Participants will learn how to modify introductory physics courses at any level to help students acquire a good conceptual foundation, apply this knowledge in problem solving, and engage them in science practices. The framework for these modifications is Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE). We provide tested curriculum materials including: (a) The second edition of College Physics Textbook by Etkina, Planinsic and Van Heuvelen, the Physics Active Learning Guide and the Instructor Guide; (b) a website with over 200 videotaped experiments and questions for use in the classroom, laboratories, and homework; (c) a set of innovative labs in which students design their own experiments, and (d) curriculum materials that use LEDs to help students learn physics. During the workshop the participants will learn how to use the materials in college and high school physics courses to help their students learn physics by practicing it. We will focus on the connections of our materials with the NGSS and revised AP curriculum, specifically on the interplay of science practices and crosscutting concepts. Workshop participants may choose to obtain one graduate credit-hour for completing this workshop plus a few hours of additional work. If you are interested in this option, please send an email note to rhilborn@aapt.org.

Physics instructors are increasingly being asked to reform their teaching practices and use evidence-based instructional strategies to actively and intellectually engage their students. In this workshop, participants will gain first-hand experience implementing multiple collaborative learning activities that have been specifically designed for use in introductory physics for life science (IPLS) courses. Examples will include content from mechanics, electricity, magnetism, and optics, with each activity grounded in real-world applications to biological phenomena. Participants will also gain a better understanding of student difficulties in IPLS-focused topics and be introduced to teaching methods aimed at addressing such issues.

The Next Generation Science Standards require students to use scientific and engineering practices and to apply crosscutting concepts to develop an understanding of disciplinary core ideas. How do we implement these shifts in our classroom? Participants will engage in a 3-Dimensional lesson followed by an analysis of the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts involved in the lesson. The format of the NGSS will be explored; focusing on 3-Dimensional performance expectations. Time will be devoted to strategies for 3-D lesson design,story line development and assessment. Supplemental resources will be made available.

Ever dream of doing science in space? High-altitude weather balloons can lift science experiments into the stratosphere, providing relatively low-cost and uncomplicated access to a space-like environment (and view)! Sending experiments to “near-space” is an unforgettable experience which can address a wide range science and engineering standards. We can also discuss how one uses Ardunio based logging systems to collect data in the near space environment. This workshop will provide an introduction for those who wish to explore this exciting type of platform in their classroom. We will share ideas for college as well as pre-college projects and undergraduate collaborative research that can make use of this hands on experimental platform.

The Workshop on Visualization will focus on the use of effective visualization in teaching and modeling in contemporary physics and related areas such as life sciences. It will offer activities and examples from experienced practitioners on how to create graphical and visual representation including illustrations and animations of physical processes to gain a better understanding and insight of concepts at introductory and advanced levels, including special relativity, visualizing quantum eigenstates, transverse and longitudinal waves, wave packet propagation, energy across disciplines, thermal physics, etc. The panel will discuss design and development using standard programs and tools such as VPython, Glowscript, Jupyter notebook, Matplotlib, IPywidgets, Ffmpeg, and POV-ray. Participants are expected to bring your own devices (laptops or tablets) and will be guided to work on practical, interactive hands-on activities, writing code from templates and building your own visualization modules. Planned workshop schedule and activities are found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18IcxNlw1aEMBzilSGw6T0anuxRqm1z6_/view

Bring quantum mechanics to life! Instead of slogging through lengthy algebra to solve even the most idealized problems, your students could be using versatile numerical methods to find bound states and scattering probabilities for potentials of any shape. With Mathematica they can code a powerful algorithm in just a few lines, and instantly visualize the results using high-level graphics and animation functions. In this workshop you will learn to use Mathematica to: plot wavefunctions in one and two dimensions, using color hues to represent complex phases; find definite-energy wavefunctions for arbitrary potentials using the shooting method, a matrix method, and a relaxation method; solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation using an explicit finite-difference algorithm; and animate the time evolution of wavefunctions. Most of these techniques are suitable for students in a sophomore-level modern physics course, and all are suitable for an upper-division quantum mechanics course. Prior experience with Mathematica will be helpful but is not required.

