. Design principles, teacher learning frameworks, instructional practices, and resources for science teacher education will be shared with attendees.

  • • Implementing the NGSS: One School’s Process, Successes, Struggles, and Future

    • AA03
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by Amy Schiebel*
    • Type: Invited
    • The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are defining the way many states, school districts, schools, and individual teachers seek to approach science education. The NGSS represent a significant change from current practice in regards to science program requirements, course and lesson design, and teaching and assessment strategies. Adopting the NGSS is easy to say but not so easy to do. This session will follow one fairly typical science department’s journey towards adoption with a particular focus on the physics instructors. Among the cast of characters are the young and eager, the new-fad avoiders, and the staunch resisters (you will have to wait to see into which category the physics teachers fall). The path has not been smooth but it has been generally in the right direction. The role of teachers, administrators, professional development providers and college physics faculty will be discussed.

  • • Implementation of Engineering Units in Secondary Science and Mathematics Classrooms

    • AA04
    • Sun 01/10, 11:30AM - 11:40AM

    • by Lindsay Owens, Helen Meyer

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Cincinnati Engineering Enhanced Math and Science Program (CEEMS) is a two-year professional development program that collaborates with local school districts in assisting science and mathematics teachers to incorporate engineering units into their curriculum, which align with the current NGSS standards. During two consecutive summers, the teachers participate in science and engineering courses taught by university faculty in order to develop the teachers’ knowledge of engineering and the engineering design process. During the intervening school years, the teachers implement multiple engineering units, which they have designed into their classrooms. These units blend 21st Century Learning Skills with open-ended real world application. Throughout the program, the teachers receive classroom implementation support by a variety of coaches, some of whom have educational backgrounds, while others have engineering backgrounds. This presentation will highlight currently implemented engineering units as well as discuss the important of support in implementing those units.

  • • A Workshop on Incorporating Engineering Design With Physics and Chemistry*

    • AA05
    • Sun 01/10, 11:40AM - 11:50AM
    • by Kathleen Harper
    • Type: Contributed
    • In the summer of 2015, a one-week workshop was piloted to explore ways in which high school physics and chemistry teachers could modestly incorporate elements of engineering design into their existing science courses. As part of the workshop, participants developed a basic understanding of engineering design principles by completing a small in-class project in the role of a student. After debriefing on the experience, pairs of teachers developed, tested, and piloted additional design activities that could serve the same purpose in their classrooms. The presentation will focus on these activities. It will also briefly describe how they served as a platform for incorporating elements of engineering design into existing science activities, specifically within the framework of Modeling Instruction.1. *The workshop was supported by the Ohio Board of Regents through the Improving Teacher Quality Program, grant 14-37. 1Hestenes, Modeling Methodology for Physics Teachers, ICUPE proceedings, 1996.

• Monday Registration

  • • Monday Registration

    • REG05
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00AM - 5:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration

• Other Paper

  • • A Unique Optics Teaching Laboratory

    • EF01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 3:40PM
    • by John Noe
    • Type: Contributed
    • The Laser Teaching Center at Stony Brook University is a unique educational environment in which young students (over half female) are introduced to research by creating and documenting hands-on optics-related projects in collaboration with a mentor. Students experience the excitement, challenges and satisfaction of real-world research by developing novel projects with an uncertain outcome. Optics is ideal for this educational approach for a variety of reasons. Our poster at this meeting describes one such project by a freshman undergraduate. Other recent projects by full-time summer high school students have involved the mode structure of HeNe lasers, the creation of Airy beams, and trapping forces in optical tweezers. The tweezers project was recognized by an Intel Finalist award, our third in 15 years. None of these projects involved expensive or advanced equipment.

  • • Challenges of Room Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Investigation of Carbon Nanotubes on a HOPG Substrate

    • EF02
    • Mon 01/11, 3:40PM - 3:50PM

    • by Morewell Gasseller, Jessica Ritchie

    • Type: Contributed
    • Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is a common substrate for STM studies of carbon nanotubes. It is an ideal surface for STM because it is easily cleavable by adhesive tape, resulting in large, atomically flat planes that are relatively inert and electrically conducting. Despite these attractive attributes, the cleavage of HOPG surfaces also generates a variety of artifacts, some of which are elongated structures similar to the carbon nanotubes being investigated. Some even exhibit periodicities that mimic the atomic structures expected in the carbon nanotubes. In our investigation of SWCNT deposited on a graphite substrate, we observed and catalogued many of these commonly known filament-like artifacts. The data presented here serve as a demonstration for how we differentiated SWCNT from filament-like graphite artifacts in STM experiments.

  • • Corrosion Engineering in Chemistry

    • EF03
    • Mon 01/11, 3:50PM - 4:00PM

    • by Evelyn Restivo, Jan Mader, Karen Matsler

    • Type: Contributed
    • Integrating the physics of metallurgy with environmental and corrosion chemistry is a transition into engineering and technology that is critical to produce more resilient, lighter, less expensive materials for future electronic products and safe, sturdy infrastructure. Using relationships for physical properties of metals and single replacement reactions the prediction and development of a metallic activity series provides a basis for oxidation-reduction showing practical applications such as properties to protect structures from vulnerability to corrosion, oxidation and rust in humid conditions. Many of the challenges associated with saving priceless treasures, bridges, buildings, and in general protecting our economy and way of life must be developed through a combination of engineering processes employing techniques designed through sharing partnerships in the sciences.

  • • Fourier Series-based Methods for Computing the Value for π

    • EF04
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:10PM

    • by Joshua Fair, Samuel Konkol, Maura Gallagher, Brandon Mayle, Neal Gallagher, III

    • Type: Contributed
    • The function g(x) = arcsin(sin(x)) is a periodic function of triangular shape, having a Fourier series expansion. The triangle shaped function g(x) is easy to differentiate and integrate due to its trivial geometry. By evaluating the expression g(x) over different intervals on the x-axis and by performing differentiation and integration for g(x) as well as its term by term Fourier series, a number of series expansions related to ? can be obtained.

  • • Modeling, Making and Physics Experimental Techniques to Understand Neuroscience

    • EF05
    • Mon 01/11, 4:10PM - 4:20PM
    • by James Dann
    • Type: Contributed
    • I will be describing a new kind of class that combines making, physics, and biology. Students make functioning body parts to deepen their understanding of neuroscience and the human body. In addition, students will conduct physics type experiments on insects using probes and Op-Amp circuit board constructed by Spiker Box to conduct experiments on insects and their nervous system. Here is our course description. In this course you will explore one of mankind’s greatest unknowns… the brain and nervous system. You will take an adventure that is thought only possible in fictional writing like Frankenstein and along the way you will learn electronics, experimental techniques and neurobiology. This is a hands-on class, where you explore the fascinating topic of how the brain and peripheral nervous system work by studying the electrical signals in grasshoppers as you touch different parts of its body and submit it to different odors. From these experiments, articles and classroom discussions you will learn intimately how the nervous system works and as much as we can infer about the brain. In addition, you will learn enough electronics to build your own circuit that will enable to you to make the live grasshopper move based on your commands!

  • • Physics of the Cardiovascular System – NSF Funded Curriculum:

    • EF06
    • Mon 01/11, 4:20PM - 4:30PM
    • by Nancy Donaldson
    • Type: Contributed
    • This NSF-funded curriculum is a hands-on, active learning module covering mechanics of the cardiovascular system and pressure differences in the body that guide blood flow in the cardiovascular system in health and disease. The target learning audience is intermediate-level undergraduates, i.e., students who have already had a one-year introductory-level physics course; however, with the appropriate student background, it could be used in an Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences course. The module activities address Pre-Health Competency E3 (Demonstrate knowledge of basic physical principles and their applications to the understanding of living systems) and Foundational Concept 4B (Importance of fluids for the circulation of blood, gas movement, and gas exchange) and are directed toward an application of physics to medicine. Students particularly interested in these activities may be those pursuing graduate school/careers in medicine, health care, or medical physics or those interested in broadening their understanding of applications of physics.

  • • Study of the Mechanical Properties of Biomaterials with Simulink

    • EF07
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Bernard Drouin, Diego Mantovani

    • Type: Contributed
    • To assess the mechanical properties of biomaterials, visco-elastic models such as Maxwell or the standard linear solid constitute the most adopted approaches. However, young scientists, including non-engineering students, have not always been educated and are not all familiar with these models. A simple and easy-to-use simulation tool is required to perform investigations and comparisons between experiments and theory. Matlab Simulink, a graphical simulation tool can be used to achieve this goal. This paper presents the basic features of Simulink. Tests on vascular tissues and hydrogels will be exposed and discussed as well as the simulation techniques used to reproduce these experimental results. Considering that neither the American Journal of Physics nor The Physics Teacher have introduced Simulink in their pages, this presentation is a good opportunity for physics teachers to evaluate this highly versatile simulation software.

  • • Integrating a Learning Community of Learning Assistants and Teaching Assistants

    • EF08
    • Mon 01/11, 4:40PM - 4:50PM
    • by Manher Jariwala
    • Type: Contributed
    • At Boston University, the physics department supports both a robust undergraduate Learning Assistant (LA) program as well as the formal professional and pedagogical development of graduate students through participation in the CIRTL (Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning) Network. We describe our recent efforts to integrate the training of undergraduate LA’s and graduate student TA’s and to promote partnership in teaching between LA’s and TA’s, leveraging best practices from both the LA and CIRTL programs. We also provide examples of change agents that have emerged from each group and discuss the common elements and shared values between undergraduate and graduate student efforts.

  • • The Sun's Orbit Radius and Period

    • EF09
    • Mon 01/11, 4:50PM - 5:00PM
    • by Vic Dannon
    • Type: Contributed
    • We assume that the Gravitational Power Radiation of a moving mass is proportional to that mass acceleration squared. Then, at Radiation Power Equilibrium between the Sun and its nine Planets, the Sun’s Orbit Radius is about 2,067,000 Km, about three times the Sun's Radius of 696,000 Km. And the Sun's year is about 0.937188048 Earth years. http://www.gauge-institute.org/Gravitation/SunOrbitRadius-Evanston2015.pdf

• Outcomes from the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year

  • • Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year: New Approaches and Initiatives

    • DB01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by Elizabeth George
    • Type: Invited
    • Many of the themes of the 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyondthe First Year (BFYII) underscore the recent AAPT Recommendations for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Curriculum, which recognize the vital role of laboratory instruction in developing students’ physics knowledge and experimental skills as well as many transferable skills such as design, troubleshooting, innovation, and communication. Plenary talks, workshops, breakout sessions, and posters at the conference highlighted a variety of creative and exciting efforts to rethink and revise the content and structure of the BFY laboratory curriculum, including contemporary experiments from new research fields (including interdisciplinary research); student-guided open-ended projects; flipped classroom techniques; and new approaches to assessment. I will discuss takeaway messages from the conference, including challenges and opportunities for constructing robust experimental physics curricula that support student mastery of these important skills, and current and future initiatives to build community and enhance advanced laboratory instruction.

  • • Report on the BFY II Workshop Program

    • DB02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 12:00PM
    • by John Essick
    • Type: Invited
    • The BFY II conference program included a slate of 53 small-group workshops, with each workshop focusing on an innovative “beyond the first year” instructional laboratory experiments. Over the course of the conference, every BFY II attendee had the opportunity to participate in 12 workshops of his or her choosing, providing hands-on experience with a broad selection of contemporary instructional labs. Roughly half of the workshops were led by the college laboratory instructors who had developed the experiments being presented, while the other workshops were based on interesting “beyond the first year” experiments available from commercial vendors. In this talk, the process of creating the workshop program will be briefly reviewed and then a few of the workshops will be highlighted. Finally, a report of the feedback obtained from BFY II attendees about their workshop experience will be given.

• Outreach Physics Courses for Non-Science Majors

  • • What to Teach Non-Science Students

    • EB01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM
    • by Paul Hewitt
    • Type: Invited
    • What to teach in an introductory course for non-science students? Lightweight problem solving, perhaps preceded by a bit of remedial algebra? Or elicit class discussions of current physics-related topics via the Internet? Or follow the textbook and minimize or avoid equations? My suggestion is none of the above, but rather teach what cannot be learned elsewhere: the laws of physics! Since most laws are in equation form, teach the meaning of their symbols and how they connect to one another. Learning to see equations as guides to thinking about nature’s rules can be a stimulating and delightful educational experience—one that students won’t experience elsewhere. To prevent your course from swerving into a less-welcome one of applied mathematics, minimize number crunching. When a learner’s first course in physics is a delightful experience, a more rigorous second course will be welcomed.

  • • Courses for Non-Science Majors at Kenyon College

    • EB02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM

    • by Thomas Greenslade, Jr., John Giblin, Paula Turner, Benjamin Schumacher, Timothy Sullivan

    • Type: Invited
    • Only a small fraction of students at liberal arts colleges take the introductory physics courses for physics and engineering majors and for pre-medical students. That leaves us with an opportunity to create courses for the rest of the undergraduate population. Courses in Astronomy are very popular for this group, but what else can we teach? At Kenyon we have offered a wide range of courses for the non-science students, with titles ranging from “Natural Philosophy” to Creating with Gadgets” to “Good Nukes, Bad Nukes.” In this talk I will talk about our experiences over the past fifty years. Perhaps the audience can suggest a better name that “Non-Science Majors.”

  • • Lessons from Three Semesters of a Physics for Humanities Course

    • EB03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Deepak Iyer, Mary Emenike

    • Type: Contributed
    • We report on three installations of a "Physics for humanities and social sciences" course. This was a moderate enrollment course (about 100 students) at a large public university. We will describe these three versions, the motivations, and present CLASS data (with both pre and post for two of them). We see variation in gains and losses across the three courses, and while causality is hard to establish, we speculate on the reasons based on other surveys done in the class.

  • • Science & Culture: Physical Sciences for a Sustainable Future

    • EB04
    • Mon 01/11, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Philip Carlson, Reid Bishop

    • Type: Contributed
    • Recent efforts to improve student perceptions and performance in the physical sciences have resulted in the design and implementation of a new general science education course series. We will present a course entitled “Science & Culture: Physical Sciences for a Sustainable Future” that attempts to bridge the gap between professional and citizen science. Evidence-based methods that involve teaching science through civic engagement and societal sustainability and developed in part with the assistance of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (ncsce.net) will be discussed along with successes and challenges. Results from specific learning modules and activities are used together in the context of partnerships with local entities including the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Geological Survey, a local natural history museum and a local zoological park. Together, these efforts connect students to problems of local, regional, and global importance and also build inter-connectivity between the disciplines.

  • • Electronics for Business Students

    • EB05
    • Mon 01/11, 4:50PM - 5:00PM
    • by Chuck Winrich
    • Type: Contributed
    • Babson College is a small college specializing in business and entrepreneurship education. Traditional science courses that provide a foundation for further study within a discipline are of little value or interest to this student population. This presentation will focus on the physics course (one option for students to fill their science requirement) which is organized around the theory and operation semiconductor devices. The topic lends itself to discussion of fundamental topics in physics (e.g. modeling & experimentation, semiconductor physics), common technology (e.g. integrated circuits), and current events (e.g. raw materials and recycling for electronics). To gain practical experience, the students also build Arduino-based prototypes of a device of their choosing. Both the topics discussed and the prototype project lend themselves to the incorporation of relevant business and ethical issues of interest to the students.

  • • Expanding Ideas of Time: Relativity as a Discussion-based Course

    • EB06
    • Mon 01/11, 5:00PM - 5:10PM
    • by Louise Edwards
    • Type: Contributed
    • Astronomy 040: Expanding Ideas of Time and Space is a seminar-style coursefor university freshmen of all academic backgrounds. The objective of this course is to introduce Cosmology to students in the context of Einstein's Theory of Relativity without any algebra, yet to provide enough conceptual physics knowledge with assigned articles that students can critique information found online and in the news. To do this, popular science articles are discussed, as are technical articles about astrophysical research and in class fundamental physics concepts are provided in an interactive setting. The nature of time and light are taught as a foundation to special relativity; from there we delve into general relativity, which gives a theoretical context in which to explore the shape, contents and fate of the universe. The most important observational discoveries of the last hundred years are examined and put together to describe the big bang, the accelerating universe and dark energy. In this talk, the course format is outlined as well as a timeline. A list of student readings are provided.

• PER: Diverse Investigations

  • • Leveraging the Culture and Resources of Urban STEM Students to Create Programmatic Change*

    • CF01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:10PM

    • by Mel Sabella, Kristy Mardis, Andrea Van Duzor

    • Type: Contributed
    • Shared experiences, shared culture, and a strong sense of community play an important role in instructional environments in the Chicago State University STEM program. In this presentation we explore how listening to student input and connecting our science education efforts to the culture and community of our population has allowed us, as researchers and instructors that often come from different communities, to develop a more effective program. The CSU Learning Assistant (LA) Program and the CSU S-STEM Program will serve as examples of efforts toward building a welcoming, community-based learning environment.

