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Agenda Preview

Plenaries

• 2016 Halliday and Resnick Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award: Andy Gavrin, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

  • • 2016 Halliday and Resnick Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award: Andy Gavrin, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

    • PL01
    • Mon 07/18, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Mary Mogge
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Our Students are Learning! Teaching and learning physics is, I think, uniquely difficult. We ask our students to learn a lot, and we ask them to do it fast. We ask them to learn abstract concepts and methods, and to use multiple representations of their knowledge. We challenge their core understanding of the world around them, and we hold them to high standards of achievement. We also hold ourselves to high standards as teachers. We strive to be clear, correct, engaging, and innovative, and we work in a variety of institutions that may not always provide the support we need. As a result, we are sometimes disappointed with our students’ efforts, unhappy with our institutions, and frustrated with our progress. But this is a matter of perspective. In this talk, I will touch, but not linger on the frustrations and failures. I will, instead, focus on the evidence that our students are learning. They are learning to work hard, they are learning to think analytically, and yes, they are learning physics.

• Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service

  • • Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service

    • PL03
    • Mon 07/18, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Mary Mogge
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Kathleen Falconer, Buffalo State College; Stephen Kanim, New Mexico State University; Kevin Lee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Dan MacIsaac, SUNY College At Buffalo; Mel Sabella, Chicago State University;

• Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award: Margaret Wertheim

  • • Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award: Margaret Wertheim

    • PL04
    • Mon 07/18, 7:30PM - 8:30PM
    • Mary Mogge
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Of Corals and the Cosmos: A Story of Hyperbolic Space: Throughout the natural world – in corals, cactuses and lettuce leaves – we see swooping, curving and crenelated forms. All these are biological manifestations of hyperbolic geometry, an alternative to the Euclidean geometry we learn about in school. While nature has been playing with permutations of hyperbolic space for hundreds of millions of years, humans spent centuries trying to prove that such forms were impossible. The discovery of hyperbolic geometry in the nineteenth century helped to usher in a revolution in our understanding of space, for such “non-Euclidean geometry” now underlies the general theory of relativity and thus our understanding of the universe. While physicists and astronomers are still trying to discover the geometry of the cosmos, on the Great Barrier Reef the corals making hyperbolic structures are being threatened by global warming and climate change. In this multifacted talk, bridging the domains of physics, math and culture, science writer and curator Margaret Wertheim will discuss the story of hyperbolic space and its resonances for how we see our world.

• Millikan Medal: Stephen M. Pompea

  • • Millikan Medal: Stephen M. Pompea

    • PL05
    • Tue 07/19, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Mary Mogge
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Knowledge and Wonder: Reflections on Ill-Structured Problem Solving: Most of my career has been in the pursuit of knowledge and wonder, used in the sense of the famous quote by Francis Bacon: “…. for all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself ....”. Knowledge and Wonder was the title of a book by Victor Weisskopf that I read as a child that influenced me to take a broad view of scientific problem solving. In this talk, I’d like to highlight how several science teachers and colleagues have influenced my approach to some interesting ill-structured scientific, engineering, and educational problems. This type of problem challenges us to think about how complex systems work, to question our assumptions, and to find novel approaches and solutions. Although solutions to ill-structured problems often are exploratory, transitional, or even ephemeral, the problem-solving process can still be personally satisfying and of significant value to our students.

• Paul W. Zitzewitz Excellence in K-12 Teaching Award: Tom Erekson, Lone Peak High School, UT

  • • Paul W. Zitzewitz Excellence in K-12 Teaching Award: Tom Erekson, Lone Peak High School, UT

    • PL02
    • Mon 07/18, 10:30AM - 12:00PM
    • Mary Mogge
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Physics is for everyone! Physics is a class that every high school student should take. While enrollments have increased nationally over the past 15 years, nearly two-thirds of students still graduate without taking Physics. In 19 years at my present school, Physics enrollment has gone from 15% to over 70% of all graduates. I will share some strategies that have helped increase student interest and enrollment in high school Physics courses.

• Plenary I: Neil Gershenfeld Director, The Center for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • • Plenary I: Neil Gershenfeld Director, The Center for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    • PL06
    • Tue 07/19, 4:00PM - 5:00PM
    • George Amann
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • From Bits to Atoms - Physicists use computers, and computers use physics. The historical separation of computer science and physical science masks a much more fundamental reciprocity between bits and atoms. I will present emerging research on turning information into things and things into information, and explore the broader implications of anyone being able to make (almost) anything.

• Plenary II: David Reitze, LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Sponsored by the APS Forum on Education)

  • • Plenary II: David Reitze, LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Sponsored by the APS Forum on Education)

    • PL07
    • Wed 07/20, 10:30AM - 11:30AM
    • George Amann
      
    • Type: Plenary
    • Colliding Black Holes & Convulsions in Space-time: The First Observation of Gravitational Waves by LIGO: On September 14, 2015, scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration observed the collision and fusion of the two black holes by directly measuring the gravitational waves emitted during the collision using the LIGO detectors. This detection comes 100 years after Einstein developed his revolutionary general theory of relativity that predicted their existence, and 50 years after scientists began searching for them. This discovery has truly profound implications. Gravitational waves provide unique information on the most energetic astrophysical events, revealing insights into the nature of gravity, matter, space, and time. We have opened a new window on the cosmos. I will talk about how we made the detection and discuss how gravitational astronomy promises to change our understanding of universe.

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