In this workshop we will share the Get the Facts Out campaign toolkit to support your efforts to change the conversation about STEM teaching careers in your department. The toolkit, based on pilot interventions that show positive results in shifting perceptions among students and faculty, and which have been shown to outperform traditional recruitment efforts, is designed to be customizable and adaptable to the local situation. The materials and strategies include: (1) both student-facing and faculty-facing resources and a how-to guide for running interactive events, including but not limited to slide decks, clicker questions, and handouts with national survey data on retention, job satisfaction, and student loan forgiveness; (2) sample informational handouts on teacher salaries, comparisons of teacher and faculty salaries, and retirement benefits, with instructions on how to customize these with local data; (3) brochures and posters that incorporate tested messaging strategies; and (4) 60-second narratives and single-sentence “bulleted messages” that can be used as conversation starters in emails or other resources you design. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation IUSE and Noyce Programs.

In this workshop we will share many labs that are suitable for both high school and introductory college physics. The labs are challenging but not too difficult and, leave plenty of room for creativity! We have found success by limiting the goals for the labs to: 1. Fun and engaging, 2. Built in student choice, 3. Related to this week’s material. The labs are effective at engaging the students in problem solving and conceptual understanding. Merrell used this type of lab as a high school teacher and physics quickly became one of the most popular classes in the school. Adams, inspired by Merrell, has found that her college students no longer rush to leave, and in some cases stay to see how other groups do even after they’ve turned in their lab write up for the day! This workshop will allow you to try out these labs for yourself.

During this ½ day workshop, we will introduce you to the Physics Resource Instructional Association (PIRA) and the PIRA 200. Almost every demonstration one can think of has a catalog number within the Demonstration Classification System (DCS); we will introduce you to this system and the comprehensive bibliography that details journal articles and demonstration manuals for construction and use in the classroom. The PIRA 200 are the specific 200 most important and necessary demonstrations needed to teach an introductory physics course. We will also show a subset of approximately 50 demonstrations explaining use, construction, acquisition of materials, and answer any questions in this highly interactive and dynamic environment. Ideas for organizing and building your demonstration collection will be presented. We especially invite faculty members teaching introductory physics to attend. NOTE that this is a paperless workshop. All information and materials will be distributed on a USB thumb drive. A computer, tablet, or other device capable of reading a USB will be needed for note taking, or you can bring your own paper.

In this half-day workshop, participants will reflect on the teaching assistant (TA) professional development programs in their home departments, will articulate goals for improving and enhancing those programs, and will develop strategies for assessing progress toward those goals. Participants will also learn about some specific research-based approaches for helping TAs develop and practice instructional facilitation skills in different environments, including an immersive virtual/mixed-reality approach currently under development. Participants will leave with a personalized TA professional development improvement plan that includes intended outcomes, measures to assess those outcomes, and strategies to move the program towards the outcomes, as well as access to resources for continued refinement. This workshop will be facilitated by a team with several years of experience running a multi-day National TA Workshop for Physics & Chemistry departments, and will utilize some of those resources and processes. Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates are all welcome and encouraged to attend – colleagues from the same department may wish to consider participating in this workshop as a team (although this is not required).

Whether your lab curriculum is ripe for an overhaul, well-established, or you are simply looking for exciting and innovative activities for the classroom, this workshop will provide new ideas to bring home to your institution. Presenters from colleges and universities across the United States will each demonstrate their approach to a favorite introductory lab exercise or two. This year's workshop will focus on labs for Optical and Wave Physics. Attendees will have the opportunity to work with each instructor and their apparatus, and will have an opportunity to browse the equipment freely. Links to documentation will be provided for each experiment, with lab manuals, sample data, equipment lists, and construction or purchase information. This workshop is appropriate primarily for college and university instructional laboratory developers, but all instructors are welcome.

Mathematical Constructs that boggle the mind of new physics students! Students entering physics often have preconceived notions regarding physics. More often that not, these notions are negative. Once instructions begin and assignments are given, negativity grows, and instructors are challenged by both students and administration to alleviate the rising tide! After years of working with these students we have a perspective that should alleviate this stress. We will explore the composite functions that are the source of anxiety. Then we will extend this to the content-rich problems. The composite functions are clues to the solution strategy for these problems that can precede engineering assignments. Finally, we will examine the “Working Backwards Tasks” from TIPERS. In many disciplines that includes mathematical operations, when we learn “to do”, also learn to “un-do”. These tasks allow students to reverse the solution strategy and begin to “chunck” the process as noted in cognitive science. This will be a powerful experience with brain power, physics scrutiny and exemplary clues for improving a critical component of all physics classes.

