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Agenda Preview

Posters

• Astronomy Poster

  • • New Resources from AAPT/Temple NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium

    • PST1B01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Ramon Lopez, Rebecca Vieyra

    • Type: Poster
    • Learn about new research-based astrophysics teaching resources produced bythe AAPT/Temple University team. These resources include a collection of hands-on activities, lecture tutorials, concept tests, and diagnostic tools that strategically fill in gaps in existing astrophysics content. This team is funded by the NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium, and in early 2017 produced a collection of resources about eclipse science for the Great American Eclipse: http://aapt.org/resources/eclipse2017.

  • • A Short Course in Astrophysics

    • PST1B03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM
    • by John Popp,
    • Type: Poster
    • Our knowledge about the universe, like the universe itself, is expanding an an accelerating rate, and yet the answers that an Astrophysicist might give to some deceptively simple questions are more inegmatic than ever. This very brief article is meant for possible use by teachers in introductory HS or college physics or astronomy courses. It is meant to be both amusing, somewhat controversial, and to refer to ideas that may or may not be expressed by some astrophysicists. It could provoke a lengthier discussion of how these ideas might be justified by experts or students.

  • • The Eclipse on Campus and Along the Path of Totality

    • PST1B02
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Bob Powell, Ben Jenkins , Ben Team

    • Type: Poster
    • Faculty, staff, and students of the University of West Georgia studied the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 at two locations. The West Georgia Observatory (95% coverage) was one site, primarily for outreach. Jenkins and observatory assistants hosted over 5000 people who came to campus during the eclipse to look through telescopes equipped with safe solar filters; 3200 pairs of solar eclipse shades were distributed during the eclipse. The second location was 500 meters from the centerline of the path of totality near Lexington, SC. Powell and Team led a group of 20 people to study the eclipse. Both groups photographed the eclipse; studied photosensitive plants; measured air temperature, atmospheric pressure, and brightness of the Sun; and studied the Sun with a small radio telescope. Some of the photosensitive plants began to close as totality approached. A small decrease in radio emissions from the Sun was detected.

  • • Citizen CATE: Bridging the Citizen – Science Divide

    • PST1B04
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Margaret Hill,
    • Type: Poster
    • The Great American Eclipse brought together professional astronomers, university faculty, K-12 science teachers, students, and community members to share in scientific discovery. Students and faculty at Southeast Missouri State University fielded Citizen CATE Team-040, one of the 68 sites across the United States that collected data on the time evolution of the solar corona. As part of this project we performed public outreach to help our community understand this rare astronomical event. This poster presents the impact that being involved in this cutting-edge citizen science activity has had on undergraduate research, outreach to local community groups and schools, and citizen interest in science.

  • • College Students’ Understanding of Eclipses

    • PST1B06
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Janelle Bailey, Timothy Klavon, Shannon Willoughby

    • Type: Poster
    • A recent total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. prompted an exploratory study into college students’ understanding of eclipses. Students in an introductory astronomy course (n = 151) and a physical science course for preservice teachers (n = 25) were asked to complete one of two parallel open-ended surveys, including questions about the view of a total eclipse (solar or lunar) from three locations, the time the eclipse would be visible, and the cause of the eclipse. Three researchers created and used a rubric to score each question. Frequency of scores shows that students have incomplete understandings or alternative conceptions. Some students scored high on explaining their eclipse but could not predict the approximate time of day or night that it would be visible. Results suggest that students may not have coherent ideas about eclipses, and that more robust instruction including construction of Sun-Earth-Moon system models may be needed.

• Labs/Apparatus

  • • Quadcopter Yaw Control: Conservation of Angular Momentum or Atmospheric Drag?

    • PST1A01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Kirk Williams,* Tori Goff, Eric Ayars

    • Type: Poster
    • Quadcopters (AKA “drones”) do not fly in vacuum. This is obvious enough that experimenting on one in a vacuum chamber would seem rather uninteresting, but there is one question that may be usefully addressed by such an experiment: the mechanism for yaw control. Quadcopters control yaw (rotation about the vertical axis) by differential rotor speed, and the question of whether those changes in rotor speed create yaw torque via conservation of angular momentum or via atmospheric drag can be addressed by “flying” a quadcopter in a vacuum where there is effectively zero atmospheric drag.

  • • Step Away from the Arduino!

    • PST1A03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM
    • by Eric Ayars,
    • Type: Poster
    • The Arduino development board has revolutionized the use of microcontrollers in the laboratory, the classroom, and the maker community in general. Arduino has been around for a dozen years, and for many applications there are now much better options. Some options are upgrades from the Arduino and offer improved speed, better performance, or hardware advantages such as D/A outputs or higher-resolution A/D converters. Others are still-capable downgrades that allow useful capability at much-lower cost. Alternately there are some devices that offer completely different architectures and development environments with potentially powerful applications for physics teaching and lab use.

  • • 4-F Fourier Optics System Using Two Spatial Light Modulators

    • PST1A05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Romulo Ochoa, Jaylond Cotten-Martin, Corrado Ballaera, Chris Sweet

    • Type: Poster
    • We present a 4-F Fourier optical system with two spatial light modulators (SLM). It allows for an efficient and improved method of observing the effects of optical filtering. We refined a technique that we previously developed to apply filtering to various types of images. The original 4-F system involved only one spatial light modulator, but was later enhanced to contain two in order to improve the quality of our results and produce them with greater ease. The experimental data gathered from our modified 4-F system is compared to both the computer modeling results, obtained using MATLAB and Mathematica, and the experimental data gathered from our one SLM setup. We were successful in improving our system and technique in order to consistently obtain high quality results.The system also allows for demonstrations of basic image recognition.

  • • A Demonstration of Constructive Interference Using an Ultrasonic Rangefinder

    • PST1A07
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Jose Baranda,* Eric Ayars

    • Type: Poster
    • When a spring is uniformly stretched in the beam of an ultrasonic rangefinder, there are lengths of spring stretch for which the spring coil spacing is an integer half-wavelength of the rangefinder's ultrasonic carrier wavelength. Reflections from successive coils then add constructively, creating erroneous distance measurement which can be used to determine the wavelength of the ultrasonic signal.

  • • Classroom Activities Using a Local Positioning System

    • PST1A09
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Cora Siebert,* Thomas Allen, Gabriel Mukobi, Ralf Widenhorn

    • Type: Poster
    • The use of commercially available local positioning devices and their applications in the physics classroom will be presented. Using these positioning devices, students have a hands-on way of engaging with the relationships between position, velocity, and acceleration in 1-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and rotational systems. Students will be able to connect these concepts with their graphical and mathematical representations by completing various kinesthetic activities that include walking, running, jumping, spinning, and tossing objects.

  • • Electromagnetic Levitation as a Demonstration and Lab Project

    • PST1A11
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM
    • by Eli Owens,
    • Type: Poster
    • Electromagnetic levitation of small objects provides an ideal medium to illustrate several important physics principles related to electricity, magnetism, and circuits. Additionally, it provides a visually striking demonstration. As a demonstration, electromagnetic levitation is suitable for illustrating a range of topics including Earnshaw's theorem, force balance, electromagnets, circuits, feedback, and Newton's laws for rotation. Electromagnetic levitation also makes a suitable advanced lab or circuits project for undergraduate students. The setup I will be presenting consists of an electromagnet below which a small iron object is suspended. The position of the object is kept stable via a feedback loop consisting of an LED and photodiode pair that monitors the position of the iron object and then adjusts the current through the electromagnet accordingly. A synchronous detection system further provides a high degree of noise immunity, promoting advanced lab skills when used as a student project.

  • • Science in the Shadow

    • PST1A02
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Irene Guerinot,
    • Type: Poster
    • Planetary events provide a rich opportunity to engage students in science.The 2017 (total) solar eclipse lends itself to studies of lunar and solar science as well as celestial mechanics and Sun-Earth-Moon dynamics. I will be presenting undergraduate student designed experiments that will have a basis on the amazing experience the students had on August 21, 2017. These experiments will keep the momentum generated during the eclipse and will be constantly improved and redesigned for the 2024 total solar eclipse experience.

  • • Using Arduinos to Collect Data

    • PST1A04
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Marc 'Zeke' Kossover,
    • Type: Poster
    • Through shop instruction, the Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute has been helping teachers make their own classroom equipment for decades. Two years ago we ventured into adding Arduinos to the mix. We learned that teachers learn best and are most likely to implement the tools in their classroom if they see novel experiments that can be better done with Arduinos, have some well-defined initial examples to copy, spend time learning the programming skills themselves, and get lots of feedback from more experienced instructors. See and play with some of the designs that we have developed.

  • • A Cylindrical Grating Spectrograph

    • PST1A06
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Mark Masters, Jacob Millspaw

    • Type: Poster
    • We present our work on a small, low-cost cylindrical grating spectrograph.The grating itself is made from a CD or DVD fragment. The grating is held in a 3d printed housing. The linear array detector is controlled by a PSoC mixed signal processor that provides timing signals to read out the array and control exposure. It collects the signal in either analog or digital form (depending on which array is used) and then sends this data through the USB port to a Raspberry Pi or another computer. A Python program provides the interface to control the detector.

  • • Synthetic Aperture Imaging Using Shallow Water Waves with Cylindrical Targets

    • PST1A08
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Sarah Kwon, Murray Korman

    • Type: Poster
    • The fundamental principles of a stripmap synthetic aperture radar SAR or synthetic aperture sonar SAS 2-dimensional imaging experiment can be demonstrated using a shallow water ripple tank as the wave medium along with several short cylindrical rods (or disks) as targets -- just protruding above the surface. At N discrete evenly spaced locations along a straight track, a single point-like spherical pulse is generated by a typical ripple tank pod dipping into the water and returning -- just once. Target echoes are received (near the source) by a linear capacitance-to-voltage needle-like probe [McGoldrick, Rev. Sci. Inst. Vol. 42, 359 (1971)]. Using a time correlation backprojection algorithm the echoes vs. time at N locations are used to predict an image of the targets - called the two-dimensional reflectance, f(x,y) [Ulander, Hellsten and Stenson, IEEE Trans. Aero. Elec. Sys. Vol. 39, No. 3, 760 (2003)].

  • • Earth’s Magnetic Field, Cosmic Rays and the 2017 Solar Eclipse

    • PST1A10
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Martin Shaffer, Zachary Mavis, Alexandra Randell

    • Type: Poster
    • Measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field from Spaceweather.com and cosmic ray muon flux rates collected with a Quarknet detector over several weeks suggest an inverse relationship. This proposed relationship was tested during the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse using data collected by the Quarknet’s Solar Eclipse Muon Flux Experiment at a variety of locations.

  • • Introductory Experiments in Sound-Source Localization

    • PST1A12
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Stephen Hill,
    • Type: Poster
    • Sound Localization connects physics to biological systems and everyday experience, as well as the simulation of everyday experience in video games and musical recordings, while it also synthesizes and reinforces basic waves principles – phase, wave speed, diffraction, reflection, and spectrum. This poster presents a sequence of introductory-level experiments students can perform using the free sound processing program, Audacity, to explore the fundamental wave physics responsible for sound localization cues: Interaural Time Difference (delays in sound's arrival at one ear vs. the other), Interaural Level Difference (variations in sound intensity at one ear vs. the other), and the effect of Anatomical Transfer (differences in a sound's spectrum due to reflection from and diffraction around the head and upper torso).

