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• T01: (Cancelled) International Research Experience for Students

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

  Organizer

  Raluca Teodorescu

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Evangeline Downie, William Briscoe

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 40
  • Available: 40

  The GW IRES program supports undergraduate and graduate students to perform experimental nuclear physics research in the Crystal Ball and TAPS Collaboration Program at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) within the Institut für Kernphysik of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. This program is funded by NSF and it is open to students from any institution. Workshop participants will learn how they can initiate similar programs at their institutions, how to run and evaluate such programs, and how to monitor and assess students' learning. We will also discuss how interested colleagues can send their students to participate in our program.

• T02: Teaching Mathematical Methods with Active Learning Exercises

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 09:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

  Organizer

  Gary Felder

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Kenny Felder

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 50
  • Available: 39

  “Active Learning”—a catch-all term for a variety of techniques that put students in the position of active participants rather than passive receptacles during class time—has been shown to lead to deeper understanding and longer retention. Many resources are available to facilitate active lesson plans for introductory classes, but content for higher-level classes lags behind. The problem is particularly acute in the “Math Methods” (or “Applied Math”) course taught in physics and engineering departments: students are given brief exposure to a large number of techniques, often with little physical context or motivation, and are expected to recall those techniques in subsequent courses years later. Under the auspices of an NSF grant, the authors have developed a series of exercises that can be plugged into your existing lesson plans. These exercises—about 90 in total, covering topics such as differential equations, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and special functions—are all available at www.felderbooks.com/mathmethods/exercises for free download. In this workshop we discuss active learning in general: a brief overview of its benefits, and a survey of techniques and best practices. Our main focus, however, is how to use our exercises to engage the students in your “Math Methods” course.

• T03: Electrostatics from Gilbert to Volta

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 09:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

  Organizer

  Bob Morse

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 16
  • Available: 0

  With inexpensive equipment, students can carry out activities to build a conceptual understanding of electrostatic phenomena. In this short tutorial we will build the equipment and learn to carry out experiments patterned after those from William Gilbert to Alessandro Volta, including charge detection, electric field patterns and electrostatic induction.

• T04: Using Children’s Literature to Teach Physics:Storybooks, Graphic Novels and the Simpsons

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 09:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

  Organizer

  William Reitz

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 30
  • Available: 23

  This workshop will explore how we can use children’s literature at a number of different levels. Whether we are working with pre service or practicing elementary teachers or our own physics students, children’s books provide a spring board to science investigations, a way to model the processes of science and even serve as assessment for our instruction. Examples are taken from a spectrum of literary genre: classic childhood favorites, the increasingly accepted Graphic Novel, fiction/non-fiction parings, and popular forms of visual literacy. This Tutorial will be hands on and interactive. Participants will receive a DVD of activities, book and topic pairings, children’s literature resources, bibliographies, websites and lesson guides. • ENGAGE students and introduce performance expectations with familiar fiction and storybooks • EXPLORE the topic using non-traditional non-fiction and graphic novels • EXPLAIN the phenomenon supported by materials from a variety of sources • ELABORATE using both fiction and non-fiction. • EVALUATE by allowing students to find appropriate non-fiction literature to support their understanding or even creating their own fiction to showcase what they have learned

• W01: Research-based Alternatives to Traditional Physics Problems

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Kathleen A. Harper

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Thomas M. Foster, David P. Maloney

  Cost

  • Members: $80
  • Non-members: $105

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 5

  Accumulating research on problem solving in physics clearly indicates that traditional, end-of-chapter exercises in physics texts are not useful and may actually hinder students' learning of important physics concepts. The research also raises questions about the efficacy of such tasks for helping students develop "problem solving skills." In light of these results the question is: What alternative tasks can we use to help students develop problem solving skills and a conceptual understanding? This workshop will review the research and then provide examples of several alternative tasks and their use. Participants will also get practice writing alternative problems in a variety of formats for use in their own classrooms.