Graphing builds conceptual intuition and is an enabling problem solving strategy, but it takes practice. This workshop will focus on graphical analysis as a method for small-team engagement in rich physics contexts. We will share (and help you develop) group based graphing and diagramming activities for in-class use with whiteboards. The integration of graphing approaches with physics problem solving will also be discussed. We have used these activities in small and large introductory physics classroom environments where they engage students and provide a platform for delivering high quality conceptual guidance and feedback to students in real time. We will guide you in developing implementation plans for you to use in your own classroom.

This workshop will introduce participants to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework as a tool to design instruction and curricula that support variation in learners’ needs, abilities and interests, with specific focus on students with disabilities. The UDL guidelines emphasize providing supports and options for how students receive information (representation), demonstrate their understanding (action and expression), and engage with the content (engagement). Research shows that popular physics curricula do not enact many UDL-aligned practices. Attendees will have the opportunity to: 1) reflect on their role in designing instruction that supports students with disabilities; 2) practice applying the guidelines to identify barriers in the learning environment and to design options and supports in sample written curricula and instructional scenarios; 3) reflect on their own written curricula and/or classroom practices and design UDL-aligned strategies to implement; and 4) contribute to a list of resources for continuing to plan and implement strategies to make their instruction more accessible. This workshop will be appropriate for high school teachers, college/university instructors, and curriculum developers. Workshop content will incorporate views of students with disabilities about student-centered active learning STEM courses.

In this workshop we will discuss the importance of integrating computation into introductory courses in the physics curriculum and will guide participants in discussing and planning how they would integrate computation into their courses. The PICUP partnership has developed materials for a variety of physics courses in a variety of platforms including spreadsheets (Excel or other), Python/VPython, C/C++, Fortran, MATLAB/Octave, Java, and Mathematica. Participants will receive information on the computational materials that have been developed, will discuss ways to tailor the materials to their own classes, and will learn about opportunities that are available to receive additional support through the PICUP partnership. PLEASE BRING A LAPTOP COMPUTER WITH THE PLATFORM OF YOUR CHOICE INSTALLED. This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation under DUE IUSE grants 1524128, 1524493, 1524963, 1525062, and 1525525. The participant will pay up front for the workshop during registration and receive a refund after the workshop is completed in the amount of $60. The total cost of the workshop to each participant is $20 for AAPT members and $45 for non-members of AAPT.

Learn about how the LIGO experiment uses interferometry to detect gravitational waves and study the result. We will put together an interferometer (you get to take home) and do other hands-on activities with LIGO physics. Bring your laptop to work with LIGO data. Bring a web cam if you would like to analyze diffraction data using video.

This project is developing a series of more than 40 videos centered on physical demonstrations that are ideal for use in introductory astronomy and physics courses. They can be utilized in the classroom, in homework and in distance education courses. Interactive materials accompany or are incorporated into many videos, consistent with the recommendations of educational research to maximize student learning from demonstrations. These videos are hosted on YouTube and on the Astronomy Education web site at the University of Nebraska, a site that is widely-used by astronomy educators. Workshop participants will be exposed to the underlying pedagogy of the videos and then experience them first in the role of the student and then in the role of instructor. This project is funded by NSF award #1245679. Participants are expected to bring their own laptop computer.

Are you interested in publishing a physics paper, but are a bit intimidated by the process? If so, then this workshop is for you. In this workshop, we will discuss the entire process involved in turning an idea into a published paper. Attendees will learn about developing a compelling storyline, the importance of figures, doing background research, and understanding your audience. In addition, we will walk through the entire publication process, from initial submission through peer review to final publication, providing some basic tips on how to deal with each step of the process. Although this workshop will focus primarily on AAPT’s journals (The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics), most of what is learned will apply equally well to other journals.

Participants will make a device to break plate glass using sound. The device breaks glass in a much more controllable fashion and does not require the high volume needed to break a wine glass. Additionally if so inclined the device can be used to measure standing waves in the glass and effects or length, width and thickness. At the home institution the an power amplifier(stereo amp or PA amp) and a function generator will be required.

