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Monday afternoon
CD03:
5-5:10 p.m. Merging Innovative Particle Physics
Activities with Project-based Learning
Contributed – Evelyn D. Restivo, Global STEM Early College High School,
Waxahachie, TX 75165;
A presentation designed to highlight several projects merging the innova-
tions associated with detectors and the LHC that allow students to merge
experimental developments in physics with basic concepts. Project Based
Learning provides a way to model and analyze particle motion, use mag-
netic tracker models, observe collisions of particles, demonstrate counting,
compiling data, and calculating the rate of Cosmic Rays from a detector,
plus determining the fluidity and number of collisions that indicate the
presence of the Higgs Boson. Research has shown that using Project Based
Learning improves retention and that using the spectacular physics events
of the LHC will raise awareness in modern science and fundamental
research, provide experiences that will help motivate students to under-
stand the physical world which in turn will increase scientific literacy, and
provide an avenue to develop the interest of mystery, awe, and discovery
potential in science, especially physics, for all learners.
CD04:
5:10-5:20 p.m. Connecting Secondary Classrooms in ND,
SD, and MN to Tell the Neutrino Story
Contributed – David M. DeMuth, Valley City State University, Valley City, ND
58072;
Peggy Norris Sanford, Underground Research Facility
Utilizing the high-bandwidth networks in which K-12 institutions are
connected, we will describe an overview and status of a project that will
simultaneously connect classrooms in North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Minnesota to tell the neutrino story. Middle and high school teachers
receive professional development on hands-on STEM strategies, lessons are
developed using the Next Generation Science Standards, implemented, and
then the teachers act as co-facilitators for a simultaneous classroom event
that focuses on neutrino production at the Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, detecting neutrinos at the MINOS experiment at the Soudan
Underground Laboratory, at the NOvA detector in Ash River, MN, and
finally at SURF in Lead, SD, where STEM careers will be emphasized in
conversations that will occur with lead scientists at each location. See more
at
/.
CD05:
5:20-5:30 p.m. Higgs Boson, Future Discoveries on the
Updated CPEP Particles Chart
Contributed – Gordon J. Aubrecht, Ohio State University at Marion, 193 North
Washington St., Delaware, OH 43015-1609;
The Contemporary Physics Education Project’s first chart on fundamental
particles and interactions and its updates currently grace the walls of a
great number of physics departments and many high school classrooms.
This talk presents the latest, post-Higgs version of our chart, originally
developed about 25 years ago when a group of physicist-educators realized
that we had a consensus theory--the Standard Model--that could excite
interest in physics in both teachers and students. New features include
the latest parameters for the Higgs and neutrino masses, background
information, looking at future discoveries, and, of course, our beautiful and
amazing graphics.
Session CE: Art and Science of
Teaching
Location: STSS 230
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Undergraduate Education
Co-Sponsor: Committee on Research in Physics Education
Date: Monday, July 28
Time: 4–5:30 p.m.
Presider: Andy Gavrin
CE01:
4-4:30 p.m. The Knowledge-Practice Gap in Physics
Teaching: How Big Is it and Why Does it Exist?*
Invited – Charles Henderson, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
49008-5252;
Although many people consider teaching to be an art, the Physics Educa-
tion Research (PER) community has shown that there are many aspects of
teaching that can be systematically studied and improved using scientific
methods. PER has also shown that a wide variety of teachers can consis-
tently improve student learning by using research-based teaching practices.
Like most fields, though, there is a substantial gap between the research-
based knowledge that PER has developed about effective teaching and the
actual practices of physics teachers. In this talk I will use data to describe
how large this gap is and identify some of the reasons that the gap exists.
Although I will touch on many aspects of this problem, I will emphasize
some specific leverage points that may be productive to focus on in order
to reduce the gap.
*Supported, in part, by NSF grant #1122446.
CE02:
4:30-5 p.m. MOOC-ing Around: This Is Not the Future
Invited – Charles H. Holbrow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cam-
bridge, MA 02139-4510;
I have taken 12 (completed five) MOOCs (Massive Open Online Cours-
es)—cryptography, philosophy, the ancient Greek hero, Puritan poetry,
science and cooking, engineering dynamics, and six introductory physics
courses—and I have worked for seven months on John Belcher’s team
creating and adapting MOOC materials for teaching introductory physics
at MIT. I will draw on this experience to say what looks good in MOOCs;
what does not; why MOOCs are not the future; and why I think higher
education will be transformed by low-cost efforts of teachers in smaller
institutions including community colleges and high schools. Also I think
that to provide reliable certification of student online achievement and reli-
able evaluation of the quality of online content and its delivery, academic
entrepreneurs will create new testing and rating organizations that are
independent of content deliverers. Separation of certification from delivery
will be a disruptive change in higher education.
CE03:
5-5:30 p.m. MOOC 101: How to Create and Teach a
MOOC
Invited – Saif Rayyan, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307;
John Belcher, David E. Pritchard, MIT
As a physics teacher, you might have many questions about MOOCs,
and what it takes to create and teach one: How to start planning? How
to design the course? How do you create content for the course? What
types of assessment are available? Who is taking these courses, and what
are they interested in? What level of involvement do you expect to have
with students? How much time should you expect to spend on creating
and running a MOOC? How is teaching a MOOC different from teaching
an on campus course? I will attempt to answer some of these questions,
highlighting some of the good practices in creating and running MOOCs.
I will use examples from the MIT physics department MOOC offerings on
the edx platform (
: 8.01x, 8.02x and 8.MReV.
Session CF: Physics and Society:
Current Topics in Energy
Location: Tate Lab 166
Sponsor: Committee on Science Education for the Public
Date: Monday, July 28
Time: 4–5:30 p.m.
Presider: John Welch
CF01:
4-4:30 p.m. Traditional Utility Busines Models and What
Challenges/Opportunities Lie Ahead as Sustainable
Resources are Added to the Power Grid.
Invited – David J McMillan, ALLETE, Inc., 30 W. Superior St., Duluth, MN
55802;
