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January 4–7, 2014
REGISTRATION
7 a.m.–5 p.m. Ballroom Foyer
Two-Year College Breakfast
7–8 a.m. Salon 12
Poster Session 1:
8–9:30 a.m. Grand Ballroom Foyer
Richtmyer Award to: Sir Michael Berry
9:30–10:30 a.m. Grand Ballroom B
– SPS Chapter Advisor Award, 10:30 a.m.
Kindle Raffle 10:45 a.m. Exhibit Hall
Retired Physicists Luncheon
12–1 p.m. Salon 18
AAPT Fun Run/Walk –
Run for Melba
12–2 p.m. offsite
Multicultural Luncheon
12:30–1:30 p.m. Salon 14
Plenary: Philip Metzger, Nasa scientist
2–3 p.m. Grand Ballroom B
Poster Session 2:
8:30–10 p.m. Grand Ballroom Foyer
COMMITTEE MEETINGS, 12:15–2 p.m.
–Teacher Preparation
Salon 12
–Undergraduate Education Salon 4
–Women in Physics
Salon 11
–Interests of Senior Physicists (1–2 p.m.) Salon 3
Commercial WorkshopS, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
–CW08: OpenStax College Salon 11
–CW03: Perimeter Institute Salon 13
Commercial Workshop, 12–1 p.m.
–CW04: Perimeter Institute Salon 13
Commercial Workshops, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
–CW06: Pearson author Paul Hewitt Salon 9
–CW07: WebAssign
Salon 8
Afternoon Break Exhibits 3 p.m. Exhibit Hall
Gift Card Raffle 3:15 p.m. Exhibit Hall
COMMITTEE MEETINGS, 5:30-7:15 p.m. (or 7 p.m.)
–Educational Technologies Salon 10
–Graduate Education Salon 11
–Science Educ. for the Public Salon 12
–Diversity in Physics
Salon 13
–Membership & Benefits, ends 7 p.m. Salon 14
–SI Units and Measurement, ends 7 p.m. Salon 3
–PERLOC, ends 7 p.m.
Salon 4
–PTRA Oversight, ends 7 p.m. Salon 6
Monday, January 6
Highlights
Poster Session 1
Location: Grand Ballroom Foyer
Sponsor: AAPT
Date: Monday, January 6
Time: 8–9:30 a.m.
Persons with odd-numbered posters will present their posters from
8–8:45 a.m.; even-numbered will present 8:45–9:30 a.m.
Astronomy
PST1A01: 8-8:45 a.m. How Did the Moon Form? Evaluating
Alternative Explanations
Poster – Doug Lombardi, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122;
Janelle M. Bailey, Temple University
Scientifically literate citizens need to understand how scientists
evaluate competing explanations. Likewise, science learning demands
that students increase their ability to critically evaluate scientific
knowledge and weigh alternative explanations. Our poster introduces
an instructional scaffold—the model-evidence link (MEL) diagram-
-designed to promote students’ ability to critically evaluate scientific
explanations and knowledge of fundamental concepts. The structure
and mode of MEL diagrams were originally developed by Rutgers
University researchers under a NSF-supported middle school life
science project (Chinn & Buckland, 2012). We adapted their format
and created a MEL diagram around a compelling astronomy topic:
the Moon’s formation. Students draw arrows in different shapes to
indicate the degree of support between lines of evidence and two
models of the Moon’s formation. By engaging in the MEL, students
use critical evaluation in weighing the connections between these
lines of evidence and the alternative explanations to gain a deeper
understanding about the Moon.
*This work is supported by the National Science Foundation, Award DRL-
131605. Chinn, C. A., & Buckland, L. A. (2012). Model-based instruction: Fos-
tering change in evolutionary conceptions and in epistemic practices. In K. S.
Rosengren, E. M. Evans, S. Brem, & G. M. Sinatra (Eds.), Evolution challenges:
Integrating research and practice in teaching and learning about evolution (pp.
211-232). New York: Oxford University Press.
PST1A02: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Parallax Lab for Introductory
Astronomy Students
Poster – Amanda Mashburn,* University of West Georgia, Carrollton,
GA 30118;
Ben Jenkins, Bob Powell, University of West Georgia
Parallax is the angular displacement in apparent position of a celestial
body, most commonly a star, when observed from two widely sepa-
rated lines of sight. Parallax, measured in arc seconds, is inversely
proportional to its distance in parsecs. A daytime lab has been created
and tested to give students experience measuring the parallax angle
of campus objects and calculating the distances to them. Students
learn that it is possible to calculate these distances accurately without
directly measuring them. A Brunton surveyor’s compass was used
to measure the bearings along two lines of sight to obtain a parallax
angle. In a typical trial, a baseline of 16.5 m has a parallax angle of 7.8
degrees; the actual distance is 117.5 m, and the calculated distance
being 117.9 m.
*Sponsored by Bob Powell
PST1A03: 8-8:45 a.m. More Effective Use of Video
Watching in ASTRO 101*
Poster – Timothy F. Slater, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071;
Ken Brandt, ShiAnne Kattner, Mark Reiser, Richard Sanchezm Univer-
sity of Wyoming
Online, freely available, high-definition video productions on
astronomy include high-quality simulations with precise explana-