Physics Education Research has long collected quantitative data sets. These data sets have been traditionally examined using descriptive statistics and classical analysis frameworks. Machine learning has expanded the traditional analysis toolbox by adding tools that are more adept at examining data commonly collected in PER (e.g., categorical data, text data, social network data). The University of Oslo/Michigan State University joint Learning Machines Lab (http://learningmachineslab.github.io) has created a collection of Jupyter notebooks that introduce researchers in DBER to machine learning. This workshop will bridge the gap between the traditional quantitative data sets collected by PER and new machine learning tools available in the python programming environment. Participants will be exposed to various modeling techniques (regression and classification) and will participate in a group research project using real PER data. Participants should bring a laptop with Anaconda Python 3.x installed.

Participants will see multiple examples of how 3D Pens can be used in HS Physics classrooms and in community outreach programs but will also have ample opportunity to practice their own constructive design skills by competing in a simplified, bridge-building challenge. The winner will take home a 3D Pen of their very own.

The physics education community has recently gained insights into, and made recommendations concerning, the skills and knowledge needed to best prepare physics students for future careers - in particular, careers in private sector and/or entrepreneurial environments (e.g. the Phys21 Report). We also know that the broad problem solving ability and deep understanding of natural principles afforded by a physics education makes physicists natural innovators: there is a real role to be played by physics graduates in solving difficult problems that address human need. Physics Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PIE) education is an approach to teaching the skills, knowledge, and mindset to help physics graduates pursue careers and become successful agents of change in the scientific workforce. This workshop will be broken into four sections focused on how PIE can address each set of learning goals outlined in the Phys21 report: physics-based knowledge, scientific and technical skills, communication skills, and professional and workplace skills. Participants will be asked to provide feedback on what they experienced, and learn how they can engage in this growing community.

This workshop covers statistical tests for comparing two groups and a process for learning new statistical methods by applying these methods to common tasks in physics education research. The application, interpretation and limitations of common inferential tests will be emphasized by focusing on developing a conceptual understanding of variance in data, visualizations that account for variance, and the relationships between variance, effect sizes, and p-values. Participants will work in small groups with facilitators and participate in larger group discussions. They will compare scores on concept inventories and responses to a multiple-choice question using parametric tests for interval and ratio scale data and nonparametric tests for ordinal and nominal data. To facilitate these conversations, we will provide a working file in RStudio; however, participants do not need any prior experience with statistics or with RStudio. We invite more advanced RStudio users and quantitative researchers to participate and to support other participants. By focusing on the process for learning new statistical methods, participants will leave with skills and resources to conduct, evaluate, and report their own analyses.

In this workshop you will learn strategies to design, source and build economical physics-based outreach kits. In the first portion we will discuss: where to get ideas, where to purchase parts and materials and how to successfully distribute your kits. 3D printer part design using free software, will be described as well as how these parts can be successfully integrated into any project. Other maker space tools will be discussed as time permits. Resources for designing PCBs will be discussed as compact circuits can be integrated into a wide variety of projects. During the active portion, workshop participants will be introduced to some computer design applications and then assemble their choice of a kit, which will be provided. Kits may involve soldering, non-powered hand tools, and glue.

Creating sustainable change in university departments can be a difficult challenge to achieve. For the last several years, we have been creating Departmental Action Teams (DATs), which are teams of 4 to 8 faculty members, staff, and/or students that are created by a department and facilitated by our project team to achieve two goals: (1) to create sustainable change related to undergraduate education in the department by shifting departmental structures and culture and (2) to help DAT participants become change agents through developing facilitation and leadership skills. In this workshop, we will support participants in learning how to more effectively create change related to undergraduate education in their departments. Participants should expect both to learn theory for understanding change and to develop practical skills for enacting change. The workshop will be informed both by literature on organizational change, facilitation, and higher education and our team’s own experience in working with about a dozen DATs at two universities.

