91
July 26–30, 2014
Session DA: Teaching the “Women in
Physics” Course
Location: STSS 230
Sponsor: Committee on Physics in Undergraduate Education
Date: Tuesday, July 29
Time: 8–10 a.m.
Presider: Juan Burciaga
DA01: 8-8:15 a.m. Teaching a Women and Science Course at
Barnard College
Invited – Laura Kay, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027-6598; lkay@
barnard.edu
I will discuss my course “Women in Science,” which I have offered at Bar-
nard College since 1992. The goals of the course are to familiarize students
with the history, politics, and sociology of women’s involvement with sci-
ence. We begin by examining women’s contribution to scientific discovery
in various fields, and consider how women were affected by the profession-
alization of science and medicine. We look at the status of contemporary
female scientists in the U.S. and the issues they encounter. We read accounts
of contemporary women working as scientists and examine the science
education of girls and women. We look at some of the feminist critiques
of science as an institution and a methodology, and debate how these
critiques apply differently to the biological and the physical sciences and
whether they explain the variation of women’s participation across different
countries. We examine historical and contemporary ‘scientific’ ideas about
gender, race, ethnicity and sexuality, and discuss the question of objectivity
in science. We then consider how these relate to issues of women’s participa-
tion in scientific endeavors.
DA02: 8:15–8:30 a.m. Why Aren’t More Women in Science, and
Is Physics Different?
Invited – Katherine Aidala, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075;
I teach a course titled “Gender in Science” that attempts to answer the ques-
tion, “Why aren’t more women in science?” One major theme we address is
how we must carefully identify what specific question individuals are trying
to answer when following this broad line of inquiry, and how focusing on
different fields within science might lead us to different answers. We mostly
read primary literature from the social sciences, as well as review articles
and reports from professional organizations and the government. Students
learn to be critical readers of journal articles, applying the same standards to
findings of discrimination as they do to papers that claim innate biological
differences. Assignments include following up on a citation in a paper that
we read for the course, and presenting this paper in class to their peers.
DA03:
8:30-8:45 a.m. Transformative Teaching Techniques: A
Women’s Studies Course for STEM Majors
Invited – Elizabeth Holden, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 219 Engineer-
ing Hall, Platteville, WI 53818-3099;
This session will benefit educators who are looking for transformative
teaching methods to develop a better understanding of gender issues, more
knowledge and more strategies to become active in eliminating gender bias,
specifically within the fields of physics and engineering. I will discuss strate-
gies used to create a classroom environment where students can learn about
and discuss issues related to women in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM). I will also discuss techniques to help college students
understand the connection of these issues to their own lives, and how to in-
troduce women and other underrepresented students to support networks.
DA04:
8:45-9 a.m. Teaching About Women in STEM: Under-
standing Race,Sexuality, and Many Identities Women Hold
Invited – Ramon Barthelemy, Western Michigan University, Ann Arbor, MI
48105;
REGISTRATION
7 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Coffman Union ground floor
Fun Run/Walk 6:30–8 a.m. offsite
2-Year Coll. Breakfast 7–8:30 a.m. Coffman Union President’s
Exhibit Hall Open 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Coffman Union Great Hall
Gift Card Raffle
10:15 a.m. Coffman Union Great Hall
Klopsteg Award 10:30–11:30 a.m.
Donald Olson
Northrop Auditorium
APS PLENARY 3:30–5 p.m. Northrop Auditorium
COMMERCIAL WORKSHOPS
PASCO
11:30-12:30 STSS 131B
OpenStax College 11:30-12:30 STSS 432A
Perimeter Institute 11:30-12:30 STSS 131A
Vernier Software
11:30-12:30 Coffman President’s
WebAssign
11:30-12:30 STSS 119
Liti Holographics
11:30–1 p.m. STSS 530A
Expert TA
12–1 p.m. Coffman Mississippi
Perimeter Institute 1–2 p.m. STSS 131A
COMMITTEE MEETINGS, 11:30–1 p.m.
–Laboratories
STSS 420B
–History and Philosophy STSS 512B
–Pre High School Educ. STSS 432B
–PER (RiPE) Tate Lab 133
–Two-Year Colleges STSS 512A
Easy JavaScript Simulations 12–1 p.m. STSS 420A
Afternoon Break
3–3:30 p.m. Coffman Union Great Hall
iPad Mini drawing 3:15 p.m. Coffman Union Great Hall
Poster Session 2 5–6:30 p.m. Coffman Union ground floor
Trolley Tour of Minneapolis 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Demo show 8–9 p.m. Willey Hall
Pub Crawl
10 p.m.–1 a.m.
(starts in lobby of Marriott)
Tuesday, July 29
Highlights
