110
Portland
Wednesday morning
PST2D09: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Randomness and Structure 3:
Explicating Nature’s Choices with Computational Tools
Poster – Nava Schulmann,* Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl St.,
Rehovot, 76100 Israel;
Ruth Chabay, North Carolina State University
Edit Yerushalmi, Weizmann Institute of Science
Understanding the balance between randomness and structure in multi-
particle systems via statistical thermodynamics methods requires construc-
tion of a concrete mental model for the process of weighing between
configurations. We present two computational tools intended to support
introductory-level students in constructing such a representation. One tool
allows students to explore the plausibility of the ergodic principle and the
meaning of entropy by displaying systems evolving in time versus their
corresponding sets of microstates; another tool provides insights into the
crucial role of the Boltzmann factor in determining the behavior of multi
particle systems by explicitly tracking the mechanism of the Metropolis
algorithm. We integrate these tools in an introductory-level course on
soft and biological materials, where the understanding of the spontaneous
formation of structures such as polymers, colloidal dispersions and mem-
branes, is grounded in statistical thermodynamics descriptions of matter.
*Sponsored by Edit Yerushalmi
D – PER: Technologies
PST2D10: 9:15-10 a.m. Creatively Engaged Online: Student-
Generated Content in a Non-Majors Introductory
Course
Poster – Simon P. Bates,* University of British Columbia, 1961 East Mall,
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada;
Emily Altiere, Firas Moosvi, University of British Columbia
We have implemented a component of student-generated assessment in
an introductory physics course comprising exclusively non-majors, using
the PeerWise online system. This poster presents details of how we have
extended the previous instructional designs for PeerWise, shown to be ca-
pable of yielding high-quality questions authored by students, via modifi-
cation of the six tutorials held throughout the course. A significant fraction
of the tutorial content is composed of either studen- generated questions
as problems to work through and/or explicit guidance designed to enhance
the quality of student contributions. We present details of the change in
quality of student-authored questions and explanations over time, mapping
the former onto Bloom’s Taxonomy and the latter onto a five-point scale.
Sponsored by Ross Galloway
PST2D11: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Tablets in a Large-Enrollment
Introductory Course
Poster – Todd G. Ruskell, Colorado School of Mines, Physics Department,
1523 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401;
Many large-enrollment introductory physics courses now use personal
response devices (clickers) to engage students during class and collect data
for real-time formative assessment. However, most systems only allow
for multiple-choice or in some cases numeric or simple text answers. A
program called inkSurvey allows faculty to ask more open-ended questions
and students can submit both text and graphical responses from tablet
computers. This provides faculty much greater insight into a student’s
problem-solving process. In our pilot project, standard clickers were used
in the first half of a calculus-based physics I course, and in the second
half of the semester, tablets and inkSurvey were used to collect formative
assessment data. We will report on impressions of both the faculty and
students regarding the relative utility and effectiveness of each tool in pro-
moting higher-order thinking and improved class performance.
PST2D12: 9:15-10 a.m. The Effect of Online Lecture on
Performance in a Physics Class
Poster – John Stewart, University of Arkansas, Physics Building, Fayetteville,
AR 72701;
This poster will describe the difference in student performance between
students attending lecture in person and students choosing to watch the
lecture on video as part of an online class. The video part of the class was
implemented mid-semester so that the performance of the same set of
students could be compared. Video watching patterns will be presented.
The difference in performance of students primarily watching video to
those primarily attending lecture on in-semester examinations and the
Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism will be presented. The
effect of the access to video on student study behavior and time manage-
ment will be analyzed. In general, while the students electing to primarily
watch video were a measurably different population than the students
electing to primarily attend lecture, the shift in performance from attend-
ing lecture to watching video was small.
E – Upper Division and Graduate
PST2E01: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Investigation on Combined Black-
Body Radiation Facility and Related Experiment
Poster – SHIHONG MA, Department of Physics/Fudan University, 220
Handan Road Shanghai, Shanghai 200433, CHINA;
PINGJING YANG, Department of Physics/Fudan University
HFY-200BII Blackbody source, with thermal radiation detector and
microvoltmeter, can be used to set up a combined black-body radiation
experimental facility. The experimental facility with good scalability has
been developed completely and the operation steps by the students are
simple and direct. Therefore, students can fully understand the physical
model of black-body radiation through the experiment. In this article, the
author verified the basic law of black-body radiation, demonstrated the
feasibility of the method and gave a future prospect of the experiment.
PST2E02: 9:15-10 a.m. Sources and Resources for Training
Physics Students to Write
Poster – Jean-Francois, S. Van Huele, Brigham Young University, N151
ESC BYU, Provo, UT 84602-4681;
Whether you assign term papers, require lab reports, supervise publish-
able student research, or teach an advanced writing class in physics, there
are lots of resources for you out there. This poster collects and organizes
available sources and provides expert resources, including some practical
do’s and don’ts for physics students, their teaching assistants, and their
writing instructors.
PST2E03: 8:30-9:15 a.m. Using Low-cost Microwave Sensor to
Teach Advanced Topics in STEM
Poster – Scott MacIntosh, Black Cat Science, Inc. 70 Dwinell St., Boston,
MA 02132;
Erik Bodegom, Erik J. Sanchez, Portland State University
A low-cost microwave sensor is utilized to teach various advanced topics
in STEM education. We will describe a range of experiments that can be
performed using the same device that teach concepts in physics, signal
processing, and computational methods. Experiments and topics to be
discussed include doppler measurements, dielectric constant estima-
tion using back-scattered measurements, uses of the FFT, and synthetic
aperture imaging.
PST2E04: 9:15-10 a.m. Visualizing Differential Forms in
Thermodynamics
Poster – Roberto B. Salgado, Lawrence University, 711 E Boldt Way, SPC
24 Appleton, WI 54911;
Following Caratheodory’s approach to thermodynamics, some geo-
metrically oriented mathematical physics textbooks (e.g. Bamberg and
Sternberg, Burke, Frankel, Schutz) formulate classical thermodynam-
ics using the exterior calculus of differential forms. Work and heat are
inexact differential forms. We present visualizations of differential forms
by studying the Carnot cycle for an ideal gas in the entropy-volume
diagram.