Participants in this workshop will have hands-on experience with research-validated active learning activities for the introductory laboratory—including RealTime Physics (RTP) labs using computer-based tools and video analysis—that have been used effectively in university, college and high school physics courses. They will also experience Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs)—a strategy for making lectures more active learning environments. These active learning approaches are fun, engaging and validated by physics education research (PER). Research results demonstrating the effectiveness of RTP and ILDs will be presented. Emphasis will be on activities in mechanics, electricity and magnetism and optics. The following will be distributed: Modules from the Third Edition of RTP, and the ILD book.

For 20 years, faculty members in physics, math, engineering and many other fields have used Just-in-Time Teaching, also known as "JiTT." By creating a short time scale feedback loop between homework and the classroom, JiTT encourages students to be prepared for class, promotes active learning in the classroom, improves students' overall engagement with the course. JiTT also provides faculty with greater insight to their students' thinking and preparation, enabling them to make the most of classroom time. This workshop will introduce JiTT methods, and show how they can be implemented in a variety of educational settings. Participants will learn to implement JiTT using their LMS or free technology, and will be introduced to an online library of assignments that they can use or adapt. By the end of the session, participants will have several JiTT assignments usable in their own classes. We will also discuss tips and tricks for a successful implementation.

This workshop is packed with sound and wave demos and activities suitable for all ages. Are you looking for easy ways to infuse inquiry into your classroom? Don't have a demo manager? We will help you establish having several small demos conveniently packed into one box, ready for the classroom at any moment. You may bring your box to your class and use the demos to highlight lecture points, or use them when a student asks a question. Use a "Just-In-Time" teaching approach but with a demo twist! We will show you how to pack small demo kit boxes that pack a large instructional punch. Come hear the demos and ride the wave. Participants will leave with a lot of demos!

Programming in Python is becoming quite popular as a means of introducing computational methods into the physics program. If you are curious as to what all the fuss is about but don't really know how to get started, then this workshop is for you. In this workshop attendees will install a working Python distribution and learn the basic tools needed for writing simple programs using Jupyter notebooks and the Spyder development environment. Some of the topics to be discussed include reading data from a file, plotting graphs, and curve fitting. Attendees will also learn to solve Newton’s second law problems and create animations. In short, we want to give you the basic skills needed to help you feel comfortable programming in Python. We will also discuss ideas on how to incorporate computational exercises into your classes and introduce you to the PICUP website where you can explore and download dozens of peer-reviewed Exercise Sets that have been developed on a variety of physics topics. For maximum benefit, attendees should bring a laptop computer to this workshop. PICUP has been supported by the National Science Foundation under DUE IUSE grants 1524128, 1524493, 1524963, 1525062, and 1525525.

This workshop aims to help physicists and physics educators practice creating inclusive environments in their classrooms, schools, and/or departments. The tools and strategies developed in this workshop are informed by intersectional feminism, feminist science studies, and physics education research. In the first half of this workshop, we explore different ways institutional and structural discrimination manifest in physics institutions and communities. We discuss ways to identify, anticipate, and mitigate these discriminations before they occur as well as strategies for handling situations as they arise. In the second half of the workshop, we practice identifying and intervening in instances of discrimination and bias. This practice helps participants become knowledgeable about and comfortable with addressing these issues as they arise in everyday situations.

Looking for more engaging science examples for your elementary or middle school classroom? In this session, we will break down scenes from classic cartoons like Coyote and Roadrunner, Speedy Gonzales, and other cartoon movies using physics concepts taught in the elementary and middle grades. Teachers will go through a few hands on experiments that their students can do to test whether or not the cartoon scenes showed good or bad physics. Teachers will also use the CER (Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning) method of developing good scientific explanations that are grade level appropriate. Participants will receive information on where to find each clip and hands on materials for easy use in the classroom.

This workshop will address three important aspects of designing and building informal physics education programs: values-driven development, thoughtful implementation, and evidence-based sustainability. The focus of the workshop will be on big-picture planning rather than specific tools, physics demonstrations, or apparati. First, attendees will develop their own broad plans for program design based upon the needs and goals of both their programs and their communities. Second, attendees will explore unique pathways for creating organizational partnerships and gain strategies for crucial program aspects such as volunteer recruitment and training. Third, attendees will learn about tools for maintaining a successful program in the long-term, with a focus on methods of evaluation, assessment, and discipline-based research. The workshop is highly interactive and participants will work with both the facilitators and each other, both giving and receiving feedback on the ideas and strategies shared. By the end of the workshop, attendees will have developed strong, evidence-based strategies for leveraging effective design, implementation, and assessment techniques toward sustainable informal education programs.