• W02: Submitting Successful Proposals to the NSF IUSE Program

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Kevin Lee

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 40
  • Available: 27

  This workshop will provide an overview of the National Science Foundation's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program. We will cover all aspects of its history including the programs that preceded it, their goals, and their evolution over time. A complete description of the present IUSE program and the distinguishing characteristics of grants in today's portfolio will be given. We will then explore the process of proposal review, examples of good and bad reviews, and the benefits of reviewing. The characteristics of a good proposal will be analyzed from looking at several project summaries as well as a full proposal. Guest speakers will detail the strategies that led to their submission of a funded IUSE proposal. All topics will be explored through classroom techniques developed for modern interactive teaching. Participants will leave with numerous resources and guidance essential for submitting their own IUSE proposal.

• W03: Ramps and Bungee Cords: Bringing it Together

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Aaron Osowiecki

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Jesse Southwick

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 21

  The Next Generation Standards call for the integration of modeling, content and engineering within science classrooms. In our energy unit, students “discover” energy conservation by analyzing speed data obtained from rolling marbles down a series of ramps of different heights and slopes. After some significant practice applying the concept, students apply energy conservation to design and build a rubber band bungee cord to provide a safe, yet thrilling drop, for a raw egg. Participants in this session will explore this unit, collecting their own data and building their own bungee cord while seeing how we incorporate formative and summative assessment, as well as “5E” design, throughout the unit to ensure student success.

• W04: Creating Physics Simulations Using HTML5, Part 1:Introduction for Beginners

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Andrew Duffy

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 16
  • Available: 7

  HTML5 and JavaScript have replaced Java and Flash as the leading technology for in-browser software, with the ability to deliver high-performance, graphics-intensive simulations over the web to both personal computers and mobile devices. Participants in this workshop will learn to use this technology to create educational physics simulations that students can run on almost any computer, tablet, or smartphone that can browse the web. The workshop will cover HTML basics, the JavaScript programming language, graphics using the HTML5 canvas element, and essential user-interface controls. Participants should have some prior programming experience (in any language) and must bring their own laptop computers with up-to-date versions of Firefox, Chrome, and a programmer’s text editor such as Notepad++ or TextWrangler. Participants are also encouraged to bring ideas for simulations they would like to create.

• W05: Using 3D Printing and Open Source Software to Motivate Self-directed Learning in Physics and Astronomy Courses

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  C. Dianne Phillips

  Co-Organizer(s)

  The Maker Club Team

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 20
  • Available: 8

  A team of undergraduate presenters, from NorthWest Arkansas Community College, will engage Physics faculty in “best practices” strategies and technologies (3D Printers) for motivating undergraduates to be self-directed in their learning of physics. During the workshop, the team will use 3D printers and open source software and “games” familiar to undergraduate students, to engage faculty in their own collaborative project. In addition, Physics faculty will learn how to have this affordable technology in their courses and more importantly HOW to motivate undergrads to want to engage in self-directed projects in a Physics or Astronomy course. Faculty will leave this workshop with ideas on how to get funding for their own printers and ideas for how to integrate using the technologies in their curriculum. Participants should bring their own laptops – all operating systems will work.

• W06: (Cancelled) Digital Astronomical Spectroscopy

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Trina Cannon

  Cost

  • Members: $65
  • Non-members: $90

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 23

  New Demonstration Experiments in Spectrum Analysis. In this workshop, master demonstrator James Lincoln instructs on new techniques in performing spectrum analysis experiments with your students that are sure to improve their learning experience. Also, involved are some old classic trusted demos. Learn how to use the RSPEC Explorer, a new and inexpensive apparatus that makes teaching spectrum clear to all. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop computer.

• W07: (Cancelled) Faraday Train and Other Faraday Demos Make-and-Take

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  David Kardelis

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Steve Narf, Jerry Hester, Stephen Irons

  Cost

  • Members: $90
  • Non-members: $115

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  In this workshop, participants will make a Faraday train. The train consists of a battery and magnets and the track a copper coil. If time allows, some homo-polar motors will also be constructed. The physics of the Faraday Train will be discussed.