• Lecture/Classroom

  • • Progression of Student Feedback and Computational Skills in P-Cubed

    • PST1E01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Daryl McPadden, Paul Irving, Marcos Caballero

    • Type: Poster
    • Projects and Practices in Physics is a sequence of two introductory, calculus-based physics courses, covering mechanics (P-Cubed) and electricity and magnetism (EMP-Cubed). Both P-Cubed and EMP-Cubed are flipped classrooms, where students read online notes and complete homework assignments at home and spend class time working on complex problems (or projects) in small groups. The projects are designed to be intricate and challenging, often asking students to model the situation using minimally working VPython code. This requires students to work together to create a plan, make simplifying assumptions, and make choices as work through their solution. In addition to incorporating basic computational modeling, a key feature of P-Cubed and EMP-Cubed are that students get individualized feedback from an instructor on how well they understood the material and how they functioned in the group. We present the progression of the student feedback and development of computational skills through the P-Cubed and EMP-Cubed curricula.

  • • The Ranking Task as Interactive Lecture Demonstration

    • PST1E03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM
    • by Nathan Quarderer,
    • Type: Poster
    • In my short career as a physics instructor, I have grown to rely heavily on ranking tasks as a means of introducing concepts, providing opportunities for class discussion, and assessing student understanding. Many of the scenarios described in Ranking Task Exercises in Physics (Okuma, Maloney, Hieggelke) can be carried out in the classroom with the help of equipment found in a typical physics lab, or demonstration stock room. Using a technique modeled after the Interactive Lecture Demonstration procedure (Sokoloff & Thornton), I have adapted my original approach to teaching with ranking tasks to include time for students to recreate their task of interest as a way of testing their predicted outcomes.

  • • Building a Rigid Body Simulator for Courses in Computational Physics

    • PST1E05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by John Walker, Gerry Ruch

    • Type: Poster
    • Many courses in computational physics, in order to cover a breadth of topics, use a variety of computational techniques to solve a set of unconnected physics problems. We propose a focus on a single complex problem that emphasizes system building. With this approach, students will learn to use many computational techniques together inside of a larger software system. Because many physics students are excited by video games, we have chosen to build a rigid body physics simulator from the ground up during the course of our one- semester class. Using an object-oriented approach in Python, students learn the principals of good software engineering, the requisite computational techniques, and how to translate their existing knowledge of Newtonian physics into a working code. The resulting physics engine is also useful in a research environment to model physical systems like the solar system, toppling chimneys, billiards, or the dynamics of a collection of interacting rigid objects.

  • • Raising Physics to the Surface

    • PST1E02
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Elizabeth Gire, Elizabeth Gire, Aaron Wangberg

    • Type: Poster
    • The Raising Physics to the Surface project is to develop student-centered activities with carefully engineered tools to help students develop rich, geometric understandings of physics. The tools include 3D, transparent, dry-erasable surfaces that represent functions of two variables, corresponding contours maps and gradient maps, and inclinometers for measuring slopes on a surface. At this early stage of the project, we are prototyping activities and tools for topics in mechanics, E&M and thermal physics courses. We present some of this preliminary work, including examples of activities and tools that represent physical systems that are relevant to physics instruction.

  • • Wave Vs. Particle: Classroom Revisiting of a Historical Controversy

    • PST1E04
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Scott Bonham,
    • Type: Poster
    • Is light a particle or a wave? Important scientist of 17th and 18th century took opposing views on this question, including Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke in a sharp exchange of papers to the Royal Society that got their relationship off to a bad start, gave us ROYGBIV, and prepared the way for an iconic Pink Floyd album cover. I use these texts with my students to introduce physics topics of refraction, the nature of color, and wave and particle models. I also use them for discussion of nature of science, including models and evidence, scientific law vs. scientific theory, and valid scientific arguments. This presentation will share how I help my non-science students process the texts and to make connections with the various topics through discussions and hands-on activities.

  • • Classical Physics and Personal Experience: Two Contemplative Practices

    • PST1E06
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Zosia Krusberg, Meredith Jane Ward

    • Type: Poster
    • One of the primary objectives of the introductory physics curriculum is for students to become aware of the connections between the fundamental principles of classical physics and their personal experience. However, numerous studies have shown that students’ awareness of such connections tends to deteriorate, sometimes substantially, following instruction. In this work, we present two contemplative practices aimed at deepening students’ experiential engagement with the connection between physics concepts and the physical world by heightening their awareness of their sensory experiences as well as by continually directing their attention to visual manifestations of physical principles in nature and in the public and private spaces they inhabit. Additionally, we report on the written assessments of these practices, and find that students express, among other things, a heightened awareness of their physical embodiment, the applicability of physics concepts to their personal experience, and the natural emergence of questions in response to observations of the physical world.

• Lecture/Classroom II

  • • Desert Island Astronomy 101 Classroom Toolbox

    • PST2F01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Mikhail Agrest, Joel Berlighieri

    • Type: Poster
    • Information Technology Achievements provide Teaching Toolbox with unbelievable opportunities. Unfortunately, those tools are not available 100% of the time. Another disadvantage is hidden in the complicity of some demonstrations and simulations that in turn leads away from understanding of the concepts rather than unveiling them. Haven’t you ever felt in the classroom being Robinson Crusoe [1] in front of a crowd of Fridays looking at you with absolutely no clue about your topic? While having no Demo equipment handy, using a “Stick and a String“ you are capable of explaining sophisticated concepts of Stix Waves [2] and String Theory [3]. We continue the series of presentations [4] where teachers are encouraged to be creative finding very simple miscellaneous objects for their toolbox to be used explaining complex concepts. Author will be sharing some experience based on observations and teaching about the Solar Eclipse of 1964 and the one of 2017.

  • • Is It Feasible to Incorporate VPython Programming into Introductory Physics?

    • PST2F03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Deva O'Neil,
    • Type: Poster
    • In 2016, students in General Physics at Bridgewater College were introduced to programming in Glowscript, a web-based environment for VPython. Most students were physics and chemistry majors with little or no previous programming experience. In homework assignments and in recitation section, students used Glowscript to simulate objects moving under the influence of forces. A written survey at the end of the semester probed student comfort level with the programming activities (N = 30). Results were mixed; while most students (25) felt adequately prepared, a significant minority of students expressed frustration with the coding assignments. In response, two changes are being implemented in the 2017 course offering: more templates are provided to students to structure their code, and lab activities will replace most of the take-home assignments, so that students will have immediate access to the instructor while developing and debugging their code.

  • • My Journey in Physical Science w/Elementary Education Majors: Project-Based Learning

    • PST2F05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Beth Marchant,
    • Type: Poster
    • I am currently teaching a 3-credit-hour university course called “PhysicalScience for Elementary Teachers” for my 7th semester. It is the only college-level physics and chemistry course that this group is required to take before entering the elementary school classroom as a full-time teacher. The course has evolved from a lecture and lab course to a project-based course. I incorporate researched-based backwards design principles; some standards-based grading measures; three overarching projects; and repeated assessment opportunities to lead to student success. I will present data on my students’ learning outcomes as found in MOSART pre- and post-test results, and student course evaluation data. This will be presented as both an oral and a poster session.

  • • Flipping the Large-Enrollment Introductory Physics Classroom

    • PST2F02
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Chad Kishimoto, Michael Anderson, Joe Salamon

    • Type: Poster
    • Most STEM students experience the introductory physics sequence in large-enrollment classrooms led by one lecturer and supported by a few teaching assistants. This poster outlines methods and principles we used to create an effective flipped classroom in large-enrollment introductory physics courses by replacing a majority of traditional lecture time with in-class student-driven activity worksheets. We compare student learning in courses taught by the authors with the flipped classroom pedagogy versus a more traditional pedagogy. By comparing identical questions on exams, we find significant learning gains for students in the student-centered flipped classroom compared to students in the lecturer-centered traditional classroom. Furthermore, we find that the gender gap typically seen in the introductory physics sequence is significantly reduced in the flipped classroom.

  • • LECTURE vs SCALE-UP: Setting the Odds

    • PST2F04
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Guillaume Schiltz, Gerald Feldman, Andreas Vaterlaus

    • Type: Poster
    • We have divided a non-physics undergraduate student cohort into two parallel teaching settings. We offered a highly interactive flipped class (SCALE-UP) to one group of 52 students and a traditional LECTURE to the remaining 318 students. We compared student performance in both settings, based on FCI pre-/post-tests and on a common mid-term exam. The SCALE-UP students performed significantly better on conceptual problems, but for numerical problems, SCALE-UP and LECTURE students showed similar results. In addition, a survey provided feedback about the students’ learning experience and about their time effort in the two settings. Both groups spent about the same time for out-of-class preparation, but engagement was higher for the SCALE-UP students. Concerning available classroom space and teaching staff requirements, the LECTURE class is less demanding. Thus, setting the odds for the match LECTURE vs SCALEUP highly depends on the relation of available resources and intended outcomes. Our poster will present data to evaluate the competition prognosis.

  • • The STEM Connections Program at Lewis University*

    • PST2F06
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Joseph Kozminski, Jason Keleher

    • Type: Poster
    • The STEM Connections Program provides a cohort experience for first-year students planning to major in a program offered by the Physics and Chemistry Departments at Lewis University as well as additional professional development opportunities throughout their college careers. An overview of the program’s goals and of the cohort experience will be presented as will a preliminary analysis of data from the first 2.5 years of this program.

• New Trends in IPLS Resources and Pedagogy

  • • Teaching Diffusion Using a Beach Ball*

    • AG04
    • Sun 01/07, 12:00PM - 12:30PM

    • by James Vesenka, Bradley Moser, David Grimm

    • Type: Poster
    • Students have substantial difficulties applying physics concepts to anatomy and physiology (and vice versa). We have developed a kinesthetic diffusion model requiring students to apply multiple concepts (velocity, impulse, pressure, viscosity and statistical mechanics) to understanding diffusion. Students play the role of both participants and observers to the Brownian motion of a different sized cells modeled by different sized beach balls. The activity additionally requires a pair of tennis balls/student, meter sticks for recording positions, a rope boundary (10-m diameter) and a flat surface such as a gym floor. The mean position versus collision event (time interval) from several trials is analyzed in lab to generate a macroscopic diffusion constant. Lab discussion connects the macroscopic diffusion to demystify microscopic behaviors such as aroma diffusion from popping corn, dye diffusion in a petri dish, or Brownian motion of silica beads observed with an optical microscope.

  • • Assessment of a Biomedically Relevant Introductory Physics Course*

    • AG05
    • Sun 01/07, 12:00PM - 12:30PM

    • by Ralf Widenhorn Elliot Mylott, Warren Christensen

    • Type: Poster
    • We present modular multimedia educational material developed for a pre-health-focused introductory physics course focused on optics and waves taught at Portland State University in spring term 2016. The modules include videos of biomedical experts detailing the physics behind medical instruments. We assessed student attitudes towards the course from student surveys and interviews. Here, we present assessment results on students' conceptual understanding and contextualization of physics material from this reformed course. Conceptual understanding of physics content was probed using open-ended, illustrated conceptual questions. The analysis was done by multiple raters using a multi-stage, inductive analysis of the emergent categories. The responses from students in the reformed, biomedically-focused course are compared to responses from students in a traditional algebra-based physics course.