Computational techniques and numerical simulations can be invaluable tools in upper-division physics courses. They allow students to visualize abstract concepts in electrodynamics and quantum mechanics, see the motion of atoms in thermodynamics. More importantly, numerical mathematics allows students to explore advanced ideas in physics, such as nonlinear dynamics, chaos, and perturbation theory, without an extensive background in analytical mathematics. Computation can thus allow students to develop expert-level physics reasoning far earlier in their career. In this workshop, we will discuss the pedagogical advantages of using computation in upper-division physics courses, and how computation can be used to teach advanced topics to students of all levels. Participants will work through an exercise that could conceivably be done by students, and learn about tools and methods that can be transferred to the classroom.

Ever wondered how to integrate a little bit of coding into a high school physics class without overwhelming your students or taking up lots of class time? This hands on workshop will provide an overview of simple, conceptually-motivated exercises where students construct games like asteroids and angry birds using a free in-browser editor that works great on chromebooks or whatever devices you have. Following that we will show you how to use stemcoding.osu.edu which is a free "learning management system" that is designed to facilitate using coding activities in sizable classes. This framework also includes assessment questions designed to probe whether students are building their conceptual knowledge as they complete the activities. We will share with you a full set of lesson guides and solutions for over 17 different simple coding activities for high school physics and physical science, all of which produce PhET-like interactives. If you have enjoyed seeing coding tutorial videos on the STEMcoding youtube channel (http://youtube.com/c/STEMcoding ) here is your chance to do a deep dive! The STEMcoding project is led by Prof. Chris Orban from Ohio State Physics and Prof. Richelle Teeling-Smith in the physics department at the University of Mt. Union. The STEMcoding project is supported in part by the AIP Meggers Project Award.

Students often learn and work in groups, and scientists also work in teams. How can we make sure that the tasks we give students are really group-worthy? In Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom, a group-worthy task is defined as one that is open-ended, provides multiple entry points and multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge, and requires positive interdependence from students. Because group-worthy tasks emphasize the value of multiple abilities and a range of approaches to a problem, they provide the opportunity for all students to engage deeply and meaningfully with the content. These types of tasks also often meet many of the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices. In this workshop, we will discuss characteristics of group-worthy tasks and share tasks that the presenters have used. Participants will also have the opportunity to work on adapting and applying these ideas for their own classrooms. Although we hope that this workshop will be interesting to a wide audience, our target audience is high school teachers.

The AP Physics Symposium will support the AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C – Mechanics and AP Physics C – Electricity and Magnetism courses and consist of three distinct sessions: 1) The Course, 2) The Exam, and 3) New Resources. Each session will provide participants with opportunities to share ideas and best practices, as well as learn of instructional strategies and approaches for enhanced teaching and learning. At the end of each session presenters and participants will engage in Q&A.

Both graduate and undergraduate students have been playing an active role in educating the physics undergraduate students in physics, serving as Teaching Assistants (TAs) in undergraduate recitations and labs. These recitations and labs sometimes use research-based instructional strategies (e.g., group work and conceptual tutorials in recitation, inquiry-based labs), and TAs may not be familiar with or fully buy into this pedagogy. When working on conceptual tutorials for example, it is beneficial if the TAs are aware of common student alternate conceptions (e.g., motion at constant speed requires constant force), and this workshop will explore the literature on the extent to which TAs are aware of various alternate conceptions and discuss productive approaches to help TAs learn about introductory students’ alternate conceptions. This workshop will help participants design an effective plan for their teaching assistant professional development that includes activities designed to help TAs become aware of students’ alternate conceptions and become reflective teachers trying to understand how students are thinking.

In this hands-on, minds-on workshop, we’ll explore new research-based strategies for getting students to think critically in intro physics labs. We’ll explore methods of teaching scientific practices such as uncertainty and data analysis, modeling, and experimental design. We will focus on a strategy that uses cycles of comparisons and decision making to expose students to the creativity and excitement of physics experimentation, the nature of measurement, and more. We aim for participants to leave the workshop with tools, ideas, and structure to implement the approach in their own courses.