  • • The Effects of Grader Assessment Feedback on Student Self-Regulation

    • CF02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:10PM - 4:20PM

    • by Annie Chase, Cassandra Paul

    • Type: Contributed
    • Self-regulation is an internal process where students create an effective environment for constructing knowledge. Constructivist-learning theory suggests that strong self-regulators are efficient learners. Grader assessment feedback (GAF) is a powerful tool instructors can utilize to influence student self-regulation and thus student construction of knowledge. I present results found by applying a qualitative coding scheme, developed in a previous pilot study, in a quasi-experimental investigation. Previously, it was found that students are demonstrating all the aspects of self-regulation defined in this study and different styles of GAF result in different manifestations of student self-regulation. This study presents results from survey data collected in different semesters, different populations, and with a significantly larger sample size. The same coding scheme, along with any open codes that develop, will be used to determine what physics student self-regulation looks like and how different GAF styles affect physics student self-regulation in light of the preliminary data.

  • • Web Design for Dissemination of Educational Materials and Tools

    • CF03
    • Sun 01/10, 4:20PM - 4:30PM
    • by Mathew Martinuk
    • Type: Contributed
    • I present examples of design for physics educators, based on a user-centered process for designing websites and software. This process includes: interviews with the target audience to determine their needs and expectations; identification of key tasks that the website must enable; design of pages to support those tasks; usability testing to ensure that the site meets users’ needs; and design iteration based on the results of usability testing. I summarize lessons learned from the design of several websites that offer educational materials and tools to physics educators, and present examples of how the particular needs of this audience can be best addressed in web design. I offer recommendations for anyone wishing to offer educational research or materials via the web.

  • • Professional Development Through an Online Workshop: Lessons Learned*

    • CF04
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Raina Khatri, Charles Henderson, Renee Cole, Jeff Froyd, Debra Friedrichsen

    • Type: Contributed
    • Education developers in STEM fields have many ideas on improving undergraduate instruction, but often these ideas fail to propagate to other educators. Our research group has worked to understand best practices in developing educational innovations with sustainable adoption by others in mind. We have run in-person and online workshops in which we train others and have them apply what they learned to their grant proposals. In this talk, we discuss the benefits and limitations of an online setting for professional development and online workshops as a dissemination mechanism.

  • • Interpreting Self-Reported Data from the Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (PIPS)

    • CF05
    • Sun 01/10, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Alexis Knaub, Emily Walter, Charles Henderson, Andrea Beach, Cody Williams

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (PIPS), developed by a team of researchers at Western Michigan University, is a valid and reliable survey instrument to measure teaching practices in higher education. The survey asks respondents to describe how representative a set of statements is of their teaching (e.g., “I provide feedback on student assignments without assigning a formal grade.”) One way to analyze the data is using “instructor-centered” and “student-centered” categories. These categories can be graphically represented as a scatterplot with quadrants indicating different levels of instructor- and student-centered practices. In this presentation, we further our understanding of the quantitative survey data through qualitative data. We interviewed survey respondents in each quadrant to learn more about their teaching practices and to be able to better interpret what each quadrant means in terms of teaching practices.

  • • Using Interventions that Change Students’ Approach to Learning

    • CF06
    • Sun 01/10, 4:50PM - 5:00PM

    • by Calvin Kalman, Mandana Sobhanzadeh, Robert Thompson

    • Type: Contributed
    • It was postulated that if students reflected metacognitively on textual material before coming to class and then had interventions in class that had them examine subjects that produce cognitive dissonance, the students’ epistemological beliefs would evolve from those characterizing a novice learning towards those consistent with a more expert learner. This hypothesis was tested through a five-year study involving close to 1000 students at two institutions, in four physics courses. Using student interviews, writing product assessments, and the Discipline-Focused Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (DFEBQ) as a pre-and post-test of the students, our results, based on both qualitative and quantitative data, are a strong indication that a combination of an activity that gets students to examine textual material metacognitively (Reflective Writing) with one or more interactive interventions can promote positive change in students’ epistemological beliefs.

  • • Designing Strategies to Engage Student Metacognition*

    • CF07
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:10PM

    • by Catherine Miller, Mila Kryjevskaia, MacKenzier Stetzer

    • Type: Contributed
    • Research has shown that even after targeted instruction designed to address student conceptual and reasoning difficulties, some introductory physics students still tend to apply intuitive rather than formal reasoning on specific types of questions. In this study, metacognitive interventions were designed and implemented in an effort to encourage the students to reflect on their thought processes. Specifically, students were asked to consider alternative solutions, identify formal and intuitive approaches, and reflect on their own thinking. The impact of these metacognitive interventions on student reasoning was examined. The dual-process theory to reasoning and decision-making was applied in order to interpret the results. *This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. REU DUE-1156974 and DUE-1431857, 1431940

  • • Another Look at Multiple-Choice Problems on Tests

    • CF08
    • Sun 01/10, 5:10PM - 5:20PM
    • by Dean Richardson
    • Type: Contributed
    • This project focuses on finding a meaningful way to write multiple-choice questions on exams. One of the most important aspects of a physics exam is to test the students' ability to solve problems, not just answer questions. We have also noticed that when grading free-response problems on physics tests for large classes, it is necessary to use a certain rubric. In other words, it is necessary to be able to quickly look for certain mistakes and take off a certain number of points for that mistake. This process becomes very formulaic. We have substituted a series of multiple-choice questions for each “worked-out” problem. One free-response problem is rotated between versions of the test as a check. So far, this has worked well and doesn’t appear to have changed the way the students prepare for exams.

  • • Student Interactions with Mastery Inspired Online Activities

    • CF09
    • Sun 01/10, 5:20PM - 5:30PM

    • by Tim Stelzer, Noah Schroeder

    • Type: Contributed
    • This fall we have introduced a new type of online homework activity designed to help students become proficient with some fundamental concepts necessary to succeed in introductory physics. For each concept several equivalent sets of questions have been created. Each student is assigned one set of the questions. Instead of being given immediate feedback on the correctness of their answers, they are given help in the form of the solution to a different version of the questions. This talk will summarize results from the student interactions, and implications for improving student learning from online homework activities.

  • • What Our Textbooks Tell Students about Problem-Solving

    • CF10
    • Sun 01/10, 5:30PM - 5:40PM
    • by Jeffrey Phillips
    • Type: Contributed
    • Improved problem-solving is considered one of the primary student learninggoals for many physics courses, yet most textbooks do not describe the complexities of problem-solving. To be successful at problem-solving, students must learn to employ metacognitive skills so they can monitor and correct their own work. This process typically yields non-linear solutions that bear little resemblance to the worked examples in textbooks. A survey of how popular introductory physics texts describe and illustrate the problem-solving process will be presented. Most portray problem-solving as a linear process devoid of any metacognition. Rather than showing examples of how one can identify and correct errors within a solution with monitoring, they show only correct and optimized solutions. Implications for teachers and students will be discussed.

  • • Becoming a Physicist: Identity Trajectories in Undergraduate Research Experiences

    • CF11
    • Sun 01/10, 5:40PM - 5:50PM

    • by Gina Quan, Andrew Elby

    • Type: Contributed
    • In this talk, we analyze students’ identity trajectories as undergraduate physics majors participating in physics research. Students in the study participated in an elective seminar in which they were paired with graduate students and faculty mentors on physics research projects and participated in a weekly discussions about research. In one-on-one interviews and classroom discussions, students described changes in their participation in the broader physics community, as well as more sophisticated ideas about what constitutes participation in that community. Using their narrative accounts, we discuss students’ trajectories of their participation in the community, highlighting relational dynamics between themselves and other members of the physics community. Finally, we draw out connections between these trajectories, which have implications for future research and programmatic design.

• PER: Evaluating Instructional Strategies

  • • Guiding Laboratory Reform and Professional Development Using RIOT Data

    • AE01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:10AM

    • by Eric Hickok, Cassandra Paul

    • Type: Contributed
    • Physics education research has consistently shown that students have higher learning outcomes when enrolled in interactive-engagement courses. Consequently, many schools are actively reforming their introductory curricula. For courses where the interactive sections (labs, tutorials, and/or workshops) are mostly taught by graduate student teaching assistants (TAs), good TAs are instrumental to the success of the reform. Many studies have investigated specific interactions between TAs and students, but more can be learned through a holistic examination of TA-student interactions. Over the course of one semester, I observed TAs in their various teaching roles using the Real-time Instructor Observation Tool (RIOT). These observations serve to show what TAs may “default to” with little to no intervention. I present a snapshot of a department in the early stages of reform and discuss how we used RIOT data to develop training targeted to the specific needs of our TAs.

  • • Longitudinal Study of Students’ Participation in an Active Learning Classroom

    • AE02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:10AM - 10:20AM

    • by Binod Nainabasti, David Brookes, Eric Brewe

    • Type: Contributed
    • We analyzed the relationship between students’ participation in classroom review sessions during two Interactive Learning Environment (ILE) physics courses in a studio format that implemented the Investigative-Science-Learning-Environment (ISLE) curriculum and their success through the courses. Research has shown that ILE can be an effective learning environment for acquiring transferrable knowledge. These classroom review sessions took place at the beginning of each class meeting throughout the two courses and were student directed. To quantify students’ participation we coded the review session in real time without videotaping according to a coding scheme that we developed which included codes for interacting, disengagement and uncodable. Each student was assigned a single code for the entire review session. We found that students’ interactional codes during the first semester were strongly predictive of their interactional codes during a subsequent semester. This indicates that students directed interaction does not bring changes in their nature of participation.

  • • Assessing a Flipped, Biomedically Focused Curriculum for IPLS

    • AE03
    • Sun 01/10, 10:20AM - 10:30AM

    • by Warren Christensen, Matt Urich, Ralf Widenhorn

    • Type: Contributed
    • A one-quarter-long algebra-based introductory physics course for pre-health and life science majors at Portland State features authentic biomedically inspired physics content. The course uses multimedia-learning-modules via flipitphysics.com (formerly smartphysics). These modules include videos with biomedical experts explaining aspects of specific biomedical equipment. Students answer "Pre-lecture questions" and "Checkpoints" during and after these videos on both the medical content covered in the video media and the physics concepts in written materials provided for students in order to prepare them for activities during the class. Students continue to engage with the material during class and through online homework assignments that explore the connections of physics and the medical field in a quantitative manner. We have attempted to assess the cognitive level using a modified Bloom’s taxonomy with further analysis of questions sequence and student performance. We also report on the positive impact on students’ attitudes as measured by the CLASS.

  • • A Model for a Physics Class for Future Elementary Teachers*

    • AE04
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 10:40AM

    • by Claudia Fracchiolla, N. Sanjay Rebello

    • Type: Contributed
    • The importance of strengthening STEM education in public schools is a theme that is currently at the center of discussions in education reform. Research has shown that in order to improve science programs we first need to develop good teacher education programs. In this study we investigate whether a redesigned physics class for future elementary teachers addresses three main issues in elementary teacher preparation (Mikeska et al. 2009): engagement in science, understanding of children’s ideas of science, and understanding the relevance of what future teachers learn in class for their impending careers. To do this we evaluate whether the incorporation of social structures in the class impact students’ engagement in science by integrating PCK into the core of the class to see if it produces changes in students’ knowledge of kids’ ideas and frames learning in an expansive manner that promotes transfer. *Supported in part by NSF grant 1140855.

  • • Developing Assessment Strategies for Laboratory Skills Within the UW-Whitewater Program

    • AE05
    • Sun 01/10, 10:40AM - 10:50AM

    • by Steven Sahyun, Jalal Nawash, Paul Rybski, Ozgur Yavuzcetin

    • Type: Contributed
    • During the summer of 2014, a faculty team developed a student laboratory skills assessment program to be given in the laboratory courses taken by physics majors. We created a program where the assessment instruments, while unique to each course, all followed a theme that students should be able to set up equipment to Acquire some “signal,” Analyze data related to the signal, and Assimilate the results by communicating results in a manner consistent with departmental goals. We call the evaluation of students’ ability for Acquisition, Analysis and Assimilation our “AAA” activities. This talk is a report on the results from initial implementation in our courses over the past year and an update on the progress made to develop a consistent set of laboratory skills assessment rubrics across the intermediate and advanced laboratory courses in the UW-Whitewater physics program.

  • • Using Motivational Interviewing to Describe Responsive Teaching*

    • AE06
    • Sun 01/10, 10:50AM - 11:00AM
    • by Leslie Atkins
    • Type: Contributed
    • "Responsive teaching," that is, teaching in which instructors shape instruction in response to students’ ideas, is a promising approach that serves to integrate the epistemic, conceptual, and "practice" aspects of scientific inquiry. However, clearly characterizing this instructional practice is challenging, as is providing professional development to support responsive teaching. In this talk, I will discuss an approach therapy, "Motivational Interviewing," as a possible direction for both characterizing and supporting this practice.

  • • The Role of Personality in Performance in Physics

    • AE07
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:10AM

    • by John Stewart, Rossina Miller

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Big Five Inventory (BFI) measuring the 5-factor personality model was given to 440 science and engineering students in introductory physics classes at a large U.S. university. Science and engineering students showed similar personality characteristics as would be expected from measurements of the general population, with women scoring significantly differently only on the neuroticism scale. The BFI facets had differential explanatory power for test average and course grade with the conscientiousness facet as the only significant treatment effect for course grade, but it was not significant for test average. High school GPA explained substantially different levels of variance in course grade for male and female students; these differences were reduced with the addition of BFI facets to the regression models.

  • • Transition Matrices: Tool for Assessing Student Learning and Improving Instruction

    • AE08
    • Sun 01/10, 11:10AM - 11:20AM

    • by Paul Walter, Gary Morris, Brenna Thompson, Spencer Skees

    • Type: Contributed
    • Not all wrong answer choices are created equal. We introduce a new tool for adoption by high school and college-level physics teachers who use a common assessment such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). The tool uses a spreadsheet application to create a simple matrix that identifies the percentage of students that who select each possible pre-/post-test answer combination on each question of the diagnostic exam such as the FCI. Having ranked each answer choice from best to worst (using Item Response Curves as our guide), the transition matrices provide detailed information on the percentages of students that move toward better or worse answer choices on the pre-/post-test and identify the misconceptions they may have. The transition matrices tool provides a way to better meet the needs of our students by tailoring our instruction in an informed way.

  • • Multiple Choice Answers: To Change or Not to Change?

    • AE09
    • Sun 01/10, 11:20AM - 11:30AM
    • by Heidi Wainscott
    • Type: Contributed
    • When grading student papers it seems that students are always changing their multiple choice answers from right to wrong. Colleagues have made similar observations and some books on test taking advise against answer changing.(1) Intrigued, I collected some data and dug a little deeper into the research. My hypothesis was that students most frequently changed their answers from right to wrong. The subjects were 985 college physics students enrolled in a two-semester calculus-based physics course. Did students most frequently change their answers from right to wrong, from wrong to right or from wrong to wrong? How do my results compare to similar studies? Was there a difference between results for the two semesters? Answers to these questions will be discussed as well as implications for further studies.

  • • Impact of Educational Framework Tools in Physics Contests Preparation

    • AE10
    • Sun 01/10, 11:30AM - 11:40AM

    • by Tamas Orosz, Éva Stefánkó

    • Type: Contributed
    • Generally, it is difficult to assess the knowledge and competencies of physics students at high school, who prepare for contests. There are multiple educational approaches, such as didactical and competency-based methodologies which can help either teachers or students to improve their skills in problem-solving techniques and understanding Physics phenomena. However, using such traditional methods, it is hard to evaluate and control the individual learning progress of students continuously. Therefore, application of Educational Framework Tools seems to be a good choice to extend the support functions in classes. This paper discusses the benefits of E-learning technologies applied to helping students for physics contest preparations. Several embedded E-learning functions are being applied and to tuition in physics. The outcome of innovative educational methods and extensions has been evaluated. Our tuition methods resulted in achieving a dynamically changing educational framework that can be matched to our students and to the actual physics contest.

  • • Teaching Conceptual and Language Issues: Student Understanding and Intellectual Satisfaction

    • AE11
    • Sun 01/10, 11:40AM - 11:50AM

    • by Rex Taibu, David Schuster, David Rudge

    • Type: Contributed
    • Language ambiguities in concept meanings can exacerbate student conceptualdifficulties with physics concepts. This is especially true for the construct of “weight” which is defined in more than one way even by physicists and textbooks and causes particular confusion in accelerating cases. We devised an approach for teaching weight, weightlessness and free fall, which first explains the various physics concepts involved before “naming” them, discusses the language ambiguities explicitly, and discusses the terms/concepts in multiple physical situations. Three instructors implemented the innovative lesson sequence in three different sections of an introductory physics course. We assessed understanding of the physics concepts using conceptual assessments and surveyed students’ understanding of the language issues. The results exceeded expectations, with remarkably high practically significant learning gains for the physics concepts, a good appreciation of the language issues and intellectual satisfaction with their grasp of not only conceptual issues but also language issues.