  • • Experimentation as Didactics in the Teaching of Physics

    • AG06
    • Sun 01/07, 12:00PM - 12:30PM
    • by Andres Salinas Diaz,
    • Type: Poster
    • This work is the result of the use of the ABP (Problem Based Learning) methodology, developed in three stages, which allows the possibility of an autonomous learning, when the student assumes an active role in its formative process, relegating to the teacher to assign his investiture and assume the role of observer and promoter. The proposal presents several daily scenarios to students of Physics, in which they will develop their praxis based on the reflection, investigation and concretion of activities through individual and group predictions to verify through meaningful autonomous learning, how capable are they to find the answers to their own hypotheses and using in a varied way the ICT platforms with their diverse software and technological means for a more accurate result with evidences that support it.

  • • Cultivating a Community of STEM Polymaths with a Transdisciplinary Laboratory

    • AG07
    • Sun 01/07, 12:00PM - 12:30PM

    • by Sarah Formica, Royce Dansby-Sparks, Margaret Smith

    • Type: Poster
    • This poster describes an introductory, one-semester, transdisciplinary labcourse that integrates concepts across biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, and develops basic quantitative literacy and stimulates student interest in STEM more effectively than traditional introductory lab courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. Students in the transdisciplinary lab showed higher quantitative reasoning and literacy gains than students in traditionally-taught science labs, and those gains were statistically significantly different between transdisciplinary students and traditionally-taught biology students. Retention rates of students in the transdisciplinary lab were also compared to students in the control groups and show that student retention in a STEM discipline was higher for students who participated in the transdisciplinary lab. These results suggest that a transdisciplinary approach to STEM lab classes benefits students by improving their mathematical reasoning skills and compelling students to continue with their STEM education.

• Other Poster

  • • Normalization of Cosmic Ray Data for High School QuarkNet Experiments

    • PST1C01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Allen Sears, Nathan Unterman, Anthony Valsamis

    • Type: Poster
    • A large collaboration of data collection was conducted during the August 21st 2017 solar eclipse investigating cosmic ray flux using QuarkNet muon counters. Some of the muon counters had varying levels of count efficiency due to environmental and equipment conditions. Normalization of data on these counters was necessary to combine their readings with other counters to look for a signal. The methods of data normalization and pedagogical strategies are presented by a group of high school teachers.

  • • A New Kind of Photography to Connect Art With Physics

    • PST1C03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM
    • by John Beaver,
    • Type: Poster
    • We describe a unique photographic process that is both inexpensive and accessible to students, but allows for artistic control in ways that ordinary digital and film-based photography does not. Furthermore, its use highlights in an active way many important physical principles that underly photography. And we argue that it can provide a useful bridge to students who are more comfortable with art than science. What we call Ephemeral Process photography uses ordinary photographic gelatin silver paper in a printing-out mode, with no chemical developer or fixer, but with a simple non-hazardous chemical accelerator applied by hand. No darkroom is needed, and the paper responds directly and visibly to exposure to light. The sensitivity is much less than that of ordinary photographic detectors, but still fast enough for in-camera photography. We describe the process, its basic chemistry, and relate several interesting uses in the classroom.

  • • Fostering Student Abilities to Synthesize Information in Scientific Inquiry*

    • PST1C07
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Kathleen Koenig, Janet Zydney, Casey Hord, Lei Bao

    • Type: Poster
    • A windmill engineering design project, implemented in an 8th grade classroom, was designed to lead students through activities focused on the cyclic process of scientific inquiry. Experiments built upon one another and results of initial experiments were to inform the design of subsequent experiments; enabling students practice in the scientific thinking and decision making promoted in 21st Century Learning. Preliminary research, however, found that most students treated the inquiry explorations as fragmented steps and struggled in synthesizing information to guide necessary decisions in the experimental process. Students often resorted to “trial and error,” with narrow vision for addressing only those questions on the page rather than stepping back and focusing on the larger task. This presentation will include what was learned about student habits as well as their deficiencies in scientific thinking, and how the curriculum was redesigned to better support student learning and performance.

  • • Total Solar Eclipse at Charleston, SC

    • PST1C02
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Joel Berlinghieri, Jim Near

    • Type: Poster
    • On August 21st at 2:47 pm EDT the North American Total Solar Eclipse passed over the Charleston, SC area. The Citadel Physics Department sponsored two events during the eclipse. The student body (The Corps of Cadets), faculty, staff, and guests were supplied with protective glasses and guidance for the proper and safe viewing and photographing of this event. Special guests included the national office of Sigma Xi, local college and industry officials. This viewing was proceeded by a seminar explaining the reasons why total solar eclipses are so rare at any particular location, the properties of the Sun and what measurements or observations might be of interest during a total eclipse, and the safe viewing and photographing of the Sun during partiality and totality. Two physics student teams used portable weather stations and high altitude balloons to measure meteorological properties of the atmosphere and rates of cosmic radiation before and during the eclipse. A 360 degree camera was also placed aboard one of the launched balloons.

  • • Community College STEM Honors Program: Increasing Diversity, Developing STEM Leaders

    • PST1C04
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Barbra Sobhani,
    • Type: Poster
    • To support diverse students in STEM, we developed a comprehensive STEM Honors Program. The mission is to provide exceptional learning opportunities through interdisciplinary education and problem-solving experiences for a community of scholars in order to prepare them to be leaders in a global community. Each student cohort will tackle a wicked problem theme integrating classes, field trips and capstone projects. Students participate in service learning, internships, and travel opportunities; providing a competitive edge in careers and transfer. Program learning outcomes include intellectual inquiry, research skill, interdisciplinary problem solving, leadership, civic and global learning. We have involved our four year partners in the development of the program in order to facilitate honor to honors transfer. Honors faculty recruited across disciplines are immersed in the wicked problem and incorporate the theme into their courses. The Honors student/faculty cohort advising and mentoring will promote identity as a scholar and increase persistence and retention.

  • • Examining Physics Education in Taiwan

    • PST1C06
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Hui-Yiing Chang,* Clausell Mathis

    • Type: Poster
    • Taiwan is one of the top performing countries at the annual International Physics Olympiad for high school students. Interviews were conducted with three professors from the premier science education university in Taiwan, and school authorities, teachers and students from the top boys’ school and the top girls’ school in the country. Classroom observations of these two schools were also done. The interviews and observations are compiled and analyzed to investigate factors that may have contributed to the success of the Taiwanese. This is done with the intention of providing ideas for improving physics education in the United States of America.

  • • A Novel Approach for Teaching Electromagnetism Concepts Using Coding Activities in Algebra-based Physics

    • PST1C08
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Chris Orban, Richelle Teeling-Smith, Chris Porter

    • Type: Poster
    • Building off of a set of carefully designed classical mechanics programming exercises that were constructed for introductory algebra-based physics classes, we present a series of electromagnetism programming exercises in a browser-based framework called p5.js. Importantly, this framework can be used to highlight the physics aspects of an interactive simulation code while obscuring other details. We describe efforts to probe the impact of these coding activities on student conceptual learning using a series of animated questions that we developed with inspiration from the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment. These activities and assessments are used in freshman physics classes at OSU’s Marion campus and in a number of high school physics classes in Ohio.

• Physics Education Research

  • • Student Perceptions of a Computer-based Role Playing Game

    • PST1D01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Eric Mandell, Michael Greene

    • Type: Poster
    • Looking to adapt to harness the advantages of Exploratory Learning (EL), Game-Based Learning (GBL) and Story-Based Learning (StoBL), and hoping to improve student engagement outside of class, we are developing a computer-based Role-Playing Game (RPG), where students encounter aspects of the College Physics curriculum as they play. In this work, we discuss early results in measuring student attitudes towards the first chapter of game content, and towards GBL in the College Physics class. Information gathered from these early surveys explore the level of student engagement and will allow us to tweak aspects of the game before the project is completed. Knowledge of potential trouble points for students can also help inform the choice of in-class activities that will help students proceed in the RPG, further integrating the story into the course.

  • • Gender Fairness in the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation

    • PST1D03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Rachel Henderson, John Stewart, Paul Miller, Adrienne Traxler, Rebecca Lindell

    • Type: Poster
    • Gender gaps on the various physics concept inventories have been extensively studied. It has been shown that on average, men score 12% higher than women on mechanics concept inventories and 8.5% higher than women on electricity and magnetism concept inventories. Classical Test Theory and Differential Item Functioning has been used to show that multiple items of the FCI are unfair to women. In the current study, Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis will be used to explore gender biases in the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). The difficulty and the discrimination of the 43 items will be examined and gender fairness will be explored in two different instructional environments.

  • • Hands-on & Minds-on Particle Physics in S’Cool LAB at CERN

    • PST1D05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Julia Woithe, Alex Brown, Alexandra Feistmantl, Oliver Keller, Sascha Schmeling

    • Type: Poster
    • S’Cool LAB is a new Physics Education Research facility at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. High-school students and their teachers are invited to contribute to research projects by taking part in hands-on & minds-on particle physics experiments on-site at CERN. Participating in S'Cool LAB research enables teachers to give their students a glimpse of life and work in a world-leading international research institute. By getting hands-on with physics in S'Cool LAB, students can make discoveries independently, learn to work scientifically, and apply their knowledge in a new setting. In 2017, almost 7000 high-school students and their teachers from more than 30 different countries took part in hands-on workshops in S’Cool LAB. In this contribution, we will present S’Cool LAB, the concept of our learning activities, and selected research results on the impact of visits to S’Cool LAB.

  • • Examining Laboratory Notebook Practices in the Introductory Lab

    • PST1D07
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Michael Zwartz, Joseph Kozminski

    • Type: Poster
    • Laboratory notebooks are significant records of research to show what a researcher did, how they did it, and what data were collected from the experiment. The AAPT Laboratory Recommendations emphasize the importance of helping students develop good laboratory notebook practices throughout the undergraduate curriculum. This study tracks students’ progression in developing the necessary notebook practices for success in the laboratory. This research was conducted through a series of student surveys given in undergraduate physics classes. A pre-survey and a post-survey were given covering topics of how students use lab notebooks and how they learned those practices. This study allows us to see the changes in laboratory notebook beliefs and practices of students through two semesters of introductory lab work. The research is beginning to uncover what methods of training are most beneficial to students’ beliefs and practices when using a laboratory notebook.

  • • Implantation and Assessment of High Impact Practices in Calculus-based Introductory Physics*

    • PST1D09
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Pei-Chun Ho, Daqing Zhang, Raymond Hall, Gerardo Munoz, Mihai Gherase

    • Type: Poster
    • Traditional lecturing strategy tends to deliver knowledge by an instructorin class time. The learning environment for students is quite passive and results in a high DFW rate in the introductory-level physics. Starting from the spring of 2014, the calculus-based introductory Physics PHYS 4A (Mechanics and Wave Motion) and PHYS 4B (Electricity, Magnetism, and Heat) at Fresno State have undergone a redesign to adopt high impact practices to improve student success rate. Five practices are used as impact parameters: (1) pre-lecture activities (FlipIt Physics), (2) interactive demonstrations, (3) class practice, (4) iClicker pop quizzes, (5) peer coaching (i.e., SI leader), along with FCI (PHYS 4A), CSEM (PHYS 4B), and instructor-designed common final exams to assess the student learning outcome. As a result, the instructors incorporated the high impact practices intensively showed significant improvement in student learning (grade average improved ~ 8%).