Want to write assessments that will give you more evidence about what your students are actually able to do with their physics knowledge? If so, then this is the workshop for you. Participants will learn how to use the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP; a research-based protocol) to develop in-class, homework, and exam problems that engage students in both the process and content of physics. This instrument was developed to help assessment authors at all levels generate questions that include scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas, the three dimensions used to develop the Next Generation Science Standards. Join us to learn how to create the next generation of physics assessments.

Improved student learning and engagement in quantum mechanics can be achieved by adopting and adapting student-centered pedagogies and instructional techniques proven effective in introductory courses. NSF-funded research in a variety of instructional paradigms and student populations has led to active-learning materials and research-based assessments. This workshop will provide participants with an overview of this research base, introduction to materials, and tips on how to adapt them for your local environment.  Discussions of learning goals for your own quantum courses will inform a hands-on component of the workshop where you will adapt (flexible) materials for use in your classroom. We will provide practical demonstrations of how clicker questions and activities can be incorporated into your own curriculum - whether you teach modern physics, spins-first quantum mechanics, or follow a more traditional position wave-function approach. Please bring a laptop.

Join this fully reimbursable workshop to sample instructional materials appropriate for high school and introductory college physics and astronomy teachers who want to teach basic physics concepts using space science content and authentic data. Attendees will sample selected labs and tutorials developed and tested by physics education researchers through the NASA Space Science Education Consortium. These materials address topics that integrate Physics, Earth Science, and Space Science through extended, structured activities. Examples include (1) coronal mass ejection videos to understand both simple mechanics as well as acceleration of relativistic particles, (2) sunspot data to understand period and frequency, (3) eclipses to understand geometric optics, and (4) auroral currents to understand electromagnetism. This workshop is fully funded by a NASA Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number NNX16AR36A awarded to Temple University and the AAPT. Participants who complete the workshop will receive full reimbursement of their workshop registration fee.

This hands-on workshop is designed for AP, IB and physics teachers interested in engaging their students in inquiry-based active learning based on the award winning Workshop Physics curriculum at Dickinson College. Teachers will work with activities based on PER and NGSS in mechanics, rotational motion, waves and circuits selected from the Activity-Based Physics High School Ê-dition. How to use pre- and post-testing assessments will be a part of the workshop. Activity Based Physics uses computers for data collection and analysis and allows students to learn physics by doing physics. In addition to Workshop Physics, the workshop will include units from Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Physics with Video Analysis and Interactive Video Vignettes. Activities that tie into NGSS will be highlighted and discussed. The data acquisition software is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers and is supported with set-up files by PASCO and Vernier. Participants will receive copies of supporting texts in addition to Teaching with the Physics Suite.

Motivated by our shared desire to address under-representation in physics and support systemically non-dominant groups, we have created a flexible, modular curriculum designed to help physics instructors bring conversations about science and society into our classrooms. Topics include: under-representation in STEM, systemic racism, implicit bias, stereotype threat, and the myth of meritocracy in a physics context. Attendees will experience the curriculum first-hand, and learn how to implement it in their own classrooms.

This workshop is appropriate for college and university instructional laboratory developers. At each of five stations, presenters will demonstrate an approach to an intermediate or advanced laboratory exercise. Each presenter will show and discuss the apparatus and techniques used. Attendees will cycle through the stations and have an opportunity to use each apparatus. Documentation will be provided for each experiment, with sample data, equipment lists, and construction or purchase information.

Participants will learn how to modify their introductory physics lab course to better support the development of reasoning abilities necessary for scientific inquiry and critical thinking. Using tested lab curriculum, participants will work through activities that model the facilitation of guided inquiry-based labs focused on designing and conducting controlled experiments, making appropriate decisions, engaging in data analysis, interpretation, and synthesis to construct meaningful evidence-based claims, and communication of outcomes. The curriculum meets the AAPT Lab Guidelines while explicitly targeting select scientific reasoning (SR) sub-skills. It was developed using a curricular framework based on these operationally defined SR sub-skills, includes deliberate skills-based practice through pre-lab hypothetical scenarios and in-class activities, and uses a progressive learning cycle scaffolded through Socrative dialogue. Participants will learn how to apply our SR-focused curricular framework to modify their existing labs, as well as how to include a variety of formative and summative assessments to measure the impact of the lab on developing targeted skills. Participants will receive all research-based lab materials and assessments that we currently use, along with future support for implementation at their home institutions.

