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January 4–7, 2014
Monday afternoon
Though there are numerous initiatives to recruit and retain both
Native American women into higher education, and women in
general into the field of physics, rates of success are limited. Trying to
improve percentages alone does not do enough to transform western
institutions of higher learning into spaces of inclusivity for race and
gender. The transformations that are taking place within academia
to these ends come from women of diverse backgrounds themselves.
This poster will give examples of initiatives meant to increase recruit-
ment and retention of women in physics, as well as Native American
women into academia in general. Alongside these important initia-
tives, this poster will demonstrate the ways women in physics are
carving a home for themselves and shaping epistemologies and Native
American women are ‘Indigenizing the Academy.’
PST2D02: 9:15-10 p.m. Transferring from Red Rocks to
Mines
Poster – Todd Ruskell, Colorado School of Mines, Physics Department,
Golden, CO 80401;
Barbra Maher, Red Rocks Community College
Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) and Colorado School of
Mines (CSM) have benefited from a formal transfer agreement for
about 15 years. Roughly 30% of all students transferring to CSM
originate at RRCC. We will discuss the steps we take to maintain the
agreement, which include faculty-to-faculty meetings and recruit-
ing events attended by CSM staff and faculty at RRCC. We will also
discuss the academic arrangements that result in a nearly seamless
student transition from RRCC to CSM, regardless of when students
transfer. The agreement ensures a large enrollment in physics courses
at RRCC, to the point that RRCC should be able to add a modern
physics course to their offerings in the near future. In addition, CSM
is ensured that transfer students have a solid math and science back-
ground, including their understanding of physics.
PST2D03: 8:30-9:15 p.m. Changing the Climate in a Physics
Department
Poster – Talat S. Rahman, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
32816;
Jacquelyn Chini, University of Central Florida
The physics department at the University of Central Florida in 2006
was no different from most: emphasis on research and funding as
vehicles to achieve excellence and international prominence. The
stringent baccalaureate curriculum ensured that most (87%) majors
aimed to go to PhD programs. Initial efforts by a faculty group led
to the introduction of inquiry-based teaching in the algebra-based
physics courses, in an active learning environment. Data collected
on student learning gains in these courses were so convincingly in
favor of the active learning environment, compared to the traditional
lecture-lab-recitation mode, that funds were found to build a new
SCALE-UP type collaborative classroom. To accommodate the large
enrollment, a variant that coupled lecture format to mini-studios was
recently introduced. Learning assistants added further to course re-
forms. Bi-weekly pedagogy seminars became focal points. The award
of a PhysTEC and NSF-TUES grant further helped bring a large
number of faculty together.
PST2D04: 9:15-10 p.m. Group-Meeting with Undergraduates
Poster – Yongkang Le, Fudan University, Physics Department, No. 220
Handan Rd., Shanghai 200433, China;
Group meetings were organized weekly as a support of the supervi-
sion of undergraduate training projects. About 20 undergraduates
from different grades attend regularly. The topics of the group meeting
cover reports on project progress, introduction of related techniques,
discussion on teaching labs, sharing of literature reading, etc. Besides
the discussion during each meeting, group members are encouraged
to write short notes and comments on a wiki-based website. Evidence
of positive impacts of this group meeting on students’ development
exists in several aspects.
PST2D05: 8:30-9:15 p.m. Summer Honors Camp Promotes
STEM and Teaching
Poster – Kimberly A. Shaw, Columbus State University, Department of
Earth and Space Sciences, Columbus, GA 31907; shaw_kimberly@
columbusstate.edu
Deborah Gober, Tim Howard, Cindy Ticknor, Columbus State University
The Columbus Regional Academy of Future Teachers of STEM
(CRAFT-STEM), a Phase I Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship
Program combines internships, scholarships, and a summer STEM
Honors Camp. The camp functions both as a recruiting tool to inter-
est high school students in STEM fields and to interest university
students in teaching. Rising high school juniors and seniors apply to
attend the camp, which is staffed by Noyce interns and university per-
sonnel. All assemble for a two-week residential camp (supported by
corporate donors) to engage in hands-on activities that nurture and
develop interest in STEM areas, and learn about connections between
classroom lessons, real world applications, and potential STEM-relat-
ed careers. The camp’s culminating experience includes a student col-
loquium in which participants present their own STEM research. This
camp builds on a historically successful Future Teachers Academy
hosted by CSU. Forms and assessment instruments available.
PST2D06: 9:15-10 p.m. Incorporating Job Search Activities
into a Modern Physics Class
Poster – Jane D. Flood, Muhlenberg College, Physics Department, Al-
lentown, PA 18104-5586;
Alana Albus, Career Center, Muhlenberg College
As part of its Career Pathways Project, the American Institute of Phys-
ics found that physics departments that were particularly successful
at placing their students in jobs also had a good relationship with
their career services office. In one department identified as successful,
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, the department incorporated
career center activities into majors’ seminars. We present a series of
job-search activities incorporated into a modern physics class along
with assessmen
t
results on some of the associated assignments.
PST2D07: 8:30-9:15 p.m. Optics for Life Sciences: A
Microscopy-based Course
Poster – Shauna Novobilsky, Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA 16504;
Dyan Jones, Mercyhurst University
Interactive learning strategies are frequently used in the teaching of
introductory physics topics. Here we describe the development of a
course for undergraduate students who are not majoring in the field
of physics. By adapting the learning materials from a Studio Optics
course and Optics for Biophysics course, we hope to create a course
designed to bring interactive learning to the topic of optics. Adapt-
ing the course to fit our curriculum will require a reduction in the
amount of mathematics in the course, but the majority of the course
requirements from the courses mentioned above will remain. This will
create an environment that integrates lectures, lab, and simple prob-
lem solving as well as a focus on a long-term project for the course.
The hope is to create a course that is advantageous to non-physics
majors who still have an interest in optics.
PST2D08: 9:15-10 p.m. Acoustics and Fluid Dynamics of a
Helmholtz Resonator
Poster – Maxwell L. Henry,* Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035;
NASA’s Langley Research Center developed the software package
OVERFLOW to solve the time dependent, Reynolds averaged, Navier-
Stokes equation using multiple overset structured grids. The accuracy
of the algorithm used in OVERFLOW permits the study of acoustics
better than commercial software. To test the accuracy of acoustic
prediction of OVERFLOW, the acoustic data from NASA scientist Pa-
tricia Block’s cavity research
1
will be compared to 2 and 3 dimensional
models. This project will focus on simulating 2 and 3-dimensional
computational models of the Helmholtz Resonator and comparing it