• PER: Examining Content Understanding and Reasoning

  • • Investigating Student Ability to Construct Qualitative Reasoning Chains*

    • GE01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 8:40AM

    • by MacKenzie Stetzer, J. Caleb Speirs, Beth Lindsey, Mila Kryjevskaia

    • Type: Contributed
    • As part of a larger, multi-institutional effort to investigate and assess the development of student reasoning abilities in the context of scaffolded physics instruction, we have been examining student ability to construct qualitative, inferential reasoning chains in introductory calculus-based physics. We are currently developing, testing, and refining several new research tasks and methodologies aimed at providing insight into the lines of reasoning students generate when responding to conceptual questions. In this talk, we will highlight some of these new tasks and present preliminary results from our ongoing investigation. *This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1431940, DUE-1431541, and DUE-1431857.

  • • How Students Use Prior Knowledge While Constructing Understanding

    • GE02
    • Tue 01/12, 8:40AM - 8:50AM

    • by AJ Richards, Darrick Jones, Eugenia Etkina

    • Type: Contributed
    • We recorded pre-service physics teachers learning about the physics of solar cells. Using a knowledge-in-pieces theoretical framework, we analyze their interactions in order to make inferences about the elements of prior knowledge they call upon as they build understanding of how these devices function. Of special interest are the instances when a student makes a significant conceptual breakthrough. We find that students who combine different aspects of their prior knowledge in specific ways may be more likely to make breakthroughs. We will discuss what instructors can do to prime learners to combine knowledge in productive ways so they are better able to achieve these breakthroughs.

  • • Investigating the Complex Nature of Student Thinking*

    • GE03
    • Tue 01/12, 8:50AM - 9:00AM

    • by Cody Gette, Mila Kryjevskaia, MacKenzie Stetzer, Andrew Boudreaux, Paula Heron

    • Type: Contributed
    • As part of an ongoing investigation of the development of student reasoning abilities in physics, we have been examining inconsistencies in student reasoning in introductory physics courses. Research has shown that even when students demonstrate that they possess the formal knowledge and skills necessary to answer specific types of questions correctly, some of these students abandon formal reasoning in favor of more intuitive approaches on analogous tasks. For this reason, we have been identifying and developing sequences of questions that allow for the disentanglement of various factors that affect student thinking (e.g., conceptual understanding, reasoning abilities, and contextual cues). Preliminary results from one such sequence will be presented and interpreted using the dual-process theory of reasoning and decision-making. *This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1431857, 1431940, 1432052, and 1432765.

  • • Investigating the Impact of Epistemology on Student Reasoning Approaches*

    • GE04
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:10AM

    • by Mila Kryjevskaia, MacKenzie Stetzer, Paula Heron, Erika Offerdahl, Robert Gordon

    • Type: Contributed
    • In a previous study, we found that many students experienced significant difficulties with a basic task in which they were asked to express a distance in terms of wavelength. At the same time, most students were capable of measuring a distance in terms of nonstandard units (e.g., a pencil) in a more “everyday context.” Various factors were considered in attempt to account for this failure to transfer relevant skills between the two tasks. For example, we considered the roles of representation, context, mathematical emphasis of instruction on interference, and others. In the current study, we designed a sequence of questions to probe the impact of epistemology on student judgment about the type of reasoning required to complete this task. Multiple data streams (including written responses, interviews, and eye-tracking data) were used to gain insight into student thinking. *This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1431857, 1431940, and 1432765

  • • Student Reasoning in Math Methods: Series Approximations*

    • GE05
    • Tue 01/12, 9:10AM - 9:20AM
    • by Michael Loverude
    • Type: Contributed
    • Upper division physics courses combine challenging physics content with increased mathematical complexity. Many physics departments offer a course in mathematical methods to help prepare students for upper-division theory courses in electricity and magnetism, classical mechanics, and modern physics. As part of an NSF-supported research and curriculum development project, we have studied student reasoning in math methods using written free-response problems and individual student interviews. In this talk we present data on student reasoning with series approximations collected in the context of a meth methods course. Examples of procedural errors and conceptual difficulties will be provided, along with a reflection on implications for researchers and instructors

  • • Student Understanding of Non-Cartesian Coordinate Systems in Upper-Division Physics*

    • GE06
    • Tue 01/12, 9:20AM - 9:30AM

    • by Marlene Vega, Michael Loverude, Warren Christensen, Gina Passante

    • Type: Contributed
    • Understanding of Electricity & Magnetism in the upper-division requires a considerable amount of integration of calculus concepts with abstract physics concepts. The ability to incorporate the use of vectors in several different coordinate systems is an essential skill in an E&M course. This study aims to understand how students think about coordinate systems and vectors in non-Cartesian coordinate systems (plane polar and spherical). Data was collected in a math methods course for physics majors over several semesters, using free response written questions posed on ungraded quizzes and graded course assessments given after instruction. Student responses were coded and assigned to categories. As an example, many students answering incorrectly appear to be overgeneralizing from Cartesian coordinate systems in ways that are not productive.

  • • Student Thinking Regarding Coordinate Systems in the Upper Division

    • GE07
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 9:40AM

    • by Brian Farlow, Marlene Vega, Mike Loverude, Warren Christensen

    • Type: Contributed
    • As part of a broader study on the content of and student thinking within mathematics in the undergraduate physics curriculum, we report on student thinking about coordinate systems in the upper division. Early evidence suggests that upper-division physics students struggle to solve problems and answer conceptual questions requiring the use of Cartesian and non-Cartesian coordinate systems. Specifically, students have difficulty identifying the direction of unit vectors and constructing symbolic expressions for position and velocity in the plane polar coordinates. Additionally, students struggle to recognize appropriate units associated with these quantities. We report findings from one-on-one interviews that used a think aloud protocol designed to shed light on student thinking within this domain. We investigate the potential connection between student reasoning regarding Cartesian and non-Cartesian coordinates with emphasis on polar and spherical coordinate systems, and students’ ability to answer conceptual questions and solve problems requiring the use of those coordinate systems.

  • • Using Eye Tracking Technology to Investigate Motion Graphs

    • GE08
    • Tue 01/12, 9:40AM - 9:50AM

    • by Jennifer Docktor, Jose Mestre, N. Sanjay Rebello, Elizabeth Gire

    • Type: Contributed
    • This study investigates how introductory students and graduate students view and interpret motion graphs. Participants viewed several graphs of position, velocity, or acceleration versus time on a computer screen while their eye movements were recorded using a stationary eye tracker. Participants were asked to select which region of the graph best matched a description of motion and provide a verbal explanation for their choice. We compare performance on the questions with the audio-recorded explanations and eye movements.

  • • Using Physics by Inquiry in Physics Courses for Underprepared Students

    • GE09
    • Tue 01/12, 9:50AM - 10:00AM

    • by Donna Messina, Peter Shaffer, Lillian McDermott

    • Type: Contributed
    • Physics by Inquiry (PbI) is a research-based and research-validated curriculum designed by the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. (1) Development and testing has taken place both in courses for K-12 teachers and in courses for students who are under-prepared for STEM-related careers. The guided-inquiry instructional approach has proved effective at helping both populations develop a firm conceptual understanding of basic physics topics, while also enhancing their reasoning and problem solving skills and their understanding of the scientific process. This talk will provide insight and data that support the use of PbI in providing an opportunity for under-prepared students to develop in-depth understanding, proficiency in the targeted skills, and recognition of the usefulness of the PbI experience in their future study of STEM topics.

  • • Distinguishing Reasoning Difficulties from Conceptual Difficulties in Energy Contexts*

    • GE10
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:10AM

    • by Beth Lindsey, Andrew Boudreaux

    • Type: Contributed
    • We are engaged in a multi-year, multi-institution collaborative research project to examine student ability to construct inferential reasoning chains in solving qualitative physics problems. In this talk, we will describe research involving simple situations in the context of energy, for instance, a student lifting a book near the surface of the Earth. We analyze the reasoning sequence that students must go through to complete these questions correctly, and identify the points at which students are most likely to fail to move through the chain appropriately. Data from student responses to written questions and individual or small-group interviews will be presented. *This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1431541 and DUE-1432052.

  • • Investigating the Impact of Metacognitive Interventions on Student Reasoning*

    • GE11
    • Tue 01/12, 10:10AM - 10:20AM

    • by Nathaniel Grosz, Mila Kryjevskaia, MacKenzie Stetzer, Andrew Boudreaux

    • Type: Contributed
    • This study was motivated by research findings that suggest that, on certain topics, student conceptual and reasoning difficulties persist even after instruction expressly designed to address such difficulties. We have been developing a suite of different metacognitive interventions for use in introductory calculus-based physics courses. Interventions intended to promote (individual) student metacognition were administered in a web-based format outside of class. Interventions supporting socially mediated metacognition were implemented as part of laboratory instruction. The metacognitive interventions were multi-layered in order to address specific types of student responses. The impacts of these interventions were assessed on a course exam. In this presentation, preliminary results will be presented and implications for instruction will be discussed. *This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-DUE-1245999, 1245313, and 1245993.

• PER: Evaluation of Curricular Strategies for Introductory Physics for Life Science

  • • Assessing the Connection of Essential Ideas Across the Disciplines

    • BH01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM

    • by Vashti Sawtelle, Sonia Underwood, Rebecca Matz, Charles Andersen

    • Type: Invited
    • Recently the physics community has been conducting transformations to makephysics classes more relevant to life science majors. A primary goal for many of these classes is to help students to develop coherent understanding of essential ideas that span multiple disciplines. Energy, for example, is an important idea in biology, chemistry, and physics, but students often compartmentalize their knowledge and do not see energy as an essential idea to all three disciplines. This presentation will outline the preliminary development of an instrument based on semi-structured interviews to assess how students connect essential ideas across introductory science disciplines. This instrument will provide important information to the research community about the effects of ongoing and future university initiatives in making progress in our design of physics for life science majors classes.

  • • IPLS: Teaching Fluid Dynamics Using a Kinesthetic Circulatory System Model*

    • BH02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 2:40PM

    • by James Vesenka, Bradley Moser, David Grimm, Rebecca Lindell

    • Type: Contributed
    • Students have substantial difficulties applying physics concepts to anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology (AP&P) and vice versa. We have focused our research on developing a kinesthetic circulatory system, which requires students to apply multiple concepts (conservation of mass, compliance, Bernoulli and Hagen-Poiseuille principles) to understanding the operation of the cardiovascular system. Kinesthetic models allow students to manipulate different aspects of the simulated system. We engineered a circulatory system model made of transparent plastic tubing of different radii, branched connectors, balloons, and pumps that enabled students to see the fluid travel at different speeds (visually) and pressures (through pressure sensors) as the fluid travels through a model cardiovascular system. Pre- and post- assessment through interviews, open-ended questions and draft multiple-choice questions indicate substantial improvement in student understanding and appreciation of real fluid dynamics concepts. Two other IPLS Kinesthetic models are also being developed surrounding the physics concepts encompassing diffusion and electrophoresis. *Supported by NSF DUE 1044154

  • • Development of a Fluid Dynamics Conceptual Assessment I: Concept Domain

    • BH03
    • Sun 01/10, 2:40PM - 2:50PM

    • by Dawn Meredith, Rebecca Lindell, James Vesenka

    • Type: Contributed
    • Designed to both uncover areas of students’ difficulty as well as provide a reliable and valid method to measure student learning, Conceptual Learning Assessment Instruments (CLAIs) have been essential to the pedagogical improvement within many physics courses. However, to date there exists a dearth of CLAIs developed specifically to assess students’ conceptual understanding of concepts unique to the introductory physics courses for life sciences (IPLS). To fill this need, we are currently developing a Fluid Dynamics CLAI specifically for the IPLS course. One of the first steps in assessment development is the determination of the concept domain that will be utilized to create the instrument. We chose to use a Delphi process to reach a consensus among 14+ physics, biology and biophysics on the key concepts to be covered on the instrument. In this talk, we will discuss the details of Delphi process and present the final fluid dynamics concept domain.

  • • Driving Physics Education Home: Teaching Mechanics Through Motor Vehicle Collisions

    • BH04
    • Sun 01/10, 2:50PM - 3:00PM

    • by Sarah Sojka, Peter Sheldon

    • Type: Contributed
    • Research and logic both indicate that students learn more when they are engaged with the material. In a two-week summer transition course for students planning to major in any STEM field, we related all physics content to motor vehicle collisions. The students in the course had a wide range of previous exposure to physics and a range of intended majors (biology, chemistry, physics/engineering, math and environmental science). The topic engaged non-physics majors and allowed students with extensive preparation in physics to work on more advanced exercises, such as accident reconstruction. Students responded positively to the topic and more importantly, showed a normalized gain on the FCI of 0.23±0.06 (SE), comparable to a full semester, traditional lecture physics course. We will present an overview of the course, sample exercises and students responses to the course. This approach could be effectively modified for any introductory physics course.

  • • Iconic Problems/Threshold Concepts in Physics and Biology

    • BH05
    • Sun 01/10, 3:00PM - 3:10PM
    • by Juan Burciaga
    • Type: Contributed
    • Iconic problems have proven to be a useful paradigm to analyze physics curricula. Though these share many of the characteristics of threshold concepts (transformative, integrative, bounded, …) the iconic problem paradigm allows a closer analysis to the physics curriculum by identifying key problems. Recently the author has begun using the iconic problem paradigm to identify key topics in the biology used in an IPLS course. The paper focuses on the characteristics of iconic problems and their relationship to threshold concepts, identifying the iconic physics problems in an IPLS course, and reports on the characterization of the biology topics of the IPLS course as iconic problems/threshold concepts.

• Physics Outside the Classroom: After School Clubs, Summer Camps and Other Enrichment Programs

  • • Next Generation STEM Preparation Through LIGO Science Education at Southern University*

    • FA01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM

    • by Stephen McGuire, Luria Young

    • Type: Invited
    • This talk focuses on our 10-year local partnership with the LIGO Science Education Center (SEC) in science education through in-service and pre-service programs that primarily impact K-16 teacher preparation. Principal on-campus components of our science educational outreach effort include the SUBR-LIGO Inquiry Laboratory and the LIGO Docent Training Program. Both support teacher pre-service and in-service activities by introducing classical LIGO science concepts to a broad spectrum of undergraduate majors, practicing teachers, and the public through the use of interactive exhibits and in doing so enhance science literacy throughout the region. Further, the Inquiry laboratory and Docent Training Program serve as sources for graduate student projects for the university’s doctoral program in Science and Mathematics Education (SMED). Details of the partnership, a summary of recent outcomes, and future plans will be presented.

  • • Saturday Morning Astrophysics at Purdue: Sharing Astrophysics with the Indiana Community

    • FA02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 7:40PM

    • by Matthew Wiesner, David Sederberg

    • Type: Contributed
    • In this paper we describe Saturday Morning Astrophysics at Purdue (SMAP), a new program at Purdue University for local students in grades 6-12. On the second Saturday of every month, we present a lesson that introduces the students to a topic in current astrophysics. Each one-hour lesson includes a brief introduction and a hands-on exploration of the topic. In the past year we have measured the Hubble constant, identified star types using spectroscopy, built telescopes, created model meteor craters and more. In this talk we describe our goals for SMAP, we present concepts we have taught and we consider students’ progress in learning about astrophysics and getting comfortable with science as a whole.

  • • Randolph College Science Festival and Science Saturdays: Outreach for All

    • FA03
    • Mon 01/11, 7:40PM - 7:50PM
    • by Peter Sheldon
    • Type: Contributed
    • Randolph College is a small, liberal arts college with 700 students. More than 10 years ago, our Society of Physics Students started an annual outreach for elementary school children which has now grown into a weekend-long regional Science Festival for all ages and a fall laboratory series for high school students. This is all done on no regular budget and in a department with 2.5 faculty members. An incredible 25% of the entire student body volunteers to help with the festival each year. I will share what we do and how we do it, our successes, and our struggles.

