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Monday morning
tions and are poised to greatly benefit the learning of ASTRO 101
astronomy students. At the same time, some faculty are understand-
ably reluctant to assign videos to students because of difficulties in
making students accountable. Moreover, for students who are taking
courses via distance learning technologies and MOOCs, developing
pedagogical strategies to use some of these new videos to effectively
teach off-campus students is even more critical. In response, we are
experimenting with creating highly structured video discussion guide
worksheets to mediate students’ engagement with videos. We have
developed three different styles of questions for a variety of 45-60
min. videos, where we pose: 4-8 factual questions, 2-4 synthesis &
evaluation questions, and 1-2 self-reflection questions.
*
Classroom-ready examples available in the online faculty lounge at
caperteam.com
Labs/Apparatus
PST1B01: 8-8:45 a.m. Acoustic Wave Lab for Introductory
and Upper-level Physics Majors
Poster – Daniel Hartman,* University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA
30118;
Ben Jenkins, Bob Powell, University of West Georgia
Iowa Doppler Products’ (IDP) instrumentation has been used to
measure the speed of sound through a variety of media. Other mea-
surements, such as a single slit experiment and refraction at a corner,
have also been performed. Errors in the speed of sound in water were
typically about 0.5%. This equipment will be used in the University
of West Georgia’s (UWG) introductory honors physics lab and upper
level experimental physics labs. The tool’s versatility also will allow for
multiple junior and senior level research projects for our undergradu-
ate majors.
*
Sponsored by Bob Powell
PST1B02: 8:45-9:30 a.m. An Inexpensive Quantitative
Demonstration of Harmonics in Piped Sound Makers
Poster – Stephen A. Minnick, Kent State University at Tuscarawas, New
Philadelphia, OH 44663;
A simple inexpensive activity, which can be included as part of a
larger laboratory experiment, utilizes open-source software and a
computer microphone to display the harmonics of open and closed
end pipes. Students calculate the theoretical frequencies produced by
blowing across the top of short lengths of PVC tubing and compare
them to the display of actual frequencies present.
PST1B03: 8-8:45 a.m. Using Arduino and a Microphone to
Listen for Time
Poster – Jeffrey R. Groff, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV
25443-5000;
Sytil Murphy; Shepherd University
An Arduino microcontroller, electret microphone, and an operation
amplifier provide a low-cost setup for measuring the intervals of time
between intermittent sounds. The hardware and software components
of this apparatus are described, and the apparatus is demonstrated by
measuring the frequency of a spinning motor and the coefficient of
restitution of a bouncing ball.
PST1B04: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Spy Physics: Using a Laser to
‘Hear’ a Conversation
Poster – Timothy Todd Grove, IPFW, Fort Wayne, IN 46805; grovet@
ipfw.edu
Trunghieu T. Nguyen, IPFW
We will present a simply constructed laser experiment for students
beyond their first year in physics. The goal of this particular experi-
ment is to not only give students experience with laser interferometry,
but to allow students to have greater excitement than they would nor-
mally get counting fringes or making precision measurements. Our
experiment started when a student asked “Is it true that you could
use a laser beam to detect a conversation in an office by its reflection
off of a window.” To accomplish this task we used a simple Michelson
interferometer in which one mirror vibrated in response to a sound
source. A speaker connected to a radio inside a small box with a
tinted glass window served as a mirror for the laser beam and also
represented the office that we were “spying upon.” At present time, we
have tried the experiment in two different ways—one in which the
sound source is directly connected to the mirror (the easy version)
and one in which the sound must propagate through air to vibrate the
mirror (the harder version). We will demonstrate our results if the
audio equipment is willing.
PST1B05: 8-8:45 a.m. Speed of Mechanical Waves: Lab
Exercises with Free Software and Hardware
Poster – Fabian Martinez, Gimnasio La Montaña Carrera, 51 No. 214-
55, Bogotá, 09002 Colombia;
Mauricio Mendivelso-Villaquiran, Gimnasio La Montaña
Some ways to measure speed of mechanical waves on diverse media
is presented in this poster. Using ideas introduced by B. Jones and
others, we improve them using easy setup hardware and free license
software in the physics lab.
PST1B06: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Sound Pressure Dependence on
the Air Temperature and Air Pressure
Poster – Dongryul Jeon, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-748
South Korea;
Yanghee Oh, Yanghwa Middle School
As is often demonstrated in physics classes, sound cannot be heard
without air. We investigated the propagation of sound when the air
pressure was varied between 80 and 610 mmHg and the temperature
between 25 and 33 degrees C. The experiment was performed by plac-
ing a speaker, microphone and a heater in a desiccator equipped with
a pressure gauge. After stabilizing the temperature by heating and the
pressure by pumping out the air, we measured the sound intensity.
The speaker was driven by a sine wave ranging between 1 and 2 kHz.
Our results showed that the sound pressure increased linearly with
the temperature when the air pressure was fixed. The sound pressure
also increased linearly with the air density when the temperature was
fixed. Analysis showed that at a given temperature the maximum
change in the sound pressure was proportional to the air density,
which agrees with our experimental results.
PST1B07: 8-8:45 a.m. Redesign of Introductory
Mechanics Labs to Increase Retention and
Graduation of STEM Students
Poster – Nina Abramzon, Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA 91768-4031;
Barbara M. Hoeling, University of Applied Sciences Landshut
Phu Tran, Norco College
Peter B. Siegel, Claudia L. Pinter-Lucke, Cal Poly Pomona
Programs aimed at increasing retention and graduation rates of STEM
students have been implemented at Cal Poly Pomona and at Norco
College. As part of these programs there were interventions done
to the freshman physics labs. The new labs were designed to follow
the inquiry-based approach. The design elements will be presented
in detail together with assessment of student learning and student
attitudes.
PST1B08: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Low-cost Experiments in Optics
& Material Science Using Candy Glass
Poster – William R. Heffner, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015;
Himanshu Jain, Lehigh University
We present a collection of hands-on
experiment and home-built ap-
paratus designed to explore physics
and “real” glass science through a