  • • K-12 Mathematics Course Progression in Northwest Florida: Pipelines and Bottlenecks

    • PST1D11
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Bethany Campbell Christopher Varney, Aaron Wade

    • Type: Poster
    • The mathematics and science courses that students take in high school havecorrelations with the likelihood of obtaining not just a STEM degree, but also a college degree in general [1]. While there has been a push for students to take more science and mathematics in high school, there has been seemingly less of a focus in elementary and middle schools. We explore the possibility of a pipeline that exists as early as elementary school and investigate potential bottlenecks that may influence whether students remain in the pipeline, if they can get in at all.

  • • Math Skills Triage and Concurrent Remediation in Introductory Physics

    • PST1D13
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Miriam Simpson, Valorie Glasser

    • Type: Poster
    • Analysis of preliminary data on the math background and skills of beginning physics students and its impact on their performance in an introductory physics series designed for scientists and engineers. Methods: Over three years, 183 students in an introductory mechanics course were given a basic math skills assessment test and a survey on their math background. These students were then monitored through the rest of the physics series, comparing performance on a number of key physics skills looking for correlations with mathematical skill. During the second and third year of the study, students with poorer math skills were given some basic math refreshers as companion module to the physics course. Results: Students who scored poorly on the assessment had a higher attrition and failure rate in the course series, but with review in relevant math topics, that rate could be reduced by up to 50%.

  • • p-prims Activation Through Turning the Hand-cranked Generator*

    • PST1D15
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Yoshihide Yamada, Kyoko Ishii, Kazuo Kobayashi, Syuhei Yamamoto

    • Type: Poster
    • The situation of turning the hand-cranked generator activates students' p-prims (phenomenological primitives) of "Ohm" and "Working Harder." Students say that "When hand-cranked generator is connected to some resistor, the effort is needed to overcome its resistance." A lot of students (estimated over 60%) make wrong judgement about the effort needed to maintain constant speed of turning the crank when connected to different kind of elements. Their reasoning is like "The larger the resistance, the harder you have to push the crank." These answering patterns are shown in multiple problem contexts. One is the context in which a hand-cranked generator is connected to light bulb, insulator, or short circuit, another is connected to incandescent light bulb versus light-emitting diode. In both cases, students' responses suggest the activation of Ohm's and Working Harder p-prims.

  • • Supporting Students in Online Courses by Leveraging the Skills and Expertise of LAs*

    • PST1D17
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00AM - 8:45AM

    • by Dontrell Cornelius, Fidel Amezcua, Felicia Davenport, Andrea Van Duzor, Mel Sabella

    • Type: Poster
    • Involving Learning Assistants (LAs) in online STEM courses is in its earlystages. In these settings, LAs have the opportunity to utilize their expertise in STEM, as well as leverage their own unique experiences as students to aid in the creation of effective online instructional material. Collaborative relationships between LAs and instructors provide opportunities for LAs to engage students in various aspects of the online classroom, such as development of modules, facilitating online discussions, engaging in peer-editing/review, and holding online “office hours.” This poster describes how LAs can support online learning environments and analyzes how online courses might be structured in order to leverage LA expertise and support students in these classes.

  • • Effects of Summer Camp on Participants' Affective Views of Science

    • PST1D06
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Iliana De La Cruz, Micha Kilburn

    • Type: Poster
    • There exists a movement to draw more diverse groups of students to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. There is limited research on the effect of informal education on K-12 students’ views of science, but recent data suggests children decide on STEM as early as grade school. This research quantitatively examines the effect of a STEAM summer camp had on its participants’ affective views of science. Using pre-post surveys, the participants were asked to rate their interest in science, list career aspirations, and associate words they thought describe science or art. Researchers analyzed four years of these programmatic surveys for correlations between words associated with science, and age or gender. This summer, researchers also interviewed camp participants to better understand the reasoning behind word associations and to evaluate the survey instrument. Preliminary analysis suggests camp affects participant word associations, and interviews highlighted points of confusion in participant survey understanding.

  • • Identifying Students’ Productive Conceptual Resources for Wave Superposition

    • PST1D08
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Lisa Goodhew, Amy Robertson, Paula Heron, Rachel Scherr

    • Type: Poster
    • In a resources theory of knowledge, students’ intuitive ideas are viewed as potentially productive and as a basis for instruction. Instruction grounded in a resources theory of knowledge has the potential to promote learner agency, support students from diverse backgrounds, and enhance conceptual understanding. We present a preliminary resource-based analysis of students’ written responses to conceptual questions about mechanical waves – one that focuses on the common, productive ideas that students use to reason about mechanical waves, with an eye toward how they can inform instruction. We discuss what students’ common, productive ideas are, how they are productive, and in what ways they might be taken up in instruction.

  • • Investigating Learning and Mathematization of Introductory Electricity and Magnetism Concepts

    • PST1D10
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Christopher Colborn, Stamatis Vokos

    • Type: Poster
    • Over three quarters we sought to develop a better understanding of the connections between conceptual and mathematical models of electricity and magnetism concepts that students generate in the introductory calculus-based course. Student understanding was assessed in part through weekly assessments in which explanations of reasoning were required. A focus was student understanding of resistor-capacitor circuits and the exponential functions associated with charging or discharging, as well as students’ ability to construct integral expressions for electric and magnetic fields of extended distributions. We found common modes of reasoning through analysis of written student responses. Our results indicate a disparity between conceptual understanding of the physics principles of interest and applications of the knowledge of the associated mathematical expressions, extending prior work in this area. We anticipate using our research results to modify our instructional materials to help students engage with these issues at a deeper level than is currently the case.

  • • Lessons Learned from an Interactive Online Course in Contemporary Physics*

    • PST1D12
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM

    • by Dean Zollman, Raiya Ebini

    • Type: Poster
    • For the past three years we have delivered an online course on quantum physics and its applications, which was aimed at students who were not majoring in physics. This course, Contemporary Physics, includes hands-on activities, computer visualizations, conceptual development and very little mathematics. Students enrolling in the course are studying disciplines ranging from philosophy to business. The online version of this course takes advantage of the vast body of physics education research that shows that students learn significantly better when they are actively involved in the teaching-learning process. To provide active learning the core materials were supplemented by concept maps, other visualizations, particularly from the PhET project and videos posted by others on YouTube. We have used PER techniques to assess students’ learning and attitudes toward the learning environment. We will report on results so far and some lessons learned from the assessment.

  • • Models Problem Solving by Engineering Students: Analysis of Three Cases

    • PST1D14
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Oscar Jardey Suarez,
    • Type: Poster
    • The purpose of this paper is to present three models, each corresponding to a case, of how students solve a problem in an initial engineering physics course (Bogota - Colombia) from the perspective of cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. The research methodology was qualitative and based on verbal protocols. To state the three cases, fictitious names are used so that the identity of the students who participated in the research protects is known. The three cases constitute empirical evidence that contributes to understand the reality of the student population of the first engineering courses, indicating reasons that go beyond the epistemological obstacles of learning physics. The main conclusion is that academic anxiety is a factor that affects inversely, obtaining academic achievement.

  • • Rise of Management Skills in STEM Occupations

    • PST1D16
    • Mon 01/08, 8:45AM - 9:30AM
    • by Hyewon Jang,
    • Type: Poster
    • The development of technology has changed the skills demanded in the labormarket. IT technology developed rapidly since the 2000s, however, there is no analysis of how this technology has changed the skills required for STEM occupations. This study explored trends in required skills by comparing the major skills of 2002 and 2016 using O*NET managed by the Department of Labor. We find that high-level cognitive and resource management skills were integrated in the early 2000s, but resource management sciences have fallen into a new one. We discuss the reason why these changes occurred in light of network economy, and STEM education for promoting competencies required for STEM jobs.

• Physics Education Research II

  • • Sustaining a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program*

    • PST2E05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Peter Sheldon, Sarah Sojka, Tisha Colvin, Peggy Schimmoeller, Katrin Schenk

    • Type: Poster
    • Randolph College has instituted a recruitment and retention program that has doubled the number of science majors in the last five years, more than tripling the number of physics majors. While the college has a total enrollment of 700 students and a physics department with 2.5 faculty, we have recently consistently had 8-10 physics majors each year. The program includes a number of recruitment and retention initiatives, and was initially boosted by an NSF S-STEM grant. While the grant provided scholarships to two cohorts of 12 students, we have exceeded our goal to recruit 24 science students into our Step Up to Physical Science and Engineering at Randolph (SUPER) program each year, and to retain those students at a higher rate. With a second NSF grant, we are now carefully researching the impacts of each part of our program. We will discuss the initiatives implemented and the resulting permanent changes.

  • • Updating the Real-time Instructor Observation Tool Usability and Collaboration Features

    • PST2E07
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Zairac Smith, Dr. Cassandra Paul

    • Type: Poster
    • The Real-time Instructor Observation Tool (RIOT) was developed to provide immediate pedagogical feedback to instructors. This is achieved through a web-based user interface that allows an observer to classify instructor interactions in real-time. RIOT then auto-generates plots and charts that allow the observer and the instructor to visualize how class time was spent. However, the current user interface has several limitations. For example, the current interface does not allow users to share observation sessions between each other, nor does it allow users to compare changes in observations over time. RIOT’s color scheme is also not currently accessible to users who have trouble reliably distinguishing between colors. We present these and additional features currently being developed for RIOT.

  • • Acoustic Beamforming for Sound Recording in Noisy Classroom Environments

    • PST2E09
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Benedikt Harrer, George Condit

    • Type: Poster
    • The complex and dynamic nature of classroom environments often prevents effective and non-obtrusive observation and audiovisual recording of authentic learning activities. In an effort to reduce the complexity of the recording setup and therefore minimize the intrusiveness of the research activity while maintaining reasonable audio quality, we use an array of microphones to record audio from a large portion of the room from a distance. Using the principles of beamforming, we align the recordings from different microphones to amplify the desired signal and diminish unwanted noise, in the process creating and directing a "virtual microphone" within the room.

  • • Assessing Learning by Observing Engagement in an Interactive Physics Exhibit

    • PST2E11
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Ron Skinner, Danielle Harlow

    • Type: Poster
    • How do we assess learning when curriculum involves more open-ended, multiple-outcome learning experiences? Can observable evidence made available through students’ actions and words be used to determine whether and how students meet learning standards? We introduce a framework to describe student engagement at an interactive science museum exhibit where students build and test ball roller coasters. Our framework consists of two dimensions: (1) levels of engagement, which describe what students are doing and how they are interacting with the exhibit, and (2) practices of learning, which are derived from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Plotting the levels of engagement against practices of learning allows us to characterize which practices of learning students might be engaged in based on our observation of their behavior. Our initial findings suggest this framework can be used to assess engagement in NGSS science and engineering practices in classroom-based open-ended learning experiences.

  • • CK-12’s SIM Impact Study: Traditional Lecture vs Interactive Physics Simulations

    • PST2E13
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Sonia Tye,
    • Type: Poster
    • CK-12 currently offers over 100 simulations (SIMs) that enable students todiscover the laws of physics that govern the world around them in a fun and interactive way. CK-12 recently conducted a SIM Impact Study to compare the use of these simulations with traditional class lectures. A group of high school teachers prompted half of their physics classes to engage with a CK-12 SIM to learn a physics concept and the other half listened to a traditional class lecture. All students completed a short survey to assess their achievement of the learning objective, as well as their ability to recognize relationships between variables, dispel common misconceptions, explain the concept in their own words, and ask further related questions. We look forward to sharing the results of this exciting study with the physics education research community and engaging in a discussion about ideas for further research.