  • • Physics for Five-year-olds

    • FA04
    • Mon 01/11, 7:50PM - 8:00PM
    • by Jessica Graber
    • Type: Contributed
    • After searching for physics experiments suitable for my own kindergarten-aged children, I came to the conclusion that science for five-year-olds comprises dinosaurs and growing seeds. Physics-oriented projects were generally for older children, and concentrated on solar power or water conservation. In terms of cognitive development, concepts of weight, length, shape, and volume are being molded at around age five, but I could find no lessons introducing vocabulary, nor kinesthetic activities helping them intuitively develop these concepts. So I wrote my own. My college students helped lead the activities during eight weeks of after-school enrichment at a nearby elementary school. The kids and I had a good time, though no formal evaluation or assessment was done of the outcomes of the program. I would appreciate feedback on the content and approach of my lessons, as well as suggestions for evaluation and dissemination.

  • • Outreach and Engagement - Seizing and Leveraging Opportunity

    • FA05
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00PM - 8:10PM

    • by David Sederberg, Matthew Wiesner

    • Type: Contributed
    • The design of educational outreach can take myriad directions, depending on the expectations and philosophies of those engaged in and conducting programs, the selection of and anticipated benefits to target audiences, levels of engagement, and the availability of volunteers and material resources. In this presentation, we will briefly outline both time-honored and emerging physics and astronomy Outreach Programs at Purdue and illustrate models of new directions we are pursuing. We will highlight some of our successes, our challenges, and present ways in which Physics Outreach is positioned to serve the department, maintain our responsibility to the College of Science, and seek and effectively reach target audiences, in ways that we believe will most effectively accomplish common goals.

• Physics and Society

  • • Physics and Society

    • TOP4D
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00AM - 9:30AM
    • by Stan Micklavzina
    • Type: Topical
    • Join your colleagues to discuss how AAPT members can contribute and coordinate efforts to teaching physics related societal issues such as science literacy, energy use and production, pseudoscience, and other topics bound to raise interesting conversations in the classroom, public venues, and even the dinner table with friends and relatives!

• Physics on the Road

  • • Physics and Performance: Demos for the Road!

    • GC01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM
    • by Stanley Micklavzina
    • Type: Invited
    • Performance ideas and demos for the road will be discussed and displayed that are the result from shows developed for The International Year of Light and also participating in the Science Show International Cup held in Estonia late September 2015. The rules of the competition were challenging: Work in a team of two and present in two different presentation styles, Theatrical and Coordination. The Theatrical Show is a 30-minute presentation done which includes descriptions of the science being shown. The Coordination Show is a 15-minute performance where the presenters do not talk to the audience or each other while displaying science principles through a coordinated effort that can include projected slides, music, and flashing lights. Physics and Performance.... Game On! The results of the competition are not known at the writing time of the abstract, but the excitement of the challenge is at its peak!

  • • The Physics Factory at 10: Arizona, New York, Florida, Beyond!

    • GC02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM

    • by Bruce Bayly*, Erik Herman, Kip Perkins, Christopher DiScenza, John Pattison

    • Type: Invited
    • The Physics Factory began as a bus-based mobile demo lab in Tucson, AZ. In2005 we incorporated with 501c3 nonprofit status. Partnerships with the University of Arizona and local schools fostered growth, and the mobile operation expanded (national tours 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014). We added a Community Science Workshop for youngsters (2009), and the Arizona Math Road Show (2011). In 2014 the Ithaca Physics Bus started in collaboration with XRAISE at Cornell University, and the mobile program traveled to the USASEF, the Polish Academy of Kids in Gdansk (Poland) and the Beijing Science Festival (China). 2015 saw the creation of the Gainesville Physics Bus in Florida and the Alpine Science Club for children in the rural White Mountains region of Arizona. Our first decade combined purposeful growth with openness to unexpected opportunities. We don’t know what will happen in our next decade, but we’re looking forward to an exciting time!

  • • Physics on Broadway!

    • GC03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 10:00AM
    • by David Maiullo
    • Type: Invited
    • During the summer of 2015, I was approached by a Broadway producer to develop and star in an off-Broadway production based on my frequent and popular physics demonstration shows. The show will be set in an 80-seat theater right next to Times Square on 46th street in NYC. It was set for previews from Nov. 4 till Nov. 18, 2015, then with official shows starting on Nov. 19 and running through the 2015 holiday season. If successful, it will move into an even larger Broadway theater in the March/April time period, again with me staring. This talk will discuss the details of taking a standard physics demonstration show and (hopefully) detail the success of transferring it to Broadway!

  • • Texas A&M Physics Festival: Unique Learning Opportunity for Community and Students

    • GC04
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:10AM
    • by Tatiana Erukhimova
    • Type: Contributed
    • Texas A and M Physics Festival started in 2003 with a dozen of hands-on exhibits and inaugural lecture by Stephen Hawking. Over years it evolved into one of the largest STEM outreach events in the area. The Festival attracts over 4000 visitors annually from all over Texas and other states. It features over 100 interactive exhibits displayed by faculty and students, public lectures by world-renowned scientists and astronauts, professional bubble shows, and many other activities. I will report on the structure of the Festival as well as strategies for involving undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in public outreach. I will further discuss our innovative Discover, Explore and Enjoy Physics and Engineering (DEEP) program aimed at enhancing the learning and research experiences of students through their participation in outreach activities.

  • • Storytelling Makes Everything Better

    • GC05
    • Tue 01/12, 10:10AM - 10:20AM
    • by Marc Kossover
    • Type: Contributed
    • Humans learn by stories. Getting your audience involved with the right story can make your less flashy demonstrations the stars of the show and can dramatically improve the learning from the flashiest stunts. Crafting the right story, though, can be challenging. The right story doesn’t dumb the science down, after all the audience came to physics show. Rather, the story should have them feel like they are a part of the science being done.

• Post-Deadline II

  • • Investigating scientific inquiry expectations in undergraduate physics students

    • IB01
    • Tue 01/12, 3:30PM - 3:40PM

    • by Gabriel Nguyen, Manjula Sharma, John O'Byrne

    • Type: Contributed
    • University science students are expected to encounter and develop scientific inquiry skills in their undergraduate years. As the focus on the quality of STEM education and workplace-ready graduates intensifies, we require tools that evaluate physics students on scientific inquiry skills. Our study focused on the development of a survey instrument that explored student expectations of the laboratory program from the perspective of scientific inquiry as they entered university. This survey was given to 950 first year physics students at the University of Sydney. Students entering university have optimistic expectations about the physics laboratory program, expecting the program to teach them about scientific inquiry skills. In particular, a factor on generic graduate attributes (Cronbach ? = .812) and another on science-specific skills (Cronbach ? = .777) were identified as a potential basis for a model of student expectations of the laboratory program.

  • • Junior-level classical mechanics co-taught by an engineer and a physicist

    • IB02
    • Tue 01/12, 3:40PM - 3:50PM

    • by Jolene Johnson, Kaye Smith

    • Type: Contributed
    • St. Catherine University in launching a new applied physics major. As part of our major we are slowly adding classes that prepare students for future education and careers in engineering or physics. This fall we offered “Mechanics for physicists and engineers” for the first time. The class was co-taught by an engineer and a physicist. Class content was a combination of material from a traditional statics and dynamics engineering class and a junior level classical mechanics physics class. In this talk I will discuss the structure of the class, the active learning activities we did, and the lessons learned from co-teaching physics and engineering content.

  • • Producing Videos for an Introductory Mechanics MOOC

    • IB03
    • Tue 01/12, 3:50PM - 4:00PM

    • by Michelle Tomasik, Peter Dourmashkin, James Cain

    • Type: Contributed
    • Video is an important medium of instruction in online and blended classes.In this talk I will talk about two types of our experimental videos. We have been using the Adobe suite to produce short, simple animations. Making these videos is quite time consuming but they have the advantage of being able to add complex diagrams and break them down simply, as well as the ability to revise and edit the videos. Another new type of video has been made using the "light board”. This type of board was originally created by Michael Peshkin at Northwestern and involves the instructor facing the camera and writing on a glass surface (the image is then mirrored using software). This form is more natural to teachers and is less time consuming but is limited in terms of editing and space available for presentation.

  • • Social Annotation Analysis of General Physics by Using Machine Learning

    • IB05
    • Tue 01/12, 4:10PM - 4:20PM

    • by Suyoung Jin, Junehee Yoo

    • Type: Contributed
    • The purpose of the study was to classify the interactive Social Annotationof general physics and to find its features by using Machine Learning that is used a document filtering based on the Naive Bayesian Classifier. Social annotations of general physics course adopted Flipped Learning were divided non interactive group and comments group. And then we make it learn document filtering algorithm. We compared to the probability of the word among the group. The difference between the two groups were analyzed by linguistic features and scientific terms based on scientific argumentation and properties of subjects. This will not be missing the important information for teacher by immediate and overall analysis. At the same time, this will be leading to participation and interaction of learners.

  • • Transforming teaching practices at the undergraduate level with a ‘Peer Review of Teaching’ program

    • IB06
    • Tue 01/12, 4:20PM - 4:30PM

    • by Helen Georgiou, Manjula Sharma

    • Type: Contributed
    • Research on effective teaching in undergraduate science unambiguously endorses certain pedagogies such as ‘Active Learning’, and offers evaluation strategies that encourage an evidenced-based approach to the development of teaching practices. However, the products of these efforts remain to be integrated in university teaching in any consistent or comprehensive way. In an attempt to bridge this notorious chasm between research and practice, a Peer Review of Teaching (PRT) program was introduced into The Faculty of Science at The University of Sydney, Australia. The PRT program aimed to: embed effective teaching strategies emerging from the literature into practice, create a community of practice amongst lecturers across the scientific disciplines, and raise the status of teaching in the research-intensive context. A description of the program will be presented, including details of the resources developed (such as the tools used to review teaching practices) and the outcomes of the program more generally.

  • • Latency Toward Public Speaking in Pre-Engineering and Physics

    • IB07
    • Tue 01/12, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Pamela Maher, Janelle Bailey, Allan Tucka

    • Type: Contributed
    • This paper results from a research opportunity for students at a two-year college. It reports on latency, or hesitancy, toward public speaking among participating pre-engineering and calculus-based physics students. Thirty (N = 30) students self-selected to participate in this grant-funded outreach project. Participants each built a kit-based model of a da Vinci machine, designed an informational flyer aligned to state K-12 physical science standards, and presented informally to the general public visiting a planetarium. Multiple qualitative analyses of collected data assessed the participants’ perceptions toward and latency about public speaking. Results suggest that latency stems from the fear of making mistakes or giving out misinformation. Participants demonstrated increased confidence in their ability to share their knowledge with the general public after having guided informal speaking opportunities. The results of this study can inform the practice of training future scientists and engineers in such soft skills.

  • • The Importance of Effective Study Strategies in a Blended Physics Course

    • IB08
    • Tue 01/12, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Jennifer DeBoer, Xin Chen, Lori Breslow, Saif Rayyan

    • Type: Contributed
    • We study student behaviors in an introductory studio physics course in a blended learning context at a large private university. Faculty and instructors had selected resources from a massive open online course they participated in developing and adapted those resources to make them available in the course on the local version of the university’s MOOC platform. An initial survey revealed that students overwhelmingly liked the ability to learn immediately whether the answers to homework problems were correct or not. With that finding, we conducted a rigorous mixed-methods study of the students’ use of the immediate corrective feedback from "checkable answers" as well as other online resources the students accessed while solving online homework problems. We find that students' organization of time and other effective study strategies play an important role in student performance, even controlling for their other behaviors, which has important implications for physics course design.

  • • Knowledge gain through in-lab videos in Physical Sciences courses

    • IB09
    • Tue 01/12, 4:50PM - 5:00PM

    • by Jorge Dayer, Sergio Flores Garcia, Roy Montalvo, Maria Gonzalez, Leonardo Rodriguez

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Physics Education Group from The University of Texas at El Paso has developed a hybrid instruction model to combine lab activities and a tutorial-based inquiry through the use of interactive videos. This didactical approach was designed and implemented at the physics department. Students in physical science courses were exposed to a lecture-in-lab understanding activity to construct the concept of density in the contexts of solids and liquids. Students were exposed to a 30-min video of the lab activities that were available for the students throughout the entire lab session, allowing them to watch it as needed. Data was collected through a post-test, a pre-test, and homework designed in the same context of the corresponding learning topics. Finally, we will present the corresponding learning Hake Gains.

  • • Representational Fluency: A key to effective physics education

    • IB04
    • Sat 11/12, 4:00PM - 4:10PM
    • by Matthew Hill
    • Type: Contributed
    • Physicists view the world through a lens of representations (graphs, words, equations, and diagrams). Most research on representations in physics education focuses on individual representations, e.g. how do students use distance/time graphs, but little has been done on generic representational fluency combining a range of different representations. How can we facilitate learning representational fluency at university? 11 sets of research-based, online modules were deployed to first-year students at the University of Sydney. These pre-instruction modules targeted the use of equations, diagrams, and graphs in physics relevant to the week’s lectures. Parallel were another set of modules targeting the conceptual knowledge required in first-year physics. Results indicate both sets of modules have a positive effect on both representational fluency (measured by the Representational Fluency Survey) and conceptual knowledge (measured by the Force Motion Concept Evaluation). This indicates that explicit teaching of quantitative skills can have a positive effect on in-lecture learning.

• Post-deadline Abstracts (Papers)

  • • Demonstration of Concepts in Quantum Mechanics Using a String and Mass Chain

    • IA01
    • Tue 01/12, 3:30PM - 3:40PM
    • by Roger Yu
    • Type: Contributed
    • The solutions of the mechanical wave equation for a loaded mass chain and the Schrodinger equation of a set of quantum wells are similar. The physical properties of both systems such as discrete energy (frequency) levels, frequency or energy band structure and band gap, density of states, defects, etc. share commonality. We have studied the vibrational properties of a finite one?dimensional string?mass chain experimentally and theoretically. More importantly, these highly visible studies have been used as demonstrations to illustrate the properties of a finite quantum well system for which the visualization would not be possible otherwise in a general physics lab. We will present some details about the studies of a mass chain, along with the parallel between these two physical systems.

  • • Origins of General Relativity in Newton's Laws of Motion

    • IA02
    • Tue 01/12, 3:40PM - 3:50PM
    • by Munawar Karim
    • Type: Contributed
    • I will describe and demonstrate (through videos) the physics of freely falling bodies. The concept of weightlessness is key to understanding why gravity is a geometric concept. The link between Newton's laws of motion and Einstein's theory of gravity will be elucidated.

  • • Determining the Diagnostic Properties of the Force Concept Inventory

    • IA03
    • Tue 01/12, 3:50PM - 4:00PM

    • by Mary Norris, Gary Skaggs

    • Type: Contributed
    • With the evolution of postsecondary education to include accountability, it is important for instructors to identify student misconceptions and to adjust their instruction accordingly. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is widely used to measure learning in introductory physics. Typically, instructors use total score. Investigation suggests that the test is multidimensional. This study fits FCI data with cognitive diagnostic and bifactor models in order to provide a more detailed assessment of student skills. A well-fit multidimensional model of the FCI would allow a more nuanced understanding of student knowledge which would encourage and empower both instructors and students to focus their teaching and learning efforts in those areas that are weakest.

  • • School-based Factors and Physics Students' Enrollment and Achievement in Nigeria

    • IA04
    • Tue 01/12, 4:00PM - 4:10PM
    • by Telima Adolphus
    • Type: Contributed
    • Despite the laudable relevance of physics and physics education, the teaching and learning of physics is still bedeviled by several challenges of poor infrastructure and inadequate teaching and learning facilities in Nigeria. This study utilized the mixed methods to examine the effect of school-based factors on the enrolment and achievement of senior secondary school physics students in selected locations in Nigeria. In all 248 physics students, 116 non-physics students and 14 physics teachers were involved in the study to elicit data. Major findings from the study revealed that students’ achievement and enrolment correlated positively with resource availability, teacher qualification, resource utilization and teaching experience. The implication of this study is that schools in Nigeria are poorly financed with grossly inadequate laboratory facilities and resources for the teaching and learning physics which has resulted to the low popularity of the subject among students and poor achievement.

  • • Collaborative Completion of Homework Solutions using Virtual White Board Technology

    • IA05
    • Tue 01/12, 4:10PM - 4:20PM
    • by Mark Haseman
    • Type: Contributed
    • For a number of introductory physics students, reviewing instructors' complete written solutions to homework problems can be a daunting experience. However, if the instructor can provide a solution to the student that outlines the process step-by-step, the once intimidating process is made accessible to the student. Virtual white board technology, like the Explain Everything mobile app, allows the instructor to develop these solutions, accompanied with their audio explanation of the problem solving process. Here we describe our efforts using a virtual white board platform to provide students with guided homework solutions. Initial feedback from surveys indicate that students prefer these guided solutions to the traditional static solutions. This better understanding led to increased classroom interaction, and performance on assessments will be presented to highlight trends.

