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Portland
CKRL01: Crackerbarrel:
Physics and Society
Location: Broadway I/II
Sponsor: Committee on Science Education for the Public
Date: Monday, July 15
Time: 12–1:30 p.m.
Presider: Steve Lindaas
Join your colleagues for an informal discussion about physics-related
societal issues such as energy use, global warming, nuclear power and
weapons, resource extraction, and pseudoscience. Contribute your ideas
about teaching these issues and communicating such information to the
general public.
CKRL02: Crackerbarrel: Web
Resources for Astronomy
Location: Broadway III/IV
Sponsor: Committee on Space Science and Astronomy
Co-Sponsor: Committee on Educational Technologies
Date: Monday, July, 15
Time: 12–1:30 p.m.
Presider: Kevin Lee
The growth of the Internet has placed an abundance of wonderful teaching
resources at our fingertips. Simulations, data repositories, wikis, open-
courseware, web-based assessment engines, and many other types of
resources are transforming how we teach. This crackerbarrel will provide
an opportunity for astronomy educators to see a number of these new
technologies and participate in discussions of how the technologies can be
incorporated into their teaching.
Session to Honor the Contributions
of Bob Fuller to Physics Education
Location: Grand Ballroom I
Sponsor: AAPT
Date: Monday, July 15
Time: 1:30–3:30 p.m.
Presider: Dean Zollman
PL0401:
1:30-2 p.m. Instructional Media Development
Invited – Charles Lang, Omaha Westside High School, Box 113, Uehling, NE
68063;
Bob Fuller and Chuck Lang worked together on four week-long work-
shops, nine media products, and multiple physics education presentations.
The development of many of the media products involved Chuck doing the
rough drafts and Bob doing much “fine tuning.” Even though both spoke
Nebraska English, sometimes the translations between Bob and Chuck
became distorted. These situations frequently resulted in further communi-
cations, translations, and sometimes at much better product, but always an
interesting story. Only some of these anecdotes will be presented
PL0402: 2-2:30 p.m. Versatile ICT-Learning Environment to
Enable Context-rich and Authentic Physics Education
Invited – Ton Ellermeijer, Foundation CMA, Kruislaan 404, Amsterdam, SM
1098, The Netherlands;
Ewa Kedzierska, Foundation CMA
Decline in interest for physics at high school stimulated curriculum in-
novation in the last decade. How could we make physics more relevant,
challenging and more attractive? In several European countries we decided
to go for context-rich curricula and authentic practices. ICT-learning
environments integrating powerful tools for measurements with sensors,
advanced video-analysis and numerical modeling facilitate realistic and
authentic research projects by students. Examples of these projects will be
shown. These ideas are not new. With their pioneering work in the 1980s,
Fuller and Zollman showed us the educational potential of the use of video
in bringing reality and meaningful context in the physics classroom. Still
many teachers around the world have not been able to apply these pos-
sibilities, also due to lack of training. In the framework of the ESTABLISH
project (EC-funded) we now develop training and support for teachers as
much as possible suitable for online use.
PL0403: 2:30-3 p.m. Games that Teach Physics Concepts to
Pre-K Through Third Grade Children
Invited – Scott M. Stevens, Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Tech-
nology Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15219;
Michael G. Christel, Carnegie Mellon University
RumbleBlocks and Beanstalk were developed by the Entertainment Tech-
nology Center at Carnegie Mellon University to teach scientific reasoning
and the principles of tower stability and center of mass (RB) and beam
balancing and torque (B) to children ages 4-8. These Unity games were
designed with feedback from early childhood educators and learning re-
searchers and were influenced by pioneering educational games developed
by Robert Fuller and colleagues in the 1980s. The ETC is known for an
iterative, organic approach to the development of games designed to teach.
Our creative methodology is rooted in the belief that unless the game is fun
when compared to all games (not just “educational games”), the odds of the
student being engaged by the game itself greatly diminishes and, along with
the associated lack of engagement, the opportunities for deeper learning
so too will diminish. This talk will describe the games, our development
process, and early results from studies of the educational effectiveness of
the games. This work is funded by the DARPA ENGAGE program.
PL0404: 3-3:30 p.m. Scientific Reasoning and Conceptual
Change: A Legacy of Bob Fuller
Invited – Rebecca Lindell, Purdue University, Department of Physics, West
Lafayette, IN 47907;
Bob Fuller was one of the Physics Education community’s pioneers in ap-
plying the Karplus Learning Cycle to curriculum design. Building on my
work as a PhD student under Bob’s direction, I have modified the Karplus
Learning Cycle so that it promotes conceptual change as well as develops
scientific reasoning. Using the modified Karplus Learning Cycle, I have
developed curricula for multiple courses in physics and astronomy. In this
talk, I will present the modified Karplus Learning Cycle, in addition to
examples from the different curricula.
Session BA: Panel – Curriculum,
Assessment, and Student Outcomes
in the Undergraduate Program
Location: Pavilion East
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Undergraduate Education
Date: Monday, July 15
Time: 4–6 p.m.
Presider: Andy Gavrin
The AAPT has established a task force to consider the future of the
undergraduate physics curriculum. The task forced is charged with
“developing specific, multiple recommendations for coherent and rel-
evant undergraduate curricula (including course work, undergradu-
ate research, mentoring, etc.) for different types of physics majors in
collaboration with the APS and AIP, and with developing recommen-
dations for the implementation and assessment of such curricula.”
Panelists will address topics and lead a discussion.
Panelists:
– Robert C. Hilborn, American Association of Physics Teachers
– Ernie Behringer, Eastern Michigan University
Monday afternoon