  • • Development of the Epistemic Agency Classroom Observation and Analysis Tool (EPISTACOAT)

    • PST2E15
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Mark Akubo,
    • Type: Poster
    • The goal of science teaching and learning is for students to develop proficiency in science by engaging in the practices of science, learning core ideas and crosscutting concepts.1 This proficiency requires that students be active players in the construction of knowledge. Students need to be epistemic agents -- taking responsibility for shaping the knowledge and practice of a science community. Thus, they share authority with the teacher. How might we characterize and analyze our observations focusing on this construct of epistemic agency in classroom discourses? To this end, we develop the epistemic agency classroom observation and analysis tool (EPISTACOAT) which focuses on the epistemic, conceptual, social, socio-epistemic, and affective markers of agency in a student-centered active learning environment for undergraduate programs (SCALE-UP).

  • • Real:Digital – Extending Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

    • PST2E02
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Daniel Laumann,
    • Type: Poster
    • Current physics education is caught between traditional approaches focusing real students experiments and an increasing impact of digital media content. The project “Real:Digital” aims to identify the potential benefit resulting from an integrative usage of these diametrically appearing representations. Richard E. Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) is fundamental for the application of multiple representations in educational settings. Since CTML only considers words and pictures, the theory cannot be applied directly to physics education. Experiments and real-world phenomena are essential for physics education but outside the scope of CTML. We present an extension of CTML in physics (CTML-P) adding typical physical representations, considering the tactile sense and taking haptic models into account. In order to apply CTML-P, we demonstrate how multiple representations are useful to teach the Doppler effect.

  • • Student Use of Free Body Diagrams to Solve Physics Problems

    • PST2E04
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Sara Altemara-Arnold,
    • Type: Poster
    • Free body diagrams are commonly used by college instructors to help students visualize and simplify classical mechanics problems. This study examines whether undergraduate students in an introductory classical mechanics course for non-science majors are using these representations to correctly solve introductory classical mechanics problems. After completion of the relevant unit, students were asked to solve an equilibrium problem of a block on a ramp being held by a rope. The problem consisted of six parts, four conceptual and two analytical. Students were asked to a) draw the free body diagram b) calculate the tension and c) calculate the normal force. For the remaining three parts, d) through f), students were asked to draw rough sketches of position, velocity, and acceleration due to time graphs for the block after the rope was cut. An extremely weak to no correlation was found between correct free body diagrams and correct calculations of the normal force (r= 0.231) and tension (r=0.192). This suggests that students did not use the free body diagram to assist in completing the problem.

  • • The Effects of Switching Groups on Students' Resource Networks

    • PST2E06
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by James Wells,
    • Type: Poster
    • Working collaboratively with peers has a positive effect on student learning and is a skill valued by employers. Students may work with their peers formally, in class and on group assignments, or informally, typically outside of class, on homework assignments and in study groups. In many physics courses, students are assigned groups for formal group work and these groups are changed at intervals during the semester. This study uses network analysis to investigate the effect these enforced group changes have on the resource network of introductory physics students. Will a student placed in a new group expand their network to include their new group members, potentially increasing the amount of interaction with their peers, or do the new group members simply replace their former group members in their resource network?

  • • Vertical Course Alignment Between Introductory Physics and Sophomore Engineering Courses

    • PST2E08
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Jonathan Perry, Tatiana Erukhimova, William Bassichis

    • Type: Poster
    • Introductory physics forms a significant part of the foundation of knowledge for engineering disciplines, and as such it is vital that courses be well aligned within the progression of undergraduate curriculum. This work begins from a perceived misalignment of course content in introductory physics relative to sophomore-level engineering courses. Inventories of concepts and mathematical skills used in problem solving are done by the creation of a Q-matrix for three versions of introductory physics and two follow-on engineering courses at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Alignment of course content is investigated using direct comparison and principal component analysis. Using grades received in introductory physics, paired with q-matrices, this work endeavors to create a model for student scores in subsequent engineering courses using item response theory, incorporating guess and slip parameters, as an additional evaluative measure.

  • • Assessing Assessment for Learning in a Freshman Mechanics Course within SCALE-UP Model

    • PST2E10
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Mark Akubo, Cody Smith, Sherry Southerland, Clausell Mathis

    • Type: Poster
    • This qualitative study was conducted within student-centered active learning environment for undergraduate programs (SCALE-UP)1. Our purpose was to examine a freshman classical mechanics course in a large research university southeastern USA, for formative assessment and feedback practices. The significance of this study is because detailed and student-focused formative assessment and feedback influence student self-regulation, motivation, self-efficacy beliefs, and “epistemic agency”2 in relation to science learning. Instructor-students, student-student or peer formative assessment and feedback practices are non-detailed and scanty. References

  • • Teaching Introductory Undergraduate Physics Courses Using Multimedia Resources

    • PST2E12
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Adriana Predoi-Cross,
    • Type: Poster
    • The educational tools discussed here provide a stimulating class environment at undergraduate level. They include: physclips developed at the University of South Wales, Australia, intertwined with short lecturing sections, in-class testing of student comprehension through multiple choice questions, physlets or concept questions, videos of experimental demonstrations, solved examples, “multi level” homework and online quizzes. Each of these tools enhances students’ learning abilities and deepens their understanding of physics concepts. The students show increased confidence when using mathematical computations based on physics laws, graphical elements and animations. The quality of questions asked by students following this enhanced learning process, changes towards deeper questions that show an accurate understanding of physics processes. Fewer low-quality questions continue to be present, and they may be due to limitations of the simulations software or idealizations. The overall performance of the students has improved as shown by a different grade distribution, centered on higher grades.

  • • Creative Ways Students Interpret Experiences as Physics Majors

    • PST2E14
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Mary Chessey, David Webb

    • Type: Poster
    • Performance feedback offers a valuable opportunity to guide students’ development of knowledge and skills. Undergraduate physics majors in upper division classes dedicate many hours to coursework, yet the feedback for their effort often takes the form of numeric scores with uncertain meaning, especially for students who recently transferred to the university from a community college. This year-long study focuses on the experiences transfer students within a large cohort of physics majors and reveals the creative work that students do to fill in the gaps in the assessment of their performance. Findings from observations, interviews, and participation in the student community indicate that students use many indirect means to guess how they’re really doing in their major, such as informal conversations with classmates and instructors, and time spent solving problems. These findings have useful implications for instructors working towards creating an inclusive physics classroom by centering students’ perspectives.

  • • The Einstein Box for Skills Development in Preschool in Mexico

    • PST2E16
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Mario Ramírez Díaz, Gabriela Nieto Betance

    • Type: Poster
    • Physics has historically been seen as a goal and as a media to reach out for other educational skills. In this sense, at the preschool level science must be a path to build thinking skills and attitudes to learning. Unfortunately in Mexico teachers in this level lack tools to develop science in their little students. To help in this situation, we propose the use of "Einstein Box," a set of toys where the kids can select and play with, then teachers explain the general physics concepts involved in the working of the toys. Previously, the preschool teachers took a workshop with physicists to know the fundamentals of physics and could make a good translation to the kids. The results for the kids are amazing because they not only learn about basic physics, furthermore, mathematical thinking, social skills and verbal abilities, all around physics concepts.

• Post-deadline Posters

  • • PhysFESTT: Planning Applied Physics Workshop for Student/Teacher/Preservice Teams

    • PST3A01
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Matthew Perkins Coppola, Mark Masters

    • Type: Poster
    • The Applied Physics Workshop to be held at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne on June 25-29, 2018, is a unique opportunity open to high school teachers, their students, and physics teaching undergraduates. Participants will work in teams during the workshop to learn how to build several inexpensive apparatus organized around four themes: resonance, light as a particle, light as a wave, and acoustics. Participants will develop pedagogical methods for integrating the apparatus into their curriculum and discuss plans to further utilize the materials in long-term scientific research projects. The workshop will also discuss careers in physics, with emphasis beyond those requiring a PhD. This poster will share more details as to the specifics of the workshop, including organization, topics, pedagogy, and partnering of participants. Information on how to be a participant will also be provided. This workshop is funded through The William F. and Edith R. Meggers Project award of the American Institute of Physics, a biennial award designed to fund projects for the improvement of high school physics teaching in the United States.

  • • An Inexpensive Lab Timer that Enhances Student Learning

    • PST3A03
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM
    • by Roland Woodward,
    • Type: Poster
    • For years, I have used a popular commercial computer interface to facilitate electronic data collection in my teaching labs. Despite its advantages, I have found that it frequently makes the labs "too easy". In the classic free fall lab, for example (in which a striped strip is dropped through a photogate), the software allows students to plot velocity or acceleration vs. time, without understanding what the apparatus is actually measuring: namely, time, at equal intervals of position. After years of attempting to address this deficiency with followup questions, I developed a lab timer that merely reports the times it measures, that uses any software (including Excel), and that you can build yourself for under $50.[1] In this poster, I will give details of its construction, use, and advantages (and disadvantages) over its commercial equivalent.

  • • Computational Modeling for STEM+C Literacy in a Physics Context

    • PST3A05
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Rebecca Vieyra, Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz, Josh Rutberg, Katie Martino

    • Type: Poster
    • Computational thinking is widely recognized as an essential skill for the future workforce and success in STEM, including physics. This NSF-funded grant engages teachers in professional development to plan and implement classroom instruction in algebra-based Physics First courses that integrates computational modeling (one aspect of computational thinking) through two existing, widely used approaches - Modeling Instruction for physics and Bootstrap for computational modeling. This program is especially focused on combating many equity concerns associated with student access to physics sand computer science. Working with Physics First teachers will allow this project to impact student populations which will be demographically more diverse than students historically enrolled in standalone computer science courses or upper-grade physics courses.

  • • Online Lab Grading

    • PST3A07
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Pei Xiong-skiba, Andriy Kovlaskiy, Spencer Buckner, Chester Little, Whasington Alcantara

    • Type: Poster
    • For introductory level physics courses, many colleges and universities have successfully migrated their homework grading online, using commercially readily available sites, such as WebAssign and MasteringPhysics. Is it possible to migrate lab report grading online? This is, probably, more challenging. Most likely, each school owns a “unique” set of lab equipment and somewhat performs each lab activity in its “unique” way. Commercial companies are less willing to develop a lab course customize to each school’s needs. At Austin Peay State University, we decided to carry out this migration on our own using D2L (Desire2Learn), the official course website adapted by Austin Peay State University. We have migrated our lab grading online with satisfactory results. The benefits are: a) reduction in instructor’s work load; b) encouragement of active participation by all students; c) enhancement of understanding of lab activity related physics concepts; and d) better test preparation for students. This presentation reports our method and how we bypass some of the limitations posted by D2L.