• Post-deadline III

  • • Adapting MOOC Pedagogy to a Blended Quantum Mechanics Course

    • IC01
    • Tue 01/12, 3:30PM - 3:40PM

    • by Saif Rayyan, Barton Zwiebach

    • Type: Contributed
    • In Spring 2015, the physics department at MIT offered a MOOC on edX in intermediate quantum mechanics (8.05x: Mastering Quantum Mechanics). In parallel to running the MOOC, MIT students were offered the opportunity to take the course for credit. In this experimental residential offering, lectures and traditional homework sets were eliminated in favor of learning sequences (based on video recorded lectures and short exercises) and online homework from the MOOC. While most of the course activities were moved online, students had to meet with the instructor for two recitation hours, and took traditional pen and paper exams (a midterm and a final). I will describe the design of the course, the technology used to transform the content to an online format, and the results of the experiment in terms of student performance, habits and attitudes toward the course.

  • • Connecting introductory astronomy with majors outside of the sciences

    • IC02
    • Tue 01/12, 3:40PM - 3:50PM
    • by Matthew Perkins Coppola
    • Type: Contributed
    • Introductory astronomy is popular with non-science majors in need of a laboratory course for graduation. Students come to this course with sincere interest in learning more about the universe, but often fail to appreciate how their own career paths may intersect with astronomy in significant ways. In my section of introductory astronomy I asked students to research these intersections and write a paper summarizing their findings. Students in all majors found ways to connect to astronomy, transforming a course of disconnected curiosities into career opportunities for their futures.

  • • Exploring the nature of interactions during peer instruction for different subject-experience pairs

    • IC03
    • Tue 01/12, 3:50PM - 4:00PM
    • by Judy Vondruska
    • Type: Contributed
    • Previous subject experience has been shown to influence interactions during peer instruction in an introductory physics course. This paper will present results from a qualitative study, conducted during the Fall of 2015, exploring the nature of interactions during peer instruction for different subject-experience pairs. Specifically, the study examines student perceptions about the value of student response systems in learning physics, the value of peer interactions during lecture, and the nature of the discourse between peer instruction partners. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with physics students from different subject-experience pairs in an introductory, one-semester physics survey course. This study is Phase II of an explanatory-sequential mixed methods research design.

  • • Fusing Physical Science and Culture with the Concept of Time

    • IC04
    • Tue 01/12, 4:00PM - 4:10PM

    • by R. Steven Turley, Brian Jackson

    • Type: Contributed
    • Brigham Young University has introduced a set of General Education/Honors classes called “Unexpected Connections.” These courses are intended to explore ideas from the perspective of two different disciplines, in our case physical sciences and cultural studies. The classes are taught by faculty from different disciplines with a unifying focus. Our course was taught by a physics and an English professor. We chose the topic of time as our unifying theme. From the physical science side we discussed Newton’s Laws, Relativity, geological time, astronomical time and distance, and cosmology. On the global/cultural side we discussed time and nature in pre-modern cultures, factory time and time in modern life, frames of cultural reference (e.g., Hiroshima from a U.S. and Japanese perspective), and creation stories. In this presentation, we will discuss our successes, challenges, and surprises in getting students from a variety of majors to critically engage a topic from such disparate disciplines.

  • • Students' conceptual understanding difficulties with vector operations

    • IC05
    • Tue 01/12, 4:10PM - 4:20PM

    • by Leonardo Rodriguez, Sergio Flores, Roy Montalvo, Maria Gonzalez, Jorge Dayer

    • Type: Contributed
    • Many introductory physics students encounter challenges in understanding vector operations. A functional understanding of this concept requires that students be able to reason about vectors in different contexts. We present data collected from more than 300 students and related to traditional instructions. This data describes students’ conceptual difficulties with vector addition/subtraction. These students were organized in small groups led by student Teaching Assistants (TAs). The TAs help students understand vector operations during a hands-on 50 minute session. Analysis of the data suggests that, after traditional instruction, some students were unable to reason qualitatively about the vector operations. We describe some specific procedural and reasoning difficulties we have observed (e.g. 1. Closing the loop, 2. Tip-to-tip, 3. Use of Pythagorean Theorem, and 4. Adding as scalars) and describe modifications to laboratory instruction that we have design on the basis of our research into student’s understanding.

  • • Using robotics and relatable STEM topics to motivate students to pursue careers in science.

    • IC06
    • Tue 01/12, 4:20PM - 4:30PM

    • by Mostafa Elaasar, Rachid Belmasrour, Jeniece Alberts, Brandon Bailey, Amber Dillon

    • Type: Contributed
    • Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), through the Research on the Science and Engineering of Signatures” (ROSES) grant, hosted two 2-week mathematics and science camps (GEMS) for students completing grades 2nd through 6th by June 1, 2015. GEMS is intended to capture grade school students’ interest in math and science and motivate them to pursue careers in STEM fields. The camps consisted of one week of Lego Robotics and one week of various demonstrations in biology, forensic science, mathematics, and physics. Many members of the SUNO faculty graciously volunteered during the camps to teach topics related to their fields. Approximately 90 children attended the two sessions. We will discuss the camps and present the survey results. Funded by U. S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP) Grant Number DE-NA0002683.

  • • Embedding Digital Technology in College Physics by Inquiry Learning Progressions

    • IC07
    • Tue 01/12, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Andrew Dougherty, Bruce Patton

    • Type: Contributed
    • Physics by Inquiry at The Ohio State University has evolved over several decades starting from the original University of Washington framework. Changing core science standards, new equipment options, and experimental innovation have played roles in the current format of the course offered as a key part of K-12 teacher preparation. The attempt to align content with Ohio science and math standards has expanded the learning progression approach implicit in Physics by Inquiry. The incorporation of computers and sensors is used as a natural extension of introductory hands-on activities which develop conceptual understanding and intuition. The digital lab analysis then emerges as a higher order construct rather than a black box that many students remember from physics labs. The sequence is useful as a representation of the NGSS progression from K to 12 grades as well as a way to develop robust and technologically advanced understanding in a course sequence.

  • • The Impact of 1:1 Laptops in Senior High School Sciences

    • IC08
    • Tue 01/12, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Simon Crook, Manjula Sharma, Rachel Wilson

    • Type: Contributed
    • Our study capitalized on a unique natural experiment rather than a researcher- designed, randomized experiment whereby, thanks to the Australian Government’s Digital Education Revolution, half of grade 9 students received laptops and half did not. Consequently, when these students sat for their grade 12 standardized external examinations, half of them had been schooled with 1:1 laptops for over three years, and half without. With school principals and district administrators asking the question “what will these laptops do to our examination results?” this dichotomous scenario presented us with a unique opportunity to find out. The science students (N=967) from 12 high schools in Sydney, Australia were studied. Using socio-demographic, school and examination data, multiple regression analyses were performed to measure the impact on student attainment in biology, chemistry and physics. Our findings will be presented plus further analyses that will explain the different impacts between the subjects.

• Professional Concerns in High School

  • • Framing the Professional Concerns of the High School Physics Teacher

    • AD01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Bradley Gearhart
    • Type: Invited
    • Undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs are charged with providing pre-service physics teachers solid conceptual and pedagogical foundations to draw upon in their classroom instruction. However, in an authentic setting, content and pedagogy are but two strands in the thread of the teaching profession. Navigating teacher evaluation systems, state standards, diverse student populations, building politics, logistical details, and various other facets of the profession are essential to maintaining a lasting career in teaching. My experience has shown that these are often overlooked aspects of the profession that are largely left “as an exercise for the reader.” In this presentation, I will draw upon my experience as a physics teacher at a private catholic, a public suburban, and a public urban high school to frame the professional concerns that come with teaching physics in high school. Also, it is my hope that I am able to offer some perspective on the preparation of high school physics teachers for the purpose of obtaining, and maintaining, a career in the teaching profession.

  • • Breadth vs Depth: Addressing the Time Crunch Dilemma

    • AD02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 11:00AM
    • by Lee Trampleasure
    • Type: Invited
    • The "cannon" of high school physics is fairly broad, and all of it seems important. We "learned" it all, so why can't our students? We are confronted with demands/requests from both our administration and from universities regarding what we must cover, while at the same time being told we should integrate "critical thinking," engineering practices, and programming. All these require time of their own, so we often feel that we have to give up some topics. This talk will address both (1) how to decide what to "cut," (2) how to justify this to those who question your decisions, and (3) how the College Board is addressing this with the 'new' AP Physics 1 and 2. The talk will involve poll responses from the audience, so please bring your smartphone or other internet connected device.

  • • Building Teacher e-Portfolios: 21st Century CV, Outreach and Tracking & Training

    • AD03
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:10AM
    • by Fatih Gozuacik
    • Type: Contributed
    • 21st Century; everything has changed, all moved into digital based systems. One great way to build up your resume, keep track of your awesome work, do school outreach, attract best students into your AP classes and satisfy your principal...Benefits don't fit here. I started using Google+, YouTube and Facebook as an educational tool and it sparkled my teaching way. Parents see and get proud of their kids' work, school yells out that they are a STEM academy, teachers create their name brands... Reaching your society with such tools inspires next generations and increases STEM awareness. You can also use these interactive albums to train other teachers even in other countries! Only thing you need is an internet connection and then "share& shine." In this session you will see how to use and reroute social media, and critical points need to be careful.

• Professional Skills for Graduate Students

  • • Academic Writing in Physics Education Research

    • HC01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 1:00PM
    • by Charles Henderson
    • Type: Invited
    • Academic writing is a very important professional skill to develop as partof your graduate education. In this interactive session I will use my experiences as a journal editor and an author to answer your questions about effective academic writing and provide some tips for getting your articles published.

  • • Externalizing and Publishing in PER: A Discussion of Challenges, Practices, and Opportunities

    • HC02
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:30PM
    • by Noah Finkelstein
    • Type: Invited
    • In this interactive panel discussion we will discuss the opportunities andchallenges of publishing work in physics education research. Based on studies of the field and my own experiences (with 100 articles/chapters and 400 public addresses), we will have the opportunities to engage in discussions of: what makes for a good paper or talk, audience, publishing venue, what counts (and to whom), and practical advice for writing, working with advisors and co-authors, and responding to reviewers and editors.

• Quadcopters, Drones and High Altitude Balloons

  • • Teaching Physics with Radio-controlled Helicopters and Multicopters

    • EI01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 4:00PM
    • by Martin DeWitt
    • Type: Invited
    • With the recent proliferation of inexpensive radio-controlled miniature helicopters and multicopters, it is more feasible than ever to purchase these devices for educational use. They can be invaluable motivational tools for teaching a variety of topics in an introductory physics course. In this talk, I will discuss the physics underlying the operation of both helicopters and multicopters, as well as present examples of how to use them in the classroom and laboratory. I will also briefly discuss ways to use slightly larger model aircraft in undergraduate research projects.

  • • Blueprints for Accessible and Affordable High-Altitude Ballooning

    • EI02
    • Mon 01/11, 4:00PM - 4:30PM

    • by Geoffrey Schmit, Mark Rowzee

    • Type: Invited
    • We'll provide you with the blueprints for success since the moment you release your first high-altitude balloon, you are stricken with an unsettling combination of joy and terror. It is relativity easy to launch a high-altitude balloon; it requires much more planning, resources, and luck to get it back. We will share our experiences designing, launching, and recovering high-altitude balloons over the past six years. We will share the science that can be done with a variety of student age groups (elementary, junior high, and high school). We will share the materials necessary for a successful launch and recovery for a variety of budgets. We will share the safety precautions that are required. Finally, we have photos, videos, resources, and stories that we hope will inspire you to conduct your own launch.

  • • First High Altitude Balloon Experience at RCTC; What We Learned

    • EI03
    • Mon 01/11, 4:30PM - 4:40PM

    • by Rod Milbrandt, Andrea Walker, Nathan Brown, Eric Thoreson, Steve Keidl

    • Type: Contributed
    • Three community college students prepared and successfully launched a highaltitude balloon (HAB) this spring for a team project in our calculus-based physics class. This talk will discuss our experience: preparation, materials, cost, troubleshooting and other details along with data and video acquired. The key role of retired engineers who volunteered their time and expertise to help the students will also be discussed. The project generated a lot of excitement and interesting data and we highly recommend HAB experiments for other colleges and high schools.

  • • Stratospheric Ballooning - Temperature Measurement Challenges

    • EI04
    • Mon 01/11, 4:40PM - 4:50PM

    • by Erick Agrimson, Kaye Smith, James Flaten, Brittany Craig, Rachel Newman

    • Type: Contributed
    • Measuring air temperature from high altitude balloon payloads is a straightforward process– or so we thought. But problems encountered and observation have caused us to rethink how we measure and interpret temperature data collected in a partial vacuum and at temperatures well below -50 degrees Celsius. As a result, our High Altitude Balloon (HAB) program at St. Catherine University took a detour this past summer and focused on increasing our understanding of what it means and how to best measure temperature. In this talk, we present some of the challenges we encountered as we conducted temperature-based research in near space conditions. Testing, calibrating and comparing temperature sensors in this extreme environment has proven to be a worthwhile endeavor for our undergraduate research team, and we share learning experiences and outcomes of this process.

  • • Service Learning and High Altitude Balloons

    • EI05
    • Mon 01/11, 4:50PM - 5:00PM

    • by Joel Berlinghieri, Russell Hilleke, Luke Sollitt

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Citadel Physics Department, with support from Space Grants, Google Corporation, and the STEM Center for Excellence is leading an outreach program which involves high school teams, undergraduate physics and engineering students, and department faculty. High school teachers attend a workshop in which they learn about project design for high-altitude ballooning. They in turn select high school student teams to design experiments, write proposals, and submit these to a team of undergraduate and faculty reviewers. With an approved project teams are given financial support and then construct the experiment instrumentation. Projects are tested using a tethered balloon (1000 ft.) test protocol. Approved projects are then flown (launched and retrieved) by participants.

  • • Harmony Near Space Project

    • EI06
    • Mon 01/11, 5:00PM - 5:10PM
    • by Mehmet Gokcek
    • Type: Contributed
    • In secondary education physics students learn about various concepts of science such as thermodynamics, kinematics and much more. Most schools offer great hands-on activities where students obtain a chance to form a deeper appreciation of physics. However, there seems to be a lack of advanced level projects where various topics of physics can be brought together giving members of physics class an opportunity to apply their recently acquired knowledge. Most schools strive for such advanced projects that can create a higher level of understanding of physical concepts. High altitude balloons introduces students to basics of space exploration by making it possible to collect data and footage at an altitude of 100,000 ft, where temperature drops down to -50 F degree and pressure to an extreme value plummeting from 12.04 psi on the ground to 0.02 psi. For more https://www.facebook.com/Harmonynearspace

• Recovery of New Orleans Physics Post-Katrina

  • • The Dual Degree Approach: Improving the Success of Minority Physicists/Engineers

    • FB01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by Anderson Sunda-Meya
    • Type: Invited
    • The Dual Degree Engineering Program (DDEP) is a specifically designed curriculum for undergraduate students to prepare them for transferring into an engineering school. This five-year program, offered in conjunction with partner schools, allows students to take pre-engineering courses in the sciences along with Xavier's other offerings in the arts, humanities, and social sciences for three years, followed by two years of advanced engineering studies. The DDEP not only increases transfer opportunities for students, but also imparts the basic skills in science, engineering and mathematics for tomorrow’s engineers. Successful support systems are put in place to combat the general engineering attrition. Surveys indicate that all stakeholder groups are positive about this program, and gains are indicated in personal dimensions and increase in the number of graduates in physics.

  • • Recovery of New Orleans Physics Post-Katrina

    • FB02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM

    • by Abdalla Darwish, Robert Collins

    • Type: Invited
    • Ten years later, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which left most of the schools from elementary to higher education in disarray, the question that our higher education is facing today is “Are we recovered yet?” Hurricane Katrina left all the state and private universities in New Orleans, and especially the three HBCU universities in the city, in a state of devastation and chaos. The student enrollment dropped in some cases, like Dillard University, to 44%. Students left their homes, educators were relocated to other states as far as Alaska, families disengaged and moved out, and even out-of-state students didn’t trust the safety environment of the city to come back. Physics departments had their share of the hurricane’s devastation as well. In this presentation, we will try to answer the question posed, and show both faces of Hurricane Katrina.

  • • Physics at Tulane University

    • FB03
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00PM - 8:30PM
    • by Lev Kaplan
    • Type: Invited
    • Katrina was a transformative event for Tulane, as it was for all the institutions in the New Orleans region. Following some painful retrenchment, particularly in several of the traditional engineering fields, we emerged with a new School of Science and Engineering (SSE) for the 21st century, where science and engineering disciplines are integrated in our teaching, research, and outreach activities. SSE as a whole now attracts more first-year students than any other school at Tulane. The physics department, which dates back to the 19th century, reinvented itself as the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, offering two major programs, in Physics and in Engineering Physics, and attracting more majors than ever before. We continue to offer our students the experience of an R1 university with a strong undergraduate focus, where students have the opportunity to engage with faculty in cutting-edge science and engineering research.