This workshop prepares high school and college instructors to start their own Astronomy Research Seminar. A dozen high schools and colleges offer this seminar which has produced 150 published papers with over 500 coauthors. Teams prepare a research proposal, manage their own research, obtain and analyze original data, write a team paper, obtain an external review, submit their paper for publication, and give a public PowerPoint presentation—all in a single semester. Seminars are supported by the Small Telescope Astronomical Research Handbook, an open-source learning management system, and a community of experienced professional and amateur astronomers organized by the Institute for Student Astronomical Research (www.In4StAR.org). Being a coauthor improves a student’s chance of obtaining a scholarship as a result of their demonstrated research experience and encourages STEM careers. Participants will receive a complimentary copy of the book, Small Telescope Astronomical Research Handbook. This book contains much of the information they will need to start their own Astronomy Research Seminar. Participants should save room in their luggage to take the 8.5x11" hardbound book home with them. PlaneWave Instruments is sponsoring this book for the workshop's participants.

Energy and systems are fundamental, crosscutting science concepts, and physics is the place to help students develop a deeper conceptual understanding. However, students hear what we say, not what we mean! Trying to simplify our discussions of work and energy (particularly potential energy) can generate increased confusion. What could be a single approach to solving a wide variety of problems becomes compartmentalized into many special cases to be memorized. What we mean is so clear to those of us “in the club” that assessments are not always designed to elicit the incorrect models many students hold. In Learning and Understanding (2002), the National Research Council presented design principles vital to improving the effectiveness of AP and introductory college courses in the U.S. Focusing on key ideas and providing ample opportunities to explore them in depth is one recommendation perfectly served by a more careful approach to energy and systems. We will look at a few examples of how common wording can generate incorrect models, and then spend our time considering how to help our students develop a single coherent conceptual model that significantly impacts their ability to use more robust problem-solving approaches and to describe and model physical situations.

Come join a community of faculty committed to innovative teaching within introductory college physics courses for life science students. Bring an instructional task that you are proud of to share with other highly engaged educators. Bring a second instructional task that has potential but that you’ve run into problems implementing. Solicit other educators’ reactions to your student activities. Hear about innovative things that other highly engaged educators are doing. In this workshop, educators will discuss the logic behind why they organize their physics activities in the ways that they do. Learn how to use the Living Physics Portal (livingphysicsportal.org) to make your innovations accessible to other educators. By the end of the workshop, you will be prepared to contribute your own activities to the Portal for other educators to use and adapt. You will also hear about opportunities to continue engaging in community activities.

Support inclusive classroom practices in physics education through active strategies and discussions. Come to this workshop to learn how to be a part of a national campaign for high school physics teachers and their students, STEP UP (Supporting Teachers to Encourage Pursuit of Undergraduate Physics for Women). During this workshop, learn about gender representation in physics in the U.S. and around the world, and engage in active strategies and two specific lessons that are demonstrated to enhance the physics identity of young women. If half of the high school physics teachers in the U.S. encourage just one more female student to pursue physics as a major, a historic shift will be initiated – female students will make up 50% of incoming physics majors. Undergraduate faculty have a special role to welcome and retain these young women. Whoever you might be, be a part of the change! This workshop is fully funded by NSF #1720810. Participants who complete the workshop may seek full reimbursement of their workshop registration fee.

Participants in this half-day workshop will get first-hand experience using the RSpec low resolution spectrometer, digital detector, and software. Activities will be shared that can be used in your physics, astronomy, and chemistry courses will be able to fully explore and understand spectroscopy. You should leave this workshop with the ability to introduce your students to the basic concepts of visible spectra by analyzing the emission lines from gas discharge tubes; interpreting the absorption spectrum of a sample in the lab; or studying a star’s spectrum captured through a small telescope. Demonstrations work better because everyone can see exactly what the instructor sees. Individual projects work better because the analysis is so intuitive, yet so powerful. Tom Field, developer of the RSpec system, will share tips on how the multiple representation of spectra can be used to help students get to whatever level of understanding you ask of them. Bring your laptop and the software can be downloaded so you control the RSpec from your computer.