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January 4–7, 2014
Tuesday Morning
and Rails to Trails performing manual work. A key component of Ser-
vice Learning is reflection on the service activity after it is completed.
Astronomy students analyze how the preparation and operation of
the observations aids their learning in the class and how it affects
the attendees. Physics students analyze how they use physics, such as
motion, forces, and levers, in the tasks they perform. A description of
how Service Learning in supported at MU will also be presented.
FC03:
9:30-9:40 a.m. Incorporating Service-Learning in
Physics for the Life Science Majors: Pedagogy and
Practice
Contributed – Irene Guerinot, Maryville College, Maryville, TN 37804;
While service-learning continues to gain credibility as an effective
tool for helping students meet course learning objectives, many
higher education practitioners still do not consider incorporating this
pedagogy into their courses. In an effort to revitalize the introductory
physics courses offered at Maryville College, and to engage students
in active learning that demonstrates the relevance and importance of
academic work for their life experience and career choices, I decided
last year to implement service learning in one of my physics classes.
My students assisted Maryville Junior High (MJH) students with
preparations for the Science Olympiad Competition. In my talk I will
discuss the development of this new material and how it facilitates
mastery of the course’s learning objectives.
Session FD: Why Do I Need a 3D
Printer for my Physics
Department?
Location: Salon 8
Sponsor: Committee on Educational Technologies
Date: Tuesday, January 7
Time: 8:30–9:30 a.m.
Presider: Anne Cox
FD01:
8:30-9 a.m. 3D Printing: Student Projects and
Undergraduate Research
Invited – Andrew Dawes, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR 97116-
1797;
Student projects and undergraduate research labs operate on tight
time schedules and often realize new equipment needs without
advance notice. The ability to respond quickly by creating mechanical
parts in-house can make the difference between finishing a project
and waiting around for a delivery. I will present and discuss several
student projects that have used the 3D printer in our physics depart-
ment. These include printed parts for classroom projects, summer
research activities, and community outreach programs. Additionally,
I will give an overview of a typical part-creation workflow using free
software tools.
FD02:
9-9:30 a.m. Building a Justification for a 3D Printer
Layer by Layer
Invited – Mike Hicks, Nielsen Media Research, 501 Brooker Creek Blvd.,
Oldsmar, FL 34677;
Budgets are tighter than ever...but still, you really really want a 3D
printer! Why? Because it would be really cool and fun! Unfortunately,
cool and fun don’t always win in the budget process. This talk is
designed to add “quite useful” to your reasons by providing a list of
concrete (or at least plastic) benefits, as well as ideas for how your
students can meaningfully use 3D printing for labs and experiments.
In addition, there will be a discussion of free 3D modelling software
options and the variety of places to find ready-made models online.
Finally, a realistic view on costs and maintenance will keep the discus-
sion from being two dimensional.
Session FE: Bridging Teacher
Preparation and Professional
Development
Location: Salon 11
Sponsor: Committee on Teacher Preparation
Date: Tuesday, January 7
Time: 8:30–10 a.m.
Presider: Paula Heron
FE01:
8:30-9 a.m. Preparing Pre-service and In-service
Physics Teachers to Teach Through Inquiry *
Invited – Donna L. Messina, University of Washington, Department of
Physics, Seattle, WA 98195-1560;
The Physics Education Group (PEG) at the University of Washington
has a long history of conducting courses for both pre-service and
in-service teachers. Two major goals are: (1) to help teachers develop
a deep and robust understanding of the pivotal topics in physics that
they are expected to teach and (2) to provide them with the experi-
ence of learning in the way they are expected to teach (through a
process of inquiry). These goals, together with ongoing research on
the learning and teaching of physics, have guided the development of
Physics by Inquiry.
1
This talk illustrates the ways in which these ma-
terials help teachers learn (or relearn) physics content and model an
approach to teaching through inquiry. Other course components that
contribute to the professional development of both pre- and in-service
teachers will also be discussed, including how these courses can help
build professional learning communities between both groups.
*This work has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
1. L.C. McDermott and the Physics Education Group at the University of Wash-
ington,
Physics by Inquiry
(Wiley, 1996).
FE02:
9-9:30 a.m. Teachers in Industry: Bridging
Academic and Real-World Learning
Invited – Julia Olsen, University of Arizona/Teachers in Industry College
of Education, Tucson, AZ 85721;
The Teachers in Industry program (formerly known as MASTER-
IP) is now in its fifth successful year. Many teachers have never
had practical experience with the content they teach, therefore this
program bridges academics and real-world experiences. Our teachers
are becoming teacher-leaders and mentors in their schools and some
are gaining local and even national recognition. Highly skilled and
creative STEM teachers are an asset to schools and districts across the
state and to the businesses they work for in the summers. We provide
a combination of paid summer work experience in Arizona businesses
and industries combined with intensive coursework leading either to
a Masters Degree in Teaching and Teacher Education or professional
development credits, depending on the needs of each individual
teacher. Our program is amassing significant research data, and this
talk will describe the program model and results to date.
FE03:
9:30-10 a.m. Teacher Preparation and Teacher
Retention: A Missing Link
Invited – James Flakker, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-
1183;
Eugenia Etkina, Rutgers University
Physics teacher retention depends strongly not only on the education
of teachers, specifically on their knowledge of the discipline (norma-
tive content and scientific inquiry practices) and ways to implement
inquiry in the classroom, but also on the practical ability to enact
this knowledge in the classroom and on the productive interactions
with other teachers. The goal of this talk is to describe how a physics
teacher preparation program can structure the clinical experiences
of the pre-service teachers and develop a learning community of the
in-service teachers to purposefully help the program graduates stay in
the profession.