• Research on Ethnic Minorities: PER, DBER, and Science Education

  • • Values Affirmation as a Buffer Against Impostor Syndrome

    • CD01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:30PM
    • by Sarah Ballard
    • Type: Invited
    • Physics is only one field of many in which Impostor Syndrome is rampant among students. The syndrome presents as a narrative about one's "impostor" status that resists evidence from authentic achievements and praise, and is most common among underrepresented groups. It's especially challenging to address, since it reflects the internalization of stubborn cultural stereotypes. Values affirmation practices--encouraging individuals to focus upon their personal worth independent of science entirely--have emerged as effective intervention strategies. As two recent studies in science demonstrate, individuals who've suffered most from negative internalized stereotypes stand the most to gain from values affirmation. I'll review the literature about values affirmation and describe not only how it improves student performance, but also bolsters findings about the value of empathy in scientific interactions.

  • • Institutional and Social Barriers that Limit the Success of Marginalized Students (People of Color, Women, and LGBT)

    • CD02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:30PM - 5:00PM
    • by Ramon Barthelemy
    • Type: Invited
    • Physics degrees give students access to unique problem solving skills and the opportunity for lucrative employment in many degrees. However, this economic gain and intellectual growth is limited to a small fraction of undergraduate and graduate students. Although women represent more than half of all college students and Hispanics and African Americans are pursuing higher education at ever higher rates, they are still underrepresented in physics. Many factors play into this, from the primary school level all the way through graduate education. This talk will outline institutional and social issues for marginalized groups in physics, including people of color, women, and LGBT persons. Topics such as K-12 course access and microaggressions will be discussed.

  • • Using Research Results to Support Inclusive Environments in STEM

    • CD03
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:30PM
    • by Geraldine Cochran
    • Type: Invited
    • Research has been conducted in a variety of fields on how environments caneither support or inhibit students from underrepresented groups to pursue and persist in STEM fields. In this talk, I will draw particularly from the literature on diversity and inclusion and science education, with a focus on implications for STEM educators. Further, I will address some apparent gaps in the literature that could further advance our understanding of how to support inclusive environments in STEM.

  • • Utilizing Service Learning to Increase Student Enrollment and Engagement

    • CD04
    • Sun 01/10, 5:30PM - 5:40PM

    • by Amber Strunk, Derek Vance, Carl Johnson

    • Type: Contributed
    • Physics has traditionally been thought of, by students, as a class for the“smart” kids, those kids who are college bound and whizzes at math and science. In addition it is typically perceived as a class with lots of math and no connection to students' everyday life. Many minority students have received the message that physics is not for them. This presentation is about how to integrate service learning and cross curricular topics to work with classes such as Environmental Chemistry, Woods, and Automotives to teach students problem solving techniques, life skills and science content. Our program has increased enrollment and engagement of our minority students while improving our school community.

• SPS Contributed talks

  • • Musical Physics: The 2015 Science Outreach Catalyst Kit

    • DA01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:10AM
    • by Hannah Pell
    • Type: Contributed
    • What is the science behind how we make music? The 2015 Society of Physics Students’ Science Outreach Catalyst Kit (SOCK) attempts to answer this question through a collection of demonstrations, activities, and physics lessons! The SOCK is an annual product of the Society of Physics Students and is full of activities based around a particular theme in physics, and is then sent to approximately 25 collegiate chapters to be used in science outreach events. In this year’s SOCK, our theme was Acoustics; we’ve explored the characteristics and behavior of sound waves, acoustical properties of various types of instruments, and how we can use sound to communicate. The SOCK contains interactive activities allowing students to build their own instruments, visualize properties of waves, construct their own ‘telephones’ to understand amplification and communication from a distance, and much more. In this presentation, I will discuss the process of planning, designing, and putting together the SOCK, as well as my overall summer experience in Washington, D.C. as a Society of Physics Students national intern.

  • • Teaching a Diverse History of Physics: African Americans in the Physical Sciences

    • DA02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:10AM - 11:20AM
    • by Brean Prefontaine
    • Type: Contributed
    • Those in the STEM fields are often concerned about lack of diversity across the various disciplines and much discussion revolves around improving the situation. One aspect that is commonly overlooked is the place of women and minorities in the history of the physical sciences. In an effort to bring forth these stories, the American Institute of Physics Center for the History of Physics established the Women and Minorities Project in 2012 to encourage educators to incorporate these men and women into existing curriculum. The project has developed to encompass a variety of materials including a set of lesson plans and educational games that pertain to African Americans in the history of physical sciences. During the summer of 2015, as a Society of Physics Student intern I expanded upon the materials pertaining to African Americans in order to provide more information to the student and to create an easier format for the instructor. I will introduce the Women and Minorities Project, discuss strategies used to develop the materials related to African Americans in the history of physical science, and share our vision for how the project will increase diversity in the physical sciences.

  • • Women in the History of the Physical Sciences

    • DA03
    • Mon 01/11, 11:20AM - 11:30AM
    • by Connor Day
    • Type: Contributed
    • Diversity in STEM fields continues to be an issue of great concern to the scientific community. While greater numbers of women are entering STEM careers than in the past, many important female faces are missing from common discussions of the history of physical science. To uncover and promote these stories, the American Center for Physics Center for History of Physics established the Women and Minorities Project in 2012 to encourage educators to incorporate underrepresented and minority scientists into their classrooms. During the summer of 2015, I worked with the Center as a Society of Physics Students summer intern to improve the educational materials available within this project. By featuring historical actors who challenge societal conceptions of who is a scientist, the teaching guides create role models for young scientists that reflect their own diverse backgrounds. I will discuss the goals and motivation of this project further, explain my contributions to its development, and future steps to be taken.

  • • Physics and Engineering, in Harmony from Research to Development

    • DA04
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 11:40AM
    • by Amandeep Gill
    • Type: Contributed
    • As a National Society of Physics Student’s intern with the American Physical Society’s Public Outreach department, I chose to highlight the relation between physics and engineering. Physics and engineering are interwoven disciplines and their relation is beneficial in research and industry. Showcasing the relation is important for high school or college-level students or the general public who is curious about either or both fields. To best reach out with this information, I wrote a desktop application using Kivy, a game design library of Python. An application enables the information to be accessible on any web-enabled device and adds an interactive element. This application, titled “Physics and Engineering, in Harmony from Research to Development,” highlights the relation between physics and engineering through interviews and with examples how each discipline has contributed to some real-world applications. My talk will go further into the application design and content development process.

  • • HPU's Chip 'n' Ship and NASA Micro-g NExT Program Experience

    • DA05
    • Mon 01/11, 11:40AM - 11:50AM

    • by Hallie Stidham, Matthew Iczkowski

    • Type: Contributed
    • The High Point University Panther CLAWS Team designed and constructed a rock chip sampling device for microgravity bodies. The design incorporated a commercially available, unmodified pneumatic air hammer that was mounted inside of an aluminum housing. The device also featured three interchangeable collection cartridges that were made specifically to mitigate cross-contamination between rock chip samples. The final product was tested in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. We are sharing our story with our fellow students and local media outlets. In addition, we created related activities for children at an annual outreach event called HPUniverse Day, where hundreds of local children and their families engage in hands-on activities and demonstrations.

  • • The Effect of Impurities on the Superconductivity of BSCCO

    • DA06
    • Mon 01/11, 11:50AM - 12:00PM

    • by John Vastola, Richard Klemm

    • Type: Contributed
    • BSCCO is a high-temperature cuprate superconductor whose electronic structure is currently poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear whether its order parameter is consistent with s-wave or d-wave behavior. Leggett has suggested that its order parameter might take a certain form that is consistent with d-wave behavior. While some experiments on the surface of BSCCO seem to support this conclusion, other experiments have suggested that its order parameter is instead s-wave in the bulk. We present some quantum field theoretic calculations in the spirit of Abrikosov and Gorkov that suggest such an order parameter cannot be correct. We will demonstrate that having such an order parameter would mean that BSCCO's critical temperature would go to zero if it is sufficiently impure, contradicting experimental evidence otherwise. These calculations lend support to the hypothesis that BSCCO is an s-wave rather than a d-wave superconductor.

  • • Effects of Combined Chemotherapy Drugs and Radiation on Cancer Cells

    • DA07
    • Mon 01/11, 12:00PM - 12:10PM

    • by Catherine Kuhnheim, Autumn Walter, Christopher Taylor, Dyan Jones

    • Type: Contributed
    • Radiation therapy is often utilized as a primary method for the treatment of cancerous cells, but it comes with its limits. The use of radiation often has adverse effects on healthy tissues in the body. To minimize the effects radiation can have on otherwise healthy cells, this method can be used in combination with a chemical reagent. The chemical reagent will act as an inhibitor in the cell in order to increase the sensitivity of the cell to the radiation dosage. In this study the combination of Canertinib, a chemotherapy drug, and lose-dose radiation is examined. There is a focus on the erbB pathway, which is composed of a family tyrosine kinases that have been shown to be associated with cell growth, cell cycle control, and apoptosis (programmed cell death). The effectiveness of the combination and isolation of each treatment is measured on SKBR3 cancer cells through current mathematical models of synergy.

  • • Exploring Electrical Stimulus Parameters for Targeted Osmotic Lysis of Cancer Cells

    • DA08
    • Mon 01/11, 12:10PM - 12:20PM

    • by Autumn Walter, Kenneth (Kip) Matthews, Paul Maggi

    • Type: Contributed
    • Targeted osmotic lysis (TOL) has recently been proposed as a method of selectively killing certain cancers that overexpress sodium pumps and channels on the cell membranes. For TOL to be achieved, chemical inhibitors block or paralyze the sodium pumps while the channels are electrically stimulated open. This then causes water to flow into the cell which results in the cell swelling and bursting. Electrical stimulus is an essential component of inducing TOL, so having the appropriate stimulus is essential. In this study, the electrical stimulus parameters needed to induce TOL in MDA breast cancer cells were explored. Stimulation was applied across MDA and MCF-12A (healthy tissue) cells that were seeded in 24-well plates. The stimulation was provided via a function generator, and the voltage and current were monitored using a custom made interface box and oscilloscope.

  • • The Potential Impact of Seat Position

    • DA09
    • Mon 01/11, 12:20PM - 12:30PM

    • by Russell Burt, Zach Vernon, Peter Sheldon, Sarah Sojka

    • Type: Contributed
    • The past two decades have seen an acceleration of improvements to safety systems in passenger vehicles. These improvements have greatly reduced the risk of severe injury or death of occupants in motor vehicle collisions. However, many of these improvements have focused solely on the front seats of the vehicles with little to no emphasis on rear seat safety. We used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to look at motor vehicle collisions involving front and rear seat occupants. We examined factors that influenced the likelihood of severe injury or death of rear seat passengers. Those factors included vehicle type, impact direction and speed, and points of contact. In this presentation, we will discuss our findings which can be used to guide future innovations and developments in rear occupant safety systems.

• Saturday Registration

  • • Saturday Registration

    • REG02
    • Sat 01/09, 7:00AM - 4:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration

• Sunday Registration

  • • Sunday Registration

    • REG04
    • Sun 01/10, 7:00AM - 4:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration

• Teacher Training/Enhancement

  • • Teaching Best Physics Teaching Practices to Future High School Teachers

    • HG01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 12:40PM
    • by David Sitar
    • Type: Contributed
    • During the fall 2015 semester, a Physics Instruction Practicum course (PHY3400) was designed, prepared and taught. From a blank canvas to the final product; this talk will highlight what went right, what went wrong and everything in between. After a brief presentation, audience members are encouraged to share their experiences with teaching similar courses. Since there are only a few text books available that address the teaching of physics to future high school physics teachers, there is a need for such a discussion to ensure that there is a positive teaching environment, well developed assignments as well as adequate assessment.

  • • Leading Successful Technology-enhanced Pro-D in Beijing: Lessons Learned

    • HG02
    • Tue 01/12, 12:40PM - 12:50PM
    • by Marina Milner-Bolotin
    • Type: Contributed
    • In May of 2015 I was invited to conduct two week-long professional development institutes in Chaoyang School District in Beijing, China. These 30-hour institutes aimed at engaging Chinese mathematics and science secondary teachers (almost 60 teachers participated) with contemporary technology-enhanced pedagogies. We explored the use of data collection and analysis tools (Logger Pro), computer simulations, smartphone apps, and many other technologies. However, most importantly, we discussed how we teach mathematics and science and how we engage students in a meaningful way. While the educational culture in China is very different from North America, we had a lot to learn from each other. In this presentation I will share what I have learned from this experience and how I will plan my future visits. I hope more North American teachers will seize these fantastic opportunities and will visit China to not only conduct professional development but also learn from local teachers.

  • • STEMteach: One Year, New Career*

    • HG03
    • Tue 01/12, 12:50PM - 1:00PM

    • by Earl Blodgett, Diane Bennett, Larry Solberg

    • Type: Contributed
    • This presentation seeks to share information about a novel program for STEM teacher preparation that others may wish to explore. STEMteach is a novel one-year graduate course of study designed for STEM degree holders who wish to become certified to teach in their area of qualification. Inspired by the UTeach program at the University of Texas – Austin, the program at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls brings together graduate students from many areas of science and mathematics for an intensive one-year cohort experience. The courses closely follow the UTeach model, providing extensive authentic field experiences from the very first week of the program. The first cohort of the program began in June 2015, with completion of the program in May 2016. All will earn 24 graduate credits applicable towards an optional Master of Science in Education degree.

  • • Improving Physical Science Teaching and Learning at the Elementary Level

    • HG04
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:10PM

    • by Mark Spraker, April Nelms, Sanghee Choi, Cheryl Sundberg

    • Type: Contributed
    • The Physical Science Content Inquiries Training Program provides professional development for 34 teachers from high-needs schools in grades K-5 in the core content of physical science for ninety hours over one year. The overarching goal is to provide opportunities for elementary teachers to learn both college-level physics content and an elementary-level appropriate pedagogy model. The program is delivered using an inquiry-based teaching approach, the 5E learning cycle (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate). This program, the 5E approach and specific examples of physical science learning and teaching models will be shared along with measures of success as demonstrated by the teachers' performance on known instruments that measure conceptual understanding. This work is partially support by the Title II B Mathematics and Science Partnership FAIN: S366B150011

  • • Discovering the Interconnectedness of Human Spirit Beneath the Night Sky

    • HG05
    • Tue 01/12, 1:10PM - 1:20PM

    • by Richard Hechter, Richard Hechter

    • Type: Contributed
    • This presentation will highlight the interconnectedness of people and the human spirit from diverse cultural, geographic, and political backgrounds found by coming together under the awe and wonder of the night sky. From Canada to Iceland, and Greece to Israel, this project has found that through sharing and listening to authentic and meaningful interpretations of celestial manifestations from different perspectives and voices found around the world, the role physics education can have in bettering our world can become apparent. Here, astronomy education is the curricular context leading teachers towards developing globally collaborative and passion-based learning experiences emphasizing the blurring of diversity lines. This project allowed conventional physics teachers to deviate from being solely technicians of physics phenomena to becoming storytellers of culture where the physics curriculum stories to be shared in their classrooms engage, enlighten, and communicate intention for a better world.

• Teaching Electronics in Upper Level Undergraduate Physics

  • • Modern Electronics - Organizing Principles and Topic Choices

    • AF01
    • Sun 01/10, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Dale Syphers
    • Type: Invited
    • Teaching a course in Modern Electronics for undergraduate physics majors has roots in digital electronics courses of the past, but is far too complex an area to approach as a sequence of specialized topics in the vast fields of electronics. My solution to this educational problem has been to arrange the course around three main aspects that are central to many electronic projects encountered in physics. These three aspects are 1) sensing with some form of transducer, which has as output a time-dependent voltage or series of voltages, 2) converting the signal to a digital signal and using digital electronics or microprocessors to make decisions, and 3) converting the signal back to an analog signal and turning something on (I prefer inductive loads). Much of this can be done empirically, but also leaves the instructor opportunities for choosing specific sub-topics for more in-depth understanding.

  • • Restructuring a Junior-level Electronics Course to Support Engagement in Scientific Practices

    • AF02
    • Sun 01/10, 10:30AM - 11:00AM
    • by Heather Lewandowski
    • Type: Invited
    • Building on successful work in studying and transforming the senior-level Advanced Lab course, we have transformed our junior-level electronics course to engage students in a variety of authentic scientific practices, including constructing, testing, and refining models of canonical measurement tools and analog circuits. We describe our approach to the transformation, provide a framework for incorporating authentic scientific practices, and present initial outcomes from the project.