  • • Success of Citizen CATE and the August 2017 Eclipse

    • PST3A09
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Daniel Smith Jr Matt Penn, Donald Walter, Richard Gelderman, Robert Baer

    • Type: Poster
    • The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment operated a total of 68 identical telescopes at sites distributed along the path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina during the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse. The project was highly successful with 62 of the sites acquiring data, providing continuous coverage of the event. The project goal is to produce a 90-minute time sequence of calibrated white light images of the corona. This unprecedented, continuous, temporal coverage during totality will allow us to address questions related to the dynamics in the inner 2.5 Rsun of the corona. More than 45,000 coronal images with 50,000 calibration files are being examined. We present our preliminary results including detailed time-series evolution of polar plumes and other features. Additionally we discuss the large number of EPO activities CATE supported across the country during the year leading up to and on the day of the eclipse.

  • • A Senior Student’s Perspective on an Online Homework System: WileyPLUS

    • PST3A11
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Alexas Gaudet Brad Trees

    • Type: Poster
    • With the advent of technological innovation and digital media at the forefront of learning, web-based homework systems have become a significant constituent of STEM courses in universities across the country. This poster will evaluate the online learning system WileyPLUS (WP) as used in introductory, algebra-based physics courses at Louisiana State University (LSU). This poster will provide an overview of the resources available within WP and a discussion on how students at LSU use such resources. Student response to WP and subsequent course performance will also be discussed, along with a general evaluation of online homework completion. This will be examined in the context of personal experience as a student (AG), accounts from other physics students, as well as existing data collected on online homework system usage.

  • • Improving Cognitive and Affective Learning in Introductory Physics

    • PST3A13
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Carolyn Sealfon Jason Harlow, David Harrison, Andrew Meyertholen, Brian Wilson

    • Type: Poster
    • We will discuss ongoing work seeking to understand an observed correlationbetween students’ personality temperament as measured by the True Colors instrument and their performance in a large, reformed introductory physics course. We will also outline efforts to improve the learning gains of students with weaker performance.

  • • Investigating the progression of language issues associated with center of gravity

    • PST3A15
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Megan Mikota Susan Fischer

    • Type: Poster
    • Fifty-two algebra-based introductory physics students answered four onlinequestions about center of gravity. Questions were multiple choice with a request to “explain your answer.” Students had completed a reading and an introductory lecture prior to answering the questions. The free response data showed that many students struggled to correctly apply symmetry properties of an object or system, and often incorrectly applied the “center” aspect of center of gravity. While these difficulties were anticipated, we also found that many students applied “uniform mass density” to mean that the object had equal mass on either side of the balance point because the object “had the same mass throughout.” We will present the student response data and then use these responses to reformat the original questions to include authentic student dialogue expressing correct ideas along with misconceptions largely brought about by issues of language. Work supported by EHR Core Research grant DUE-1348614.

  • • Impact of Planetarium-based Instructions on Students’ Understanding of Lunar Phases

    • PST3A17
    • Tue 01/09, 2:00PM - 2:45PM

    • by Jing Wang Jessica Lair

    • Type: Poster
    • Astronomy concepts involving three-dimensional spatial relationships can be difficult for students to understand. Such difficulty can be attributed to the two-dimensional nature of traditional astronomy textbooks, as well as students’ deficiency in spatial thinking skills. There has been practices to enhance the instructions with digital planetariums and hands-on activities. At Eastern Kentucky University, we start to use the Hummel Planetarium after its recent innovation to teach an introductory astronomy course which is traditionally done in a regular classroom. We are interested in its impact on the development of students’ spatial thinking skills, e.g. understanding lunar phases. In this pilot study, we examined the student responses (N=135) to the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (Lindell, 2001) after they receive two weeks’ instruction on moon phases either in a planetarium or in a traditional classroom. The results provide us with guidelines for the follow-up experiment design.

  • • The Effect of Race on the FCI, CSEM, and FMCE

    • PST3A02
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM

    • by Cabot Zabriskie, John Stewart, Seth Devore

    • Type: Poster
    • The FCI, CSEM, and FMCE are three of the most commonly deployed conceptualinventories used in college-level introductory physics courses. An active area of research in PER has focused on understanding the gender gap in student performance on these inventories. However, one area that has seen limited investigation is that of the effect of race/ethnicity. FMCE (N = 3237) and CSEM (N = 2300) data from a large Eastern land grant university and FCI (N = 1956) and CSEM (N = 2595) data from a large Southern land grant university was used to explore the effect of race/ethnicity on student performance across and between these widely adopted inventories.

  • • Understanding interactions between student groups and student leaders using the fusion of epistemological framing and Social Network Analysis on classroom video data

    • PST3A08
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM
    • by Katarzyna Pomian
    • Type: Poster
    • We are exploring how interactions between student groups and learning assistants influence the epistemological frames of student groups and student reasoning. We will use video data to assess verbal and none verbal cues within student groups. We apply social network analysis (SNA) to collected video data to categorize student interactions into on-topic, on-task, and off-topic. This allows us to get an idea of how students will be primarily interacting during certain episodes and forms one set of axes for our epistemological frames. We use video data from a two-week summer program for incoming college freshman that focuses on helping students to develop metacognitive and self-assessment tools. The fusion of SNA and epistemological framing will help us to better understand the individual group dynamics within the whole class structure.

  • • The STEM Collective

    • PST3A10
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM
    • by Shane Spivey
    • Type: Poster
    • Professional development is critical for supporting continuous faculty growth. In addition to providing workshops on active learning techniques, our department has developed a program to foster peer learning and an exchange of ideas among the faculty, and to encourage classroom innovation. Called the STEM Collective, the long-term goal of this project is to establish an ongoing dialogue where everyone can contribute ideas and experiences, test new teaching strategies, and solicit feedback from the group. As part of the program, adjunct faculty are encouraged to observe full-time faculty who are using active teaching methods in the classroom. Each instructor then develops an action plan to introduce an innovation into their own classroom, and to assess its overall effectiveness. The goal of these professional development efforts is to improve teaching and learning and the overall student experience in science. More inclusive and engaging classrooms increase retention and promote expanding diversity in STEM.

  • • eFliP-CoIn - Concept Inventory Development in two Language Cultures

    • PST3A12
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM

    • by Florian Genz André Bresges, Kathleen Falconer

    • Type: Poster
    • Currently, the Flight Physics Concept Inventory (FliP-CoIn) is in development in two languages and piloted it in two different cultures (USA and Germany). This brings new and unique challenges to the PER research project but also great benefits. FliP-CoIn provides feedback to college students, introductory physics courses and their teachers about current understanding of fluid dynamics in the context of aviation. Due to more focus groups and think-aloud interviews, many improvements were implemented. This tool is still in development. The author is thankful for scientific exchange to concept inventory designers as well as PER, fluid dynamics and language experts. Individuals familiar with concept inventory development and instructors of fluid dynamics, flight physics and similar fields are welcome to engage in discussion with the presenter.

  • • A Study of Learning and Attitudinal Gains in a First Year Physics Experience

    • PST3A14
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM

    • by Alma Robinson John Simonetti, Shadi Esmaeili, Courtney Vengrin, Kasey Richardson

    • Type: Poster
    • First year physics majors at Virginia Tech are enrolled in two physics-majors only physics courses: Foundations of Physics, a calculus-based introductory physics course, and Seminar for Physics majors, a first year experience course for physics majors. Both courses are taught in a SCALE-UP Classroom using Peer Instruction with undergraduate learning assistants. In these courses, the students are taught the standard content of introductory physics, but they are also explicitly taught how to “think like a physicist.” Through the use of both Fermi problems and traditional end-of-chapter problems, the students are taught how to make simplifying assumptions, to perform order of magnitude calculations using estimations, to employ dimensional analysis, and to check symbolic answers with limiting cases. The students were given a pre/post Force Concept Inventory and a pre/post CLASS survey, and we will present our findings. Previous semesters have shown student gains on both instruments.

  • • RT diagram for assessing student strategies for solving multi-representational problems

    • PST3A16
    • Tue 01/09, 2:45PM - 3:30PM

    • by Rabindra Bajracharya Paul Emigh, Corinne Manogue

    • Type: Poster
    • We investigated students’ strategies for solving a multi-representational partial derivative problem in a thermodynamic context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight upper-division students in a restructured thermodynamics course. We developed a new flowchart-like analysis method – representational transformation (RT) diagrams – to depict both correct and incorrect RT processes during problem-solving. Our analysis revealed three types of RT phenomena: translation, consolidation, and dissociation. Previous studies on multiple representations in K-12 and lower-division contexts have documented translations between and within different representations. However, prior studies have not discussed either consolidation or dissociation. We think that consolidation and dissociation are particularly important in upper-division physics problem-solving. The participants in this study did not seem to have as much problem with simple translation and dissociation as with consolidation. RT diagrams can be used not only for analyzing data, but also for instructional purposes to describe ideal solutions and to assess how students actually solve problems.

• Pre-college/Informal and Outreach

  • • Physics Career Education Day: Design, Implementation, and Assessment

    • PST2A01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Liang Zeng, Ruben Ortega, John Faust, Oscar Guerrero

    • Type: Poster
    • A strategic intervention, Physics Career Education Day at The University of Texas–Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), in collaboration with the McAllen Independent School District (MISD), has been designed, developed, and implemented to address youth lack of awareness about what physics entails. Based on Expectancy-Value Theory, the program aims at improving both students’ intrinsic and utility values towards learning physics. The full-day activities include the following main components: visiting research facilities, attending both Physics major testimonials and faculty career pathway presentations; and a Q&A session on student research and study experiences. Pre- and post-survey results showed that Physics Career Education Day reveals effectiveness at increasing student understanding of broad physics career opportunities and physics/physical science programs within their reach. Furthermore, Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Tests demonstrate that this event significantly increased youth interest towards studying physics and physical science (with a secondary teaching certification: 7-12) disciplines at UTRGV.

• SPS Undergraduate Research and Outreach Poster Session

  • • Preliminary Cosmic Ray Muon Flux Investigation for Solar Eclipse Experiment

    • SPS01
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Clarissa Carr, Jacob Rosenberg, Tamar Dallal, Allen Sears, Anthony Valsamis

    • Type: Poster
    • A cosmic ray experiment was conducted in order to observe the muon flux rate during a total solar eclipse. To achieve the purpose of the central experiment, collecting data regarding solar and lunar transit along with data obtained of empty sky was essential. Information regarding the results of the data accumulated throughout the initial stages of the experiment will be explored. This poster elaborates on the preliminary data collections of the experiment.

  • • Proof of Concept for Data Collection Methods for Measuring Muon Flux During a Solar Eclipse

    • SPS02
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Michelle Matten* Tamar Dallal, Ezra Schur, Jacob Miller, Allen Sears

    • Type: Poster
    • Detecting muons may seem to be a simple process today, but detecting a change in the muon flux during a solar eclipse more complicated. How the be arranged to get the best results and minimize errors? What type of should be expected from the arrangement? This poster presents the different overlaps and configurations of QuarkNet muon counters used to take data before and during the solar eclipse of August 2017.

  • • Using a Local Positioning System as a Kinematics Lab

    • SPS03
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Cora Siebert,* Thomas Allen, Gabriel Mukobi, Ralf Widenhorn

    • Type: Poster
    • The use of commercially available local positioning devices and their applications in the physics classroom will be presented. Using these positioning devices, students have a hands-on way of engaging with the relationships between position, velocity, and acceleration in 1-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and rotational systems. Students will be able to connect these concepts with their graphical and mathematical representations by completing various kinesthetic activities that include walking, running, jumping, spinning, and tossing objects.

