July 26–30, 2014
65
Monday afternoon
BH04:
2:40-2:50 p.m. High-impact Practices in a Conceptual
Physics Course for Future Elementary School Teachers
Contributed – Vazgen Shekoyan, Queensborough Community College,
CUNY, Bayside, NY 11361;
Anita Ferdenzi, Queensborough Community College, CUNY
According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a
number of educational experiences are conducive to high-impact learn-
ing such as a) Learning Communities, b) Service- or Community-based
Learning and c) Writing-Intensive Courses. We have incorporated the
above mentioned high-impact practices in a linked Conceptual Physics
and Introduction to Education courses for Childhood Education majors
at Queensborough Community College. As a learning community, future
elementary program where students teach selected physics topics to K-5
mixed-age groups of students. Students’ lesson plan write-ups and pre
school teachers have to register to both courses concurrently. We have
assigned mutually beneficial assignments for further enhancement of the
learning community. As part of service learning, we have formed col-
laboration with a local after-school and post reflection assignments were
few of the writing-intensive components of the class. We will discuss the
evaluation and implications of our approach in this talk.
BH05:
2:50-3 p.m. Wonder Questions: Eliciting Student
Wonder for Knowledge, Inspiration and Motivation
Contributed – Christine Lindstrom,* Oslo and Akershus University College,
PB 4 St. Olavs plass Oslo, Oslo N-0130 Norway;
Sigurd Løken, Oslo and Akershus University College
Knowledge is unveiled because people ask questions, and their ques-
tions unveil what they already know. Since fall 2012, a flipped classroom
approach has been implemented in physics courses in Norwegian Science
Teacher Education in Oslo. Students complete a short online pre-work
module, which includes asking a “Wonder Question” -- anything the stu-
dent may wonder about that pertains to the topic, such as “How do night
vision goggles work”? The purpose is to encourage students to connect new
knowledge with previous experience, inspire wonder and help structure
class time according to student interests. Some pre-service teachers used
Wonder Questions in their own practicums. One teacher received the fol-
lowing Wonder Question from a ninth grader who had learned that energy
is conserved: “Can you please tell us a bit about the transformations of
energy from the Big Bang until today”? The opportunities for teaching and
learning offered by Wonder Questions will be discussed.
*Sponsored by Auysh Gupta
Session BI: Panel – Two-Year College
New Faculty Experience: Commence-
ment Conference Update
Location: STSS 330
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Two-Year Colleges
Date: Monday, July 28
Time: 1:30–3:30 p.m.
Presider: Todd Leif
BI01:
1:30-3:10 p.m. Overview of the New Faculty Experience
Panel – Scott F. Schultz, Delta College, 1961 Delta Rd., Midland, MI 48710;
The New Faculty Experience for Two-Year College faculty is an 18-month
immersion and mentoring program offered to faculty in their first five
years of teaching full-time at a two-year college in the United States funded
by NSF grant # 1225603. This is the commencement of the third cohort of
faculty to go through the experience. The presentation will consist of an
overview of the 18-month experience, some statistical data on the partici-
pants, and the impact the project is making.
BI02:
1:30-3:10 p.m. Two-Year College New Faculty
Experience Participant Evolution
Panel – Aurelian Balan, Delta College, 1961 Delta Rd., University Center, MI
48710-0001;
As a graduate from the 2011 Two-Year College New Faculty Experience
(NFE), and a leader in the 2013 NFE, I have observed and interacted from
both sides of the experience. The NFE takes two-year college instructors,
and teaches them how to engage students with innovative takes on active-
learning techniques. Going through the experience as a participant, the
impact on my instruction style was significant and beneficial. As a leader
working with the next set of new faculty the following year, I was able to
observe others experiencing the same transformation. I will elaborate on
the impact this had on my teaching techniques. Material and techniques
from both conferences will also be shared.
BI03:
1:30-3:10 p.m. A Thousand Choices: Deciding Between
Teaching Strategies
Panel – Ian Freedman, Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY
12601-1595;
A Thousand Choices: If you’re new to teaching or simply looking for new
teaching strategies, you might have come across many different methods
of active teaching. This presentation discusses some of the options you’ll
encounter and how to sort through the different options to find a teaching
strategy that works well for you and your students.
BI04:
1:30-3:10 p.m. Experiences and Challenges Implement-
ing Active Learning Techniques
Panel – Leilah McCarthy, City College of San Francisco, 50 Phelan Ave., San
Francisco, CA 94112;
During the March 2013 TYC-NFE workshop, I learned several teaching
techniques to get students more engaged in class. I left very excited to try
these out in my classes. While these changes have completely transformed
by classes, there have been challenges, especially pertaining to class size,
classroom architecture, and lack of administrative support. In this talk,
I will describe these challenges and why, despite the challenges, I would
never go back to a traditional lecture.
BI05:
1:30-3:10 p.m. Development of an Interdisciplinary
Nanotechnology Laboratory
Panel – Becky L. Treu, Moberly Area Community College, Advanced Technol-
ogy Center, Mexico, MO 65265;
Michelle Scanavino, Moberly Area Community College
Many programs and institutions have made great advances in developing
a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, but systemic progress has been
slow. The increasing complexity of science demands that concepts and
methods from different disciplines be merged. In this multidisciplinary
lab students in General Chemistry I employ redox reaction knowledge and
wet chemistry techniques to fabricate silver nanoparticles while students
in Foundations of Physics employ knowledge of color/light and quantum
theory to characterize the nanoparticles. Students in Microbiology receive
the characterized nanoparticles and test for their antimicrobial properties
in e.coli streak plates. The goal of this laboratory is for students to under-
stand that science takes time and builds on multiple concepts. It is also
crucial for students to understand the importance of having strengths in
multiple disciplines. Many of the most interesting and important problems
in science can be answered only through collaborative efforts.
BI06:
1:30-3:10 p.m. Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
with Video Analysis
Panel – Nathan A. Quarderer, Northeast Iowa Community College, Calmar, IA
52132;
The lecture demonstration has long been part of the standard introduc-
tory-physics curriculum. Only within the last 15 years has an emphasis
been placed on engaging the student throughout the process in an attempt