  • • Computer-based Instrumentation in the Upper-Level Electronics Curriculum

    • AF03
    • Sun 01/10, 11:00AM - 11:30AM
    • by John Essick
    • Type: Invited
    • The electronics topics typically taught in an upper-level instructional lab course offer hands-on demonstrations of important concepts such as filtering, bandwidth, spectral analysis, curve fitting, and digital logic. While the conceptual understanding gleaned from these traditional exercises is quite valuable, much of the actual technology used does not provide an up-to-date presentation of electronics or of the techniques currently used in experimental physics. Incorporating affordable instruction in modern electronics technologies (such as field-programmable gate arrays, microelectromechanical system chips, and microprocessor-based instrumentation) into the physics curriculum is a current challenge for advanced instructional lab developers. In this talk, one approach will be presented in which traditional op-amp analog circuits such as amplifiers, filters, and constant-current sources are first taught. These circuits then become the interfacing circuits students utilize as they learn to build computer-based instruments of the type used in a contemporary research lab.

• Teaching with LIGO

  • • Cutting Edge Research to Teach Basic Concepts: LIGO Lab EPO

    • GJ01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM
    • by William Katzman*
    • Type: Invited
    • LIGO’s Livingston Laboratory has been reaching out to educate school children via informal methods for the past decade. While LIGO is searching for elusive gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, LIGO’s outreach focuses on reaching out to thousands of K-12 students and educators, and hundreds of university students. While the science of LIGO seems daunting, a lot of the technology underlying it involves simple physical interactives such as pendulums and optics. We will present an overview of the objectives, methods, and results of LIGO Science Education Center's attempts at outreach & education. In particular we will look at how K-12 students and teachers have reacted to outreach elements that blend modern physics with basic physical science concepts.

  • • Teaching LIGO Science to Visitors

    • GJ02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM
    • by Kathy Holt
    • Type: Invited
    • The LIGO Lab in Livingston, LA searches for gravitational waves or ripplesin space-time caused by massive objects undergoing incredible accelerations – such as colliding neutron stars or black holes. LIGO Science Education Center, SEC seeks to connect this active scientific research to the public through simple science activities and demonstrations. Kathy Holt, Senior Science Educator will provide an overview of several low-cost demonstrations and activities. It’s important that the connection be made to help visitors better understand the Science of LIGO.

  • • The Gravitational Wave Frontier in the Physics Classroom

    • GJ03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 10:00AM
    • by Shane Larson
    • Type: Invited
    • Gravitational wave physics and astronomy holds a special appeal for students. It is a thoroughly modern science, at the frontiers of our theoretical knowledge and experimental capability. While playing a fundamental role in the astrophysical evolution of many phenomena, and being a prominent result derived from general relativity, gravitational waves have a surprising array of basic properties that can be understood and explored by students at all levels of their education in physics and astronomy. This embarrassment of riches makes gravitational waves an ideal subject to use in the classroom to illustrate traditional physics and astronomy concepts, within the context of a new and exciting branch of frontier science. In this talk we will outline just a few of the broad physical concepts that are amenable to illustration with gravitational waves, and show examples of use in the classroom. 

  • • Bringing the Physics of Gravitational-wave Detectors into the Classroom

    • GJ04
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Katherine Dooley
    • Type: Invited
    • Gravitational-wave detectors offer a plethora of interesting examples of physics that can be used to engage and enhance the student's learning experience in the classroom. The detectors are multi-kilometer-long laser interferometers that push the limits of precision measurement technology and are a feat in both engineering and the fundamental physics they confront. Despite the complexity of the detectors, simple examples of their design and the experimental challenges faced in commissioning can be extracted to bring the physics concepts taught in the classroom to life. Examples will be presented that range from the use of pendulums to isolate the mirrors from ground motion to challenges that result from direct confrontation with Einstein's equivalence principle to impressive effects due to the force that the photons exert on the mirrors.

• The Best Physics on YouTube

  • • Best YouTube Videos in the WebSights Column

    • FC01
    • Mon 01/11, 7:00PM - 7:30PM

    • by Dan MacIsaac, Andre Bresges, Jeremias Weber, Florian Genz, David Abbott

    • Type: Invited
    • I will present some of the outstanding YouTube videos selected and published in the WebSights column of The Physics Teacher from the founding of YouTube in 2005 through to the present. Caveats on the limited learning power of YouTube videos will be shared as well as remarks on what I believe makes a great physics YouTube video. Finally, I will present efforts colleagues and I are currently undertaking to support my own students in creating their own physics YouTube videos to promote their own physics learning.

  • • Using Video Resources in the High School Classroom

    • FC02
    • Mon 01/11, 7:30PM - 8:00PM
    • by Diane Riendeau
    • Type: Invited
    • Youtube can be a powerful tool to bring real-world problems into your classroom. As the past editor of the Youtube Physics column in The Physics Teacher, I spent a lot of time sifting through youtube to find great videos for the column. At first, I only used cute videos to spark student interest. Although I would not consider myself an expert, I have learned a few different strategies from my mentors and peers that I will share. These include analyzing video for labs, having students create videos, teacher created youtube channels and distance tutoring via youtube.

  • • Using Physics to Find Fake Videos

    • FC03
    • Mon 01/11, 8:00PM - 8:30PM
    • by Rhett Allain
    • Type: Invited
    • Yes, there are many cat videos on YouTube and they are all probably real. But what about a bird picking up a kid and flying away? What about that crazy basketball trick you saw? Are those real? Using some basic physics principles, we can investigate different videos to determine their validity.

• The PhysTEC 5+ Club

  • • The PhysTEC 5+ Club

    • EH
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by David Rosengrant
    • Type: Panel
    • This session will start with a poster session followed by a panel discussion by various recipients of PhysTEC’s 5+ club award winners. The 5+ club is given to institutions who graduate 5 or more physics teachers in a given year. All presenters will give an overview of their program and how they are able to be recognized into this club.

  • • Kennesaw State University and Our 5+ Club Program

    • EH01
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by David Rosengrant
    • Type: Invited
    • Kennesaw State University’s physics educator program prides itself on content specific training for our physics teachers. Our program started out with the help of two different Robert Noyce Scholarship Programs for our Masters of Arts and Teaching degree. We recently underwent a major program overhaul for a multitude of reasons. Kennesaw State University (KSU) and Southern Polytechnic University consolidated to form a new, bigger and better Kennesaw State University. This included a new undergraduate degree and with an adoption of UTeach now called OwlTeach we have a physics education track. KSU also became a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship site which allowed us to completely overhaul our MAT program. This presentation highlights courses, program of study, and recruitment methods.

  • • Physics Teacher Preparation at the University of Arkansas

    • EH02
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM

    • by John Stewart, Gay Stewart

    • Type: Invited
    • The University of Arkansas implemented changes in its undergraduate physics program beginning in 1994 that dramatically increased the number of students graduating with a physics major from one to two students per year for most of the years from 1990-1998 to 27 graduates in 2012. With the selection of the department as a PhysTEC program in 2001, the number of physics students entering high school teaching also began to dramatically increase. The features that led to the increase in physics graduates were important to increasing the number of teachers graduated, but each feature required refinement to support future teachers. Modifications to a thriving physics program necessary to allow students to enter the teaching profession will be discussed. With the refinements in place, the University of Arkansas has consistently graduated five or more physics teachers per year since 2005 and was proudly awarded membership in the PhysTEC 5+ club in 2014.

  • • Physics Teachers from UTeach

    • EH03
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Michael Marder
    • Type: Invited
    • UTeach prepares STEM teachers at 44 universities across the U.S. All of the UTeach partner universities prepare physics teachers. However given the need for physics teachers and the scale of UTeach, the numbers should be larger. I will discuss features of UTeach, our record in preparing physics teachers, and discuss possible steps to prepare even more.

  • • Recruiting Engineering Students into High School Physics Teaching

    • EH04
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Kathleen Koenig
    • Type: Invited
    • We have created multiple pathways into our high school physics teaching license program, with several explicitly targeting engineering majors. This presentation will focus on some of the strategies that have been successful in recruiting both current and past engineering students into possible careers in teaching.

  • • The 5+ Club: An Update from PhysTEC

    • EH05
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Monica Plisch
    • Type: Invited
    • "The 5+ Club" is designed to recognize institutions that graduate five or more physics teachers in a given year. The great majority of institutions graduate less than two physics teachers a year, and the most common number of graduates is zero. Thus, graduating 5 or more physics teachers a year is a significant achievement, helping to address the severe national shortage of high school physics teachers. A total of 19 institutions have been inducted into The 5+ Club. The 5+ Club is an award of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) project, which is led by the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers.

  • • PTEC 5+ Club, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

    • EH06
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Duane Merrell
    • Type: Invited
    • Since 2004 Brigham Young University in Provo has been fortunate to be ableto have the physics teacher preparation program in the physics department. With the guidance and support of many at the university the physics teacher program has thrived in the number of physics certified teachers that have teacher licenses. Organizations such as AAPT and PTEC have held conferences and workshops that have helped form the BYU physics teaching program and we have taken these ideas to help students become physics teachers. With over 130 students certified to teach physics at this time we still wish we had more but are pleased to share what we have learned and why it can be replicated anywhere at any other university. We have borrowed and patterned our physics teacher programs from others and are willing to share what we do with others.

  • • Physics Teacher Preparation at BYU-Idaho

    • EH07
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Brian Pyper
    • Type: Invited
    • Although some of the things happening at BYUI in the physics education area are both modeled on and exemplary of the sorts of things encouraged by the Physics Teacher Education Coalition, and may (already) be replicated elsewhere, there are some things happening that are interesting and peculiar to the BYUI community and culture.

  • • Physics Teacher Preparation at Buffalo State College

    • EH08
    • Mon 01/11, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
    • by Kathleen Falconer
    • Type: Invited
    • At Buffalo State College, the physics department runs several courses for prospective and practicing physics teachers, collectively called the Physics Teachers Summer Academy. The Summer Academy serves practicing non-physics teachers seeking certification in physics (cross certification) and prospective teachers with backgrounds in physics seeking initial certification (alternative certification), including Noyce scholarship recipients. I will discuss the current state of the program and the challenges we face.

• The Planetarium Classroom

  • • Planetarium Possibilities: Teaching Under the Stars

    • BB01
    • Sun 01/10, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
    • by Heather Jones
    • Type: Invited
    • The faculty at Mt. San Antonio College frequently uses a planetarium to teach astronomy curricula. Despite the light-polluted skies of Los Angles County, planetariums offer an effective alternative for observing. Many astronomy concepts are difficult to grasp from the page of a book, a power point slide, or the four walls of a classroom. Although a dark night sky is the ideal for teaching an astronomy class, in a planetarium you have the luxury of speeding up time, observing the night sky at all seasons, and seeing every phase of the moon within moments. This presentation will explore effective ways to teach astronomy in a planetarium as well as investigate a planetarium’s potential for teaching other subjects such as public speaking, computer programming, and film.

  • • Under the Classdome, a Middle School Planetarium

    • BB02
    • Sun 01/10, 2:30PM - 3:00PM
    • by Jack Northrup
    • Type: Invited
    • There is a wide variety of science topics that can be taught in a planetarium. Ranging from the traditional Astronomy and Physics to Ecology and Engineering. The immersive environment of a planetarium is useful to help create a strong foundation that later sciences can be built on. This environment also has the ability to link to many forms of formal, informal, and distance learning programs.

  • • Strategies for Avoiding Information Overload in the Planetarium

    • BB03
    • Sun 01/10, 3:00PM - 3:10PM

    • by Timothy Slater, Coty Tatge, Kenneth Brandt

    • Type: Contributed
    • As one of the ultimate virtual reality simulators, the planetarium allows us to view the dynamic sky from any place and any time. Whereas the ancient sky observers had to carefully catalog movements of stars and planets over decades, planetarium visitors can make the same tedious observations in a matter of minutes. Because of the tremendous amount of information available on one’s fingertips, the risk of cognitive overload is quite high when teaching in the planetarium. Systematic results from experimental psychologists working in the domain of multi-media caution planetarium educators to beware of unconsciously asking learners to unnecessarily process extraneous information instead of focusing on the generative processing needed for meaningful learning to happen in the planetarium. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then how do we best teach in the planetarium?

  • • Personalizing the Recognition of Star Patterns

    • BB04
    • Sun 01/10, 3:10PM - 3:20PM
    • by Richard Gelderman
    • Type: Contributed
    • Our “Star Stories” night sky shows avoid the usual tour of official constellations or presentation of their myths. Instead, the celestial sphere is presented without providing the common names, connect-the-dot outlines, or overlaid artwork. We distribute placards marked with star patterns and have each group share their own identification and myth. They locate their pattern on a star chart and use a laser pointer to identify that pattern on the dome. The personal association results in participants more readily recalling and locating star patterns.

• The Wonderful World of AJP

  • • Falling Through the Earth: A Non-Uniform Adventure

    • GI01
    • Tue 01/12, 8:30AM - 9:00AM
    • by Alexander Klotz
    • Type: Invited
    • How long does it take to fall through a frictionless tunnel through the center of the Earth to the other side? This question, posed to undergraduates, can be solved by an application of Newtonian gravity, the Shell Theorem, and an understanding of Simple Harmonic Motion, given the assumption that the Earth is a uniformly dense sphere. It can be shown that it would take 42 minutes to fall through the center, and remarkably, the same amount of time to fall between any two points connected by a straight line. The Earth, however, is not uniformly dense. I will discuss how taking into account the Earth's internal density profile affects the time it takes to fall through the center, as well as implications for the chord path and the brachistochrone curve. The updated answer sheds light on the validity of the assumptions of uniform planetary density and constant internal gravity.

  • • Creation and Rupture of Soap Films: From Minimal Surfaces to Interfacial Bubbles

    • GI02
    • Tue 01/12, 9:00AM - 9:30AM

    • by Laurent Courbin, Louis Salkin, Alexandre Schmit, Pascal Panizza

    • Type: Invited
    • Minimal surfaces have been studied extensively over the centuries as they impact a wide range of phenomena and problems in engineering, mathematics, and physics. Such surfaces can be easily materialized with soap films which seek the shape that minimizes their surface area because of surface tension. Here, we investigate the influence of the nature of the liquid-liquid, liquid-solid, liquid-gas, or liquid-gas-solid boundary on the existence and stability of minimal surfaces made of soap films. Similar to the theory of phase transitions, we show that all studied surfaces exhibit a universal behavior in the vicinity of their existence thresholds. We begin by discussing catenoids, the familiar shapes sought by soap films spanning two rings having either identical or different radii. We then examine the case of other surfaces that include two portions of catenoids connected by a planar film and half-symmetric catenoids. The latter shape, observed when withdrawing a ring from a bath of soap solution, becomes unstable above a critical height and collapses to leave a planar film on the ring and an interfacial bubble in contact with the bath. We conclude with a brief discussion of the formation and rupture of these bubbles.

  • • The Physics of the Granite Sphere Fountain

    • GI03
    • Tue 01/12, 9:30AM - 10:00AM

    • by Jacco Snoeijer, Ko van der Weele

    • Type: Invited
    • Fluids can exhibit beautiful flow patterns, but the underlying fluid mechanics is a challenging, often counterintuitive, topic for students. Here we will discuss the central elements of fluid mechanics using the remarkable “kugel fountain”: a granite sphere weighing over a ton can be levitated by a very thin film of flowing water. This fountain admits a clear-cut analysis that shows how the viscosity and flow rate of the fluid determine (i) the small thickness of the film supporting the sphere and (ii) the surprisingly long time it takes for rotations to damp out. The theoretical results compare well with measurements on a fountain holding a granite sphere of 1 meter in diameter. We show that the fountain can be viewed as a giant ball bearing, and we close by discussing several related cases of fluid levitation.

  • • The Puzzle of the Steady-state Rotation of a Reverse Sprinkler

    • GI04
    • Tue 01/12, 10:00AM - 10:30AM
    • by Wolfgang Rueckner
    • Type: Invited
    • The continuous rotation of the reverse sprinkler has been a puzzle for over two decades. We present a series of experiments that demonstrate that a properly designed reverse sprinkler experiences no steady-state torque and does not rotate. If any sustained rotation of the reverse sprinkler occurs, it is because a force couple produces a torque accompanied by vortex flow inside the body of the sprinkler. No steady-state rotation occurs if the vortex is suppressed or prevented from forming in the first place.

• Tuesday Registration

  • • Tuesday Registration

    • REG06
    • Tue 01/12, 8:00AM - 3:00PM
    • 
      
    • Type: Registration
    • Registration to be taken down at 3:30 p.m.