  • • Video Analysis of Argument and Explanation in an Introductory Classroom

    • SPS04
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Eduardo Velazquez, James Laverty

    • Type: Poster
    • Recent efforts to transform science education have highlighted the importance of engaging students in scientific practices in order to develop their understanding of both the process and knowledge of science. This work focuses on identifying the scientific practices of Engaging in Argument from Evidence and Constructing Explanations in classroom video data. Our goal is to answer, “How can we identify when students are engaging in scientific practices in the classroom?” We are analyzing video recordings from an introductory physics class where students work on problems in groups of four for the entire two-hour class period. I have analyzed these videos for signs of students both engaging in argument and constructing explanations. This poster will discuss similarities and differences between these two practices and discuss how we can identify these practices in a valid and reliable way. This will allow us to investigate how students’ use these practices throughout a semester.

  • • Citizen CATE: The Science Behind Eclipse Day Sun Funnels

    • SPS05
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Jordan Duncan,* Sam Fincher, Margaret Hill

    • Type: Poster
    • With much enthusiasm surrounding the August 21st trans-American eclipse, many individuals from around the globe traveled to the path of totality. As a member of the citizen CATE Team-040, located in Southeast Missouri, our team was responsible for collecting data pertaining to the solar corona. At our site location, the duration for totality was amongst the longest across the path, making our location prime for eclipse day adventurers. With this in mind our team desired to protect our data from overzealous folks, and hoped to educate eclipse goers about the astronomical event at the same time. We decided to build a sun funnel and to our boundless pleasure it not only educated but also created distance between our sensitive data acquisition and interested spectators. This poster relates to the science behind the building of our sun funnel, how we designed it, and the impact it had on site.

  • • Cooperative Student-Built Multi-Payload Balloon-Satellite Eclipse Measurement

    • SPS06
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Russell Jeffery, William Slaton

    • Type: Poster
    • Six high-altitude balloon payloads were built and flown in the path of totality on during the 2017 total solar eclipse across the U.S. The payload flight controllers consisted of Raspberry Pi computers running code written in Bash and Python 3.4 to collect and store data from sensors. The program on each payload collected data from an external temperature sensor, an internal temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a light sensor, a GPS unit, and a camera. The design also incorporated a smart internal heater to prevent the payload from freezing. The payload design, circuit, and code will be presented along with lessons learned and plans for future work. This project was made possible by a Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, a subaward from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, and Student Research Funds from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Central Arkansas.

  • • Coronal Research: The Citizen CATE Project

    • SPS07
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Samuel Fincher,* Jordan Duncan, Peggy Hill

    • Type: Poster
    • The Citizen CATE project was conducted this past summer with the goal of collecting data on the behavior of the inner solar corona during the total solar eclipse that crossed the breadth of the United States. Armed with almost 70 sites arrayed across the U.S., Citizen CATE aimed to collect a continuous stream of data from one side of the county to another. This poster outlines the efforts leading up to the eclipse and the results that our particular site, CATE site 40, achieved on eclipse day.

  • • Cosmic Ray Experiment Measuring How Solar Eclipse Effects Muon Flux

    • SPS08
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Ezra Schur,* Jacob Miller, Nathan Unterman, Allen Sears

    • Type: Poster
    • During the recent August 2017 solar eclipse, cosmic ray experiments were conducted to establish the effect of the eclipse on muon flux using QuarkNet cosmic ray muon detectors, both before and during the eclipse. Flux rates were determined using a fixed array of counters, capturing data on muon flux from an angle of acceptance of 30 degrees centered at totality; a tracking telescope of counters that captured a 22 degree angle of acceptance, and a small stack of counters that was used to establish a control measure of muon flux from the vertical. We hypothesized that there would be a change in the muon flux during the eclipse.

  • • Controlled Thermal Emission Thermoelectric Generators -- a Comsol Model

    • SPS09
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Daniela Buna, Lejla Hoxha, Kamil Nowak, Daniel Tafone

    • Type: Poster
    • Comsol Multiphysics software is a very useful and intuitive environment for undergraduate physics education in the sense that it allows the student to design and test a full project, from a simple geometry to visualizing the solution and testing a prototype. While thermoelectric generators (TEG) have been studied intensely in the past decades, a recent breakthrough material shows unprecedented efficiency in the high temperature range (1000C). The breakthrough material is a refractory W-HfO2 metamaterial, which controls thermal emission by selectively enhancing and suppressing the thermal emission in the near-infrared spectrum. The goal of this project is a) to offer the undergraduate student programming experience with Comsol by developing a model for a commercial TEG product, b) to refine the model by adding a material equivalent to the W-HfO2 and finally, to study this model in the lower range of temperatures, below 300C, applicable to a larger number of practical applications.

  • • Electro-optical Properties of 5CB Nematic Liquid Crystal

    • SPS12
    • Sat 01/06, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Jacob Gingles Chandra Pokhrel

    • Type: Poster
    • We have measured the birefringence properties and the effect of electric field on the optical transmission of 5CB (4'-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl) liquid crystal. The birefringence was calculated by measuring the transmitted light intensity from the 5CB sample with planar alignment placed between two cross polarizers as a function of director angle. The signal maxima were obtained when the sample director is 45 degrees with the polarization axis of the laser and with the analyzer axis, and minima were obtained when the director is either parallel to the polarizer or to the analyzer. The electric field response of the 5CB liquid crystal was measured by measuring polarized light transmission through a twisted nematic 5CB cell placed between cross polarizers. The 90% transmission occurred when the electric field was 2.7 MV/m.

  • • Polarization of a Metal Block Simulated Using GPU Computing

    • SPS10
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00PM - 10:00PM

    • by Nolan Roth, Noah Worley

    • Type: Poster
    • When a charged particle is brought near a neutral metal object, the electrons distribute along the surface of the metal in such a way that the net electric field inside the block approaches zero. This process can be seen using computer simulations, however simulations of similar detail have been measured to take multiple minutes to run. The goal of this project is to calculate the polarization of a metal block due to the electric field of an external charged particle using parallel computation on a NVIDIA GPU using CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) to yield a faster simulation. To do this, we use the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to simultaneously calculate the charge on each piece of the surface of the metal object during the transient phase of the polarization. To check the accuracy of the calculation and the improvement in performance provided by CUDA, we compare results to a previous program written by Bruce Sherwood and Ruth Chabay in Python.

  • • Translating Orientation into Electrical Commands

    • SPS11
    • Mon 01/08, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
    • by Michael Welter
    • Type: Poster
    • Many smartphones contain an accelerometer–a device used to measure acceleration forces such as gravity–which can be used to detect the phone’s orientation. With an accelerometer, a device’s orientation relative to an established xyz-plane can be used as a control mechanism for an outside system. Similar to joystick control systems used in most video game controllers, orientation can be translated into movement commands. The Arduino Esplora is a microcontroller board that provides a set of built-in, ready-to-use onboard sensors, such as a microphone, joystick, pushbuttons, and an accelerometer. I have used the accelerometer capabilities of the Esplora to control a multi-motor robotic device.

• Teacher Training/Enhancement

  • • Section Outreach by PTRAs to K-12 Teachers with the Help of Grants from the AAPT Board and the Bauder Grant

    • PST2B01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Tommi Holsenbeck,
    • Type: Poster
    • The Alabama Section of AAPT meeting was the host for two workshops to helpphysics teachers in Alabama and to increase the knowledge of our Section. One workshop was for K-8 teachers and addressed electricity. Using a PTRA workshop as a model, PTRAs helped the teachers use "Play Dough" to create series and parallel circuits. The Play Dough was both a conducting version and a non-conducting version. The teachers were very creative in their circuits as elementary teachers usually are. All the participants left with LEDs, batteries, and alligator clips for the lab activity in their classrooms. They also received books about electricity appropriate for their grade levels to emphasize the literary/science connections. The second workshop for 9-12 physics teachers tested their engineering skills to solve a problem and create a version of a PTRA "Scribble Bot." The engineering method was followed to design their bots. All the teachers received classroom sets of motors, cups, markers, etc so they could immediately try this in their classroom.

  • • Turning Exploratorium Exhibits into Activities and Labs

    • PST2B03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Marc 'Zeke' Kossover,
    • Type: Poster
    • The Exploratorium publishes for free (www.exploratorium.edu/snacks) more than 150 physics activities, called “Snacks”, that explain key ideas in ways that are informative and engaging. Many are based on our famous exhibits but made accessible for classrooms and lecture halls by being smaller and cheaper. Most can be made for less than $25. Each contains detailed build instructions, explanations of physics, and ways to use the activity in class. They are perfect for becoming the phenomena for NGSS-style instruction and can be used for both demonstrations and labs. We’ll bring some examples so that you can see what we offer.

  • • Behind the Scenes of Education

    • PST2B05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Ellie Prim,
    • Type: Poster
    • Teaching may be viewed as routine and repetitive: plan a lesson, teach, grade, and repeat. I was not familiar with the tasks and obligations of a being teacher. This summer, I was given the opportunity to submerge myself in the world of teaching, and my eyes were opened to the extended work educators do. My experience included spending time in the machine shop welding apparatus used for eclipse education and sharing my knowledge with the public through outreach events. In addition, I was responsible for helping to prepare courses, to design and implement curriculum, and to update our on-campus observatory’s equipment and instrumentation. This experience dismissed my notions of teaching being tedious and helped to solidify that this is the exciting profession I want to be involved in.

  • • Preparing Faculty Across Multiple Disciplines to Incorporate Active Learning

    • PST2B09
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Jeff Saul, Luanna Gomez, Rebecca Lindell

    • Type: Poster
    • Physics Education Researchers have developed many techniques and insights on how to improve teaching and learning in physics courses by incorporating student-centered activity-based learning. As educational institutions incorporate more active engagement across their programs, physics education researchers are sharing their expertise with colleagues in other departments on educational improvement projects and providing professional development outside of physics. Last summer, we gave a series of workshops at Universidad EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia to help faculty make the transition from a teacher-centered lecture approach to a student-centered active-learning one. In addition, we advised individual course development teams to help them incorporate active learning. Our visit was sponsored by EAFIT’s Project 50, which supports and trains faculty to adopt innovative technologies and pedagogies. Project 50 has established over 50 active-learning classrooms. In this poster, we describe our professional development work with EAFIT faculty to help them take advantage of these new classrooms.    

  • • Taking Elementary Teachers’ Ideas Seriously in Professional Development*

    • PST2B02
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Amy Robertson, Orlala Wentink, Lane Seeley, Stamatis Vokos

    • Type: Poster
    • One of our field’s age-old adages is that teachers “tend to teach as they were taught” (McDermott, 2001) and so need to experience physics instruction in ways that are consistent with how they are being asked to teach their own students. Current reforms and literature on best-practices in K-12 classrooms call on teachers to take their students’ ideas seriously – i.e., for teachers to listen to, seek to understand, and build on their students’ science ideas. In this poster, we illustrate what it looks like for professional development (PD) instructors to take teachers’ science ideas seriously – in this case, for PD to provide teachers with opportunities to learn science in the ways we expect them to teach it. We use excerpts from interviews with teachers to show that these experiences were meaningful to teachers, both in their understanding of themselves as capable of doing science and in their thinking about their own instruction.