• Undergraduate Research at Two Year Colleges

  • • Undergraduate Research and Other Collaborations between TYCs and 4yr+ Universities*

    • DH01
    • Mon 01/11, 11:00AM - 11:30AM

    • by Timothy Usher, Alec Sim, Joseph Farmer, Michael Butros

    • Type: Invited
    • As part of a NASA-CIPAIR grant and a NSF-CREST grant, we initiated severalinnovative activates that have greatly strengthened the ties between three two-year colleges (TYC), three 4yr+ universities and a NASA Center. One of the innovations has been given the moniker, “winternships.” These are three to four week research “boot camps” conducted at TYCs during the winter break. The students work in teams on research projects. The timing of the winternship corresponds with the open application timeframe for summer research internships at, NASA, National Labs, and REU programs. Students are required to apply for at least three of these internships. Furthermore, having worked with the students closely TYC faculty can provide letters of recommendation that speak to more than just a student’s performance in the classroom. However, by far the most important aspect of the winternship is that it builds student confidence. Other collaborative activities will be presented.

  • • CURE - A Unique REU at L.A. City College

    • DH02
    • Mon 01/11, 11:30AM - 12:00PM
    • by Paul McCudden
    • Type: Invited
    • CURE (Consortium for Undergraduate Research Experiences) is an NSF funded REU based at Los Angeles City College, in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and six Los Angeles area community colleges. CURE uses faculty at the colleges to help recruit approximately 10 community college students per year, with an emphasis on minority, female and older "second chance" students, for year-round (but summer-focused) research internships in cutting-edge projects in astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science at JPL. CURE students overwhelmingly transfer to and graduate from universities with STEM majors. CURE is distinctive in both its year-round nature and its careful selection and mentoring component. Community college students have unique circumstances and needs, and CURE works with them before, during and after their internships to help guide them through a successful internship and transfer to a university. CURE gives two-year college students access to opportunities usually available only to their four-year colleagues.

  • • Undergraduate Research Experience for Physics Students at Valencia College

    • DH03
    • Mon 01/11, 12:00PM - 12:10PM
    • by Irina Struganova
    • Type: Contributed
    • I will talk about three models of offering introductory undergraduate research experience to physics students at Valencia College: 1) Mini-projects as a part of honor class curriculum, 2) Independent study, and 3) NASA Challenge – joined with engineering students. I will emphasize benefits and specific of each approach and highlight student achievements.

  • • Diversity and Retention Through STEM Student Research Opportunities

    • DH04
    • Mon 01/11, 12:10PM - 12:20PM

    • by Barbra Maher Sobhani, Liz Cox

    • Type: Contributed
    • Community colleges are ideally placed to provide STEM career access to a diverse population. Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) has built a robust transfer pathway through diligent development of articulation agreements, course alignments and recruiting. Our next step is to increase our retention of diverse populations. RRCC has begun a multi-pronged effort to address this, including faculty cultural competency training, developing a student STEM Scholar Program (SSP) and increasing access to student research and internships. The SSP provides community building, mentoring, training, and research opportunity through career workshops, outreach activities, and competitive research positions. STEM Summer Scholars Research Program is a paid internship for RRCC students, placing them in research projects on either the Colorado School of Mines or CU-Boulder campus. With seven successful placements in 2015, we are looking to expand the research program to include experiential learning field classes, and climate, atmospheric and aerospace related internships.

• Upper Division Concerns

  • • Classical Particle Exchange: A Quantitative Treatment

    • HF01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 12:40PM

    • by Jarrett Lancaster, Colin McGuire, Aaron Titus

    • Type: Contributed
    • The "classic" analogy of classical repulsive interactions via exchange of particles is revisited with a quantitative model and analyzed. This simple model based solely upon the principle of momentum conservation yields a nontrivial, conservative approximation at low energies while also including a type of "relativistic" regime in which the conservative fomulation breaks down. Simulations are presented that are accessible to undergraduate students at any level in the physics curriculum as well as analytic treatments of the various regimes which should be accessible to advanced undergraduate physics majors.

  • • Collisions and the Coefficient of Restitution in Galilean and Special Relativity

    • HF02
    • Tue 01/12, 12:40PM - 12:50PM
    • by Roberto Salgado
    • Type: Contributed
    • Using spacetime diagrams and energy-momentum diagrams, we develop a unified formulation for collision problems in Galilean and Special Relativity. We treat some standard introductory-textbook examples with our approach. We conclude with our attempts to define a Coefficient of Restitution in Special Relativity.

  • • Designing a New Laboratory Course for Underrepresented Students in a Graduate Bridge Program in South Africa

    • HF03
    • Tue 01/12, 12:50PM - 1:00PM

    • by Christine Lindstrøm, Saalih Allie, Heather Lewandowski

    • Type: Contributed
    • The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) is a graduate program established in 2003 to educate the next generation of South African astrophysicists and space scientists. Due to high initial attrition rates for black South African students in NASSP, a yearlong Postgraduate Bridging Program (PGB) was established in 2008. The PGB, however, is heavily theoretical and does not help students develop research skills. Our project is to create a laboratory course to better prepare the students for their future research projects. The first step of our project included interviews with NASSP project supervisors and former NASSP/PGB students, and collection of previous NASSP project reports. The data sources were analyzed with the lens to understand who the PGB students are and estimate their level of prior knowledge and previous challenges in NASSP. This analysis resulted in a set of guiding principles for how to design the laboratory course.

  • • Differential Forms as a Supplementary Framework for Teaching Upper-Level Electricity and Magnetism

    • HF04
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:10PM

    • by Kaca Bradonjic, Dominique McKenzie, Jelena Begovic

    • Type: Contributed
    • The standard 300-level course on electromagnetic theory is often seen by students as one of the most challenging classes due to the complicated formalism of vector calculus and the abstract nature of various fields. Visual representations of fields and laws, like the Gauss’ law, improves students’ understanding, but are not as effective for all relevant examples, such as Ampere’s law. We present an alternative framework for teaching electromagnetism in the language of differential forms, which can be used in conjunction with the traditional formalism. The use of differential forms has several advantages, the most relevant ones being that the necessary mathematical machinery is simplified, the distinction between the electric field D and electric induction E (and the magnetic field H and the magnetic induction B) is made clear from the start, and the visual representation is readily available for all of time-independent Maxwell’s equations.

  • • Interdisciplinary Materials Science Projects Lead to Meaningful Student Collaboration

    • HF06
    • Tue 01/12, 1:20PM - 1:30PM

    • by Andra Petrean, Bradley Smucker

    • Type: Contributed
    • Our society is becoming increasingly more complex, and the issues we face oftentimes require expertise from more than one discipline. As educators, we serve our students best by creating opportunities for meaningful interdisciplinary collaborations. Over the last few years, we linked our Advanced Laboratory in Physics and our Inorganic Chemistry classes. The Physics and Chemistry students collaborated actively on Materials Science projects involving nanotechnology and high temperature superconductivity. Students synthesized and characterized materials, much like in a research team composed of experts in different disciplines. Their collaboration culminated in a poster session open to the Austin College community.

  • • Investigating Students’ Ideas in Mathematization

    • HF07
    • Tue 01/12, 1:30PM - 1:40PM

    • by Deepa Chari, Dylan McKnight, Eleanor Sayre

    • Type: Contributed
    • In upper division physics problems, students apply many mathematical and conceptual tools. As students discuss a problem, they co-ordinate the ideas and make their choices about these tools. In this study, we investigate students' problem solving in two upper division physics classes, Electromagnetic fields I and Quantum mechanics. Our data are drawn from classroom video of students working in small groups. We examine the videos of group problem solving for 30 problems across the two courses, using the ACER framework to identify their problem solving moves. In this talk, we present examples of students' tool choices as mediated by course and problem.

  • • Measuring Students’ Epistemologies About Experimental Physics: Ongoing Validation of the E-CLASS

    • HF08
    • Tue 01/12, 1:40PM - 1:50PM

    • by Bethany Wilcox, H. Lewandowski

    • Type: Contributed
    • Student learning in instructional physics labs represents a growing area of research that includes investigations of students’ beliefs and expectations about the nature of experimental physics. To directly probe students' epistemologies about experimental physics and support broader lab transformation efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and elsewhere, we developed the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). Previous work with this assessment has included establishing the accuracy and clarity of the instrument through student interviews and preliminary testing. Several years of data collection at multiple institutions has resulted in a growing national data set of student responses. Here we report on results of the ongoing analysis of these data to investigate the statistical validity and reliability of the E-CLASS as a measure of student epistemologies for a broad student population.

• Women Physicists in Leadership Positions

  • • Why We Need More Woman Leaders in Physics: An Insider’s Perspective

    • HE01
    • Tue 01/12, 12:30PM - 1:00PM
    • by Vivian Incera
    • Type: Invited
    • It is known that women are largely underrepresented in physics. In such a male-dominated discipline, it is no surprise that women in leadership positions are scarce. It does not help that female physicists who become leaders at any level within their institutions often have to face gender-bias attitudes that do not exist for their male colleagues. Yet, woman leaders tend to be transformational leaders who focus on building consensus, inspiring workers, and developing productive and engaged communities. In the academic world, woman leaders can be effective role models for students and hence help to solve the lack of female representation in physics. In this presentation, I will talk about my experience as academic leader and share the lessons I have learned in the process. I would also like to engage the audience in a conversation about what can be done to change the prevalent culture in our discipline, so we can be more successful in nurturing and promoting more woman to positions of leadership.

  • • Producing ‘Exotic Nuclei’

    • HE02
    • Tue 01/12, 1:00PM - 1:30PM
    • by Sherry Yennello
    • Type: Invited
    • Exotic nuclei share similarities with superstar faculty, extraordinary students, amazing technical developments, and revolutionary scientific ideas: while it is the last neutron or proton that makes everyone take notice, the nucleus would not exist without ALL of the nucleons, and some gluons as well. The more exotic the nucleus, the more effort it takes to bring all of the pieces together in just the right manner. The same can be said of leading a nuclear physics center - the whole of the team is really much greater than the sum of the parts, and a delicate balance must be maintained. This talk will discuss what it takes to manage a cohesive, harmonious workgroup and produce ‘exotic nuclei.’

  • • Women Physicists and Procreation

    • HE03
    • Tue 01/12, 1:30PM - 1:40PM
    • by Ruth Howes
    • Type: Contributed
    • After about five months, it is nearly impossible to hide a pregnancy. Women physicists have always had babies in the face of company, university, and government rules that try to force them to stop work. Many of them have received strong support from their immediate supervisors and members of their research groups both before and after the births of their babies. This talk will examine that support and the sometimes comic ways women have coped with having babies while continuing to work as physicists beginning with stories from the Manhattan Project. It will address some of the unique problems mothers face in the lab and the office and the types of support from colleagues and spouses.

• Writing and Assessing Biology-based Problems in the Introductory Physics Course

  • • Physics for the Life Sciences: Calculus-based Introductory Physics Re-Imagined

    • CC01
    • Sun 01/10, 4:00PM - 4:20PM
    • by Simon Mochrie
    • Type: Invited
    • A calculus-based introductory-physics-for-the-life-science (IPLS) sequence, which re-imagines the IPLS syllabus, and which has been taught for the last five years at Yale, will be described. The goals of this course are to: Demonstrate the application of physics and mathematics to the life sciences and the human body via authentic examples; "Introduce biological science majors and future clinicians to a set of mathematical and physical tools, principles, and techniques that will enable a deeper scientific understanding of biological systems, including the human body;" Seed an enduring appreciation of the power of mathematical and physical approaches in biology and medicine;" Satisfy the physics requirements of biological science majors, and satisfy the physics requirement for medical school. I will summarize the syllabus and share student feedback about the course, including how student evaluations compare to those for courses with a traditional syllabus. I will also elaborate on selected topics and homework problems, that seek to infuse the class with biological and medical authenticity.

  • • AISS: Assessing Physics Students by Assessing the Pedagogy of Biology

    • CC02
    • Sun 01/10, 4:20PM - 4:40PM
    • by Scot Gould
    • Type: Invited
    • For the past nine years, the W.M. Keck Science Department, the sciences for Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps colleges, has offered a first-year non-traditional introductory science program for likely majors. The program, the Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence (AISS), covers the content typically found in introductory biology, chemistry, and physics. Topics are examined in an integrated format. Instructors from the three disciplines are present during virtually all of the classroom time and compose exam questions and problem sets together. This format has allowed each instructor to observe and assess multiple teaching methods. As the physicist for this program for more than five years, I have worked with six different biologists and two chemists. The topics and questions of interest to my colleagues has affected how I assess students’ skill sets and comprehension of physics principles. The most significant change is a greater emphasis of qualitative comprehension and application.

  • • Making Physical Biology Research Part of the Introductory Physics Course for Life Scientists

    • CC03
    • Sun 01/10, 4:40PM - 5:00PM
    • by Wolfgang Losert
    • Type: Invited
    • I will describe how the NEXUS team at the University of Maryland approaches the challenge to bring authentic biology into the reformed introductory physics course for life scientists. Questions that include physical biology are being developed for all parts of the course from course material and lab material to homework and exam problems. Our goal is to give students tools and experience in how to describe the behavior of living systems from a physics perspective, and to consider physical constraints on the operations of living systems. In the process of developing and refining problems with a team of biologists, biological physicists, and education researchers something unexpected happened: Our team discovered unexpected principles of living systems, blurring the line between research and education.

  • • Connecting Form and Function: Constructing Biology-based Introductory Physics Problems

    • CC04
    • Sun 01/10, 5:00PM - 5:20PM
    • by Kenneth Heller
    • Type: Invited
    • Problem solving is the “sine qua non” of a science course. It is equally valued by the life sciences and physics. In introductory physics, problem solving is both a desired outcome and an important teaching tool. Useful problems are those that develop and foster the use of powerful expert-like problem solving skills that connect fundamental physics to student knowledge. To be effective, problems must engage students by using their knowledge background. Biology majors need problems that use biology to set the scene. Of course, biology is complex. Using physics that accurately describes real biology can reduce a course to employing equations only tenuously connected to the fundamental physics we need to teach the students. However, the act of modeling a biological process can be used as the motivation in effective physics problems that engage students in using fundamental physics. This talk will describe the construction and use of such problems.

• iOS and Android App Show

  • • iOS and Android App Show

    • TOP1A
    • Sun 01/10, 6:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by Lee Trampleasure
    • Type: Topical
    • Do you have a favorite app for your physics classroom? Do you want to see others’ favorite apps? Come to this “Show and Tell” for a cavalcade of apps—both “student” and “teacher” apps are welcome. Each presenter will get five minutes to show their app. You can sign up at the show or, to ensure you get time, you can sign up in advance at http://ncnaapt.org/appshow (this will also help us to avoid duplication). We’ll have dongles to connect iPad/iPhones to the projector, and maybe some Android devices, but since devices have different connectors we suggest bringing your own (if you have one), and may also have a document camera to project any device that we can’t connect. A list of all apps presented will be available to those who attend and those who can’t.

  • • Introducing SMASH*: Modern Physics

    • TOP1A01
    • Sun 01/10, 6:00PM - 7:30PM

    • by Rebecca Lindell, Ronald Reigenberger, Tianwei Liu, Joseph Cychosz

    • Type: Contributed
    • SMASH (Scientific Multiple-choice Assessments for Student Handhelds) is a cell-phone based app designed to deliver researcher-based multiple-choice questions to student handhelds. The current implementation of SMASH focuses on questions relevant to an introductory course in modern physics. The easy-to-use app is designed to supplement lectures, reinforce relevant concepts, and review appropriate vocabulary. Of most importance, the SMASH app format has been designed for adoption in any course. A web-based version of the app can be viewed at http://cychosz.com/SMASHphysics/modern/. Downloadable Android and iPhone based versions of the app are nearing completion.

  • • Quantum Sandbox - A Playground for 1D and 2D Quantum Wavefunctions

    • TOP1A02
    • Sun 01/10, 6:00PM - 7:30PM
    • by John Di Bartolo
    • Type: Contributed
    • The goal of this app is to provide a "playground" for students to manipulate quantum mechanical wavefunctions in one- and two-dimensions. The focus is on providing qualitative, not quantitative, understanding. In one dimension, the user draws the potential energy function as well as the initial wavefunction. The one-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation is then solved using the leapfrog method, and the resulting behavior of the wavefunction is shown. The device can be tilted along the x-axis to influence the evolution of the wavefunction via gravitational force. In two dimensions, the user draws potential energy barriers as well as the initial wavefunction. The two-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation is then solved using the leapfrog method, and the resulting behavior of the wavefunction is shown. The device can be tilted along the x- and y-axes to influence the evolution of the wavefunction via gravitational force.

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