  • • Assessing Group Effectiveness: A Case Study in Physics Education

    • PST2B04
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Javier Pulgar, Alexis Spina, Danielle Harlow

    • Type: Poster
    • This paper presents an analysis of group effectiveness involving three physics majors solving an open-ended physics education problem. Research subjects were observed throughout an academic quarter in the context of a course on conceptual physics and children’s thinking adapted from the Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum. Course participants discussed how school students learn physics and their common pre-instructional ideas and models of physics phenomena. Participants were asked to collaboratively design a physics learning activity, including at least two questions either for the elementary, middle, or high school level. Field notes and audio were collected and recorded from group work. We identified themes that emerged from the group discussion and used Hackman’s conditions for effectiveness to determine effective group processes. Results suggest that the group decided the content and questions for the task addressing different themes related to the nature of the problem, while simultaneous meeting conditions of effectiveness.

  • • Next Gen PET: An NGSS-aligned Curriculum for Preservice Elementary Teachers

    • PST2B08
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Fred Goldberg, Steve Robinson, Edward Price

    • Type: Poster
    • Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (Next Gen PET) (1) is a research-based, guided inquiry curriculum for preservice and inservice elementary teachers, designed to provide learning experiences aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Versions are available for either small or large enrollments, and covering either physics or physical science content. Teaching and Learning activities help students make explicit connections between their own learning, the learning and teaching of elementary school children, and the NGSS. Engineering Design activities require application of the module’s physical science content. An extensive online instructor's guide (2) includes instructor materials, homework activities, videos of experiments, classroom video clips, test banks, etc. An associated online faculty learning community (3) provides an opportunity for faculty to collaboratively improve their instruction, study student thinking and conduct classroom-based research. This poster will describe the curriculum, instructor resources, student learning outcomes, and online faculty community.

• Technologies

  • • New Tools for Smartphone Experiments through "phyphox"

    • PST2D01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Sebastian Staacks, Simon Hütz, Heidrun Heinke, Christoph Stampfer

    • Type: Poster
    • The free app "phyphox" (Android and iOS, see http://phyphox.org) adds to the well-known concept of smartphone-based physics experiments by introducing data analysis within the app itself and a simple way to remote control any experiment from a second device (laptop PC, tablet, a second smartphone etc.). This gives direct feedback to students and avoids a common disconnection of the collected data from the experiment. In addition to these specific uses of data analysis, more generic analysis setups open up a whole set of tools for students, that can be used in their own experiments. Frequencies of motors can be measured as an acceleration spectrum, the microphone turns into an acoustic stopwatch, and an array of magnets becomes a ruler.

  • • Stop-Motion Video to Assess Conceptual Understanding in Motion

    • PST2D03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Bradley Gearhart,
    • Type: Poster
    • Typical high school students carry in their pockets an extremely powerful tool for scientific expression, but rarely use it beyond their capabilities for social media. Many schools have improved their beliefs about the value of smartphones in the classroom setting, paving the way for innovative uses in our physics instruction. This poster will present my exploration into using Stop-Motion Video as a tool to assess students’ understanding of motion by pushing beyond typical “initial’ and “final” states having students create a conceptually rich story fills the gaps between these two moments in time.

  • • 360 Images and Video Animations for Physics and Astronomy

    • PST2D05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Michael Gallis,
    • Type: Poster
    • 360 Images place the viewer at the center of complete panorama and when used with smartphone VR glasses can provide a truly immersive experience. Emerging technology and software enables the creation of still images and animation that can aid in presenting topics in physics and astronomy involving 3D geometry. This poster presents examples from the Animations for Physics and Astronomy project at Penn State Schuylkill, and includes student projects. The software used to create these works will be discussed as well as strategies for displaying and sharing imagery and videos.

  • • BuckeyeVR 3D Plot Viewer – A Free Resource for Smartphone-based VR*

    • PST2D07
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Chris Orban, Chris Porter, Joseph Smith

    • Type: Poster
    • Although there are a number of smartphone apps that can produce interesting stereoscopic visualizations using a cheap VR viewer (often called Google Cardboard), until recently there did not exist a resource to allow STEM educators to use this VR technology to display user-defined functions, curves and vector fields. The BuckeyeVR 3D plot viewer is a free resource that allows educators to both render a user-defined function in a web interface and to quickly view this function in stereoscopic 3D using smartphone-based VR. This is made possible by a freely available smartphone app for Android and iPhones that can take information from the web interface and reproduce the visualization on the smartphone. This resource is available at buckeyevr.osu.edu and we encourage STEM educators to adopt it and to collaborate with Ohio State in examining the pedagogical benefits of this technology.

  • • Use of Facebook Facilitates the Learning of the Photovoltaic Theory

    • PST2D09
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Mario Ramirez Diaz, Mario Rodríguez Castillo, Isaias Miranda Viramontes

    • Type: Poster
    • In this experiment, we show a positive perception of the use of Facebook as a virtual education tool from a students' point of view both before and after the application. Even those students who without previous experience in the use of Facebook as a virtual learning tool and social platform, gave it good comments on this social network for academic use. To answer this research question about how Facebook facilitates the learning of photovoltaic theory from the perspective of instrumental Genesis, several categories were explored to discover unique instrumental elements of Instrumental Genesis, which would help the student to approach in a way more solid the use of Facebook platform as a technological learning tool.

  • • Using Physics Toolbox Apps to Teach about MEMs Technology

    • PST2D04
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Rebecca Vieyra, Chrystian Vieyra

    • Type: Poster
    • Using technology often runs the risk of serving as black box for student understanding. While mobile sensors are effective for data collection and display, teachers and students frequently have little concept of how the data is sensed at such a small scale. Visit our poster to learn about MEMs (micro-electro-mechanical) technology inside your smartphone, and to get free resources through Physics Toolbox apps for helping your students understand what is going on inside of their mobile devices.

  • • A Controlled Study of Stereoscopic Virtual Reality in Freshman Electrostatics

    • PST2D06
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Christopher Porter, Chris Orban

    • Type: Poster
    • The incorporation of virtual reality (VR) into instruction has been difficult due to high-cost headsets or “caves,” and the challenge of serving an entire student population with only one or a few such devices. This has changed with the advent of smartphone-based stereoscopic VR. Inexpensive cardboard headsets and smartphones already in students’ pockets are the only elements needed for a virtual reality experience. We have designed short VR training sessions and have studied the utility of this training in the context of Gauss’s Law and electrostatics in a cohort of students in calculus-based introductory physics at The Ohio State University. We compare performance on pre-post tests between students trained using VR, those trained using a video of the VR content, and those trained using static 2D images as in a traditional text. Although data are preliminary in this growing study, we comment on possible reasons for differences among student groups.

  • • Making Space Research Affordable for Community College Students

    • PST2D08
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by Barbra Sobhani, Victor Anderson, Jennifer Jones

    • Type: Poster
    • Space research involving rocket launches is rewarding for undergraduate students, but costly. To bring this opportunity to our community college students, we developed an interdisciplinary, cross-campus collaboration to launch a rocket payload through the NASA Space Grant RockSat program. The three campuses involved share the launch and materials costs. Each school has a student team, including a team lead and an advisor. The student team designs the experiment, builds the payload, and participates in integration and launch. The first collaborative project tested viability of unprotected DNA, radiation shielding, and detection during the flight. This year, our team is developing a more detailed radiation and astrobiology payload. This provides an outstanding opportunity to engage high-achieving undergraduates and leads to successful transfer.

• Upper Division and Graduate

  • • Teaching Experiment Design with Optical Tweezers

    • PST2C01
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Janet Sheung, Duncan Nall, Paul Selvin

    • Type: Poster
    • An inquiry-driven optical tweezer experiment was developed and added to the upper division biophysics lab course offered by the physics department at the University of Illinois. We supplemented the inexpensive and well-supported kit from Thorlabs with an E. Coli mutant strain (KAF95) acquired from Howard Berg at Harvard University. The eight-hour lab was taught in two four-hour parts. In the first, students learned basics on the biology, capabilities of the instrument, and analysis techniques. During the second, students came up with and conducted their own experiments in groups of four. While the lack of experiment time meant none of the datasets were large enough to draw clear conclusions, students received points on clarity of their hypotheses and effective use of the instrument. Post-lab surveys were extremely positive: nearly all students indicated a preference for more labs in the course to be taught in a similar style.

  • • 3D Printed Instruments as an Exploration of Acoustics

    • PST2C03
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM

    • by Mark Masters, Jacob Millspaw, Justin Yoder, Panyioti Panayi

    • Type: Poster
    • We explore using 3D printed reeds for clarinet and 3D printed trumpet mouth pieces as well as 3D printed simple “instruments” to explore the acoustics of instruments. The reeds we control stiffness and density with design and compare the printed reeds with natural reeds. We examine the sound produced using Fourier Transforms as well as the performer’s experience. For the mouth pieces we explore the impact of shape and density on sound and performer experience. Finally, we examine the impact of instrument shape on acoustic impedance and the “color” of the sound using Fourier Transforms.

  • • Engineering Physics Field Session at Mines: Learning Modules and Outcomes

    • PST2C05
    • Mon 01/08, 8:30PM - 9:15PM
    • by Chuck Stone,
    • Type: Poster
    • Following their sophomore year of studies, engineering physics majors at Colorado School of Mines enroll in the 6-week, 6 credit hour summer course, Field Session Techniques in Physics. The course introduces students to the design and fabrication of engineering physics apparatus and involves intensive individual participation in the design of machined system components, vacuum systems, electronics, optics, and applications of computer interfacing systems and computational tools. It includes supplementary lectures on safety, laboratory techniques, and professional development, along with visits to regional research facilities and industrial plants. This Poster Presentation will describe Learning Modules and Learning Outcomes, while an accompanying Oral Presentation will outline the Field Session Content and Structure.

  • • Using Computational Methods to Calculate the Magnus Force

    • PST2C02
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM

    • by John Di Bartolo, Julia Kapran

    • Type: Poster
    • Steady, incompressible, two-dimensional fluid flow can be modeled using a stream function, which must solve Laplace’s equation. Depending on the boundary conditions and symmetries of a system, a solution can often be found analytically. A numerical approach, however, allows for solutions to be found under much broader conditions. Using the “simultaneous over-relaxation” computational method, we modeled a rotating cylinder in uniform fluid flow, and with the assistance of the Bernoulli equation, we calculated the resulting Magnus force. Because such a system can be solved analytically as well, we were able to compare the numerical results with the analytical predictions. The numerical model we created is valuable in that it is essentially a virtual wind tunnel. It can be used as a laboratory for all kinds of fluid “experiments” by simply replacing the rotating cylinder with other objects of various shapes and sizes. One could calculate the lift on an airplane wing in this way, for instance.

  • • A Web-Based Simulation of Subatomic Particle Decays

    • PST2C04
    • Mon 01/08, 9:15PM - 10:00PM
    • by Ken Kiers,
    • Type: Poster
    • Subatomic particle decays provide an excellent platform for students to study the conservation of energy and momentum within a relativistic context. We have developed a web-based application that simulates the decays of subatomic particles in a magnetic field inside a wire chamber. This simulation serves as a laboratory exercise in a sophomore-level Modern Physics course. In the simulation, charged particles follow circular tracks, registering “hits” as they pass close to wires in the wire chamber. Students use the software to fit circles to locations that have registered a hit. Properties of the circle can then be used to determine the momentum of the associated particle. Students work offline to determine the identities of various unknown particles by implementing relativistic energy and momentum conservation. The students’ data is saved in a database and a TA module can be used to grade the students’ work. The simulation is publicly available.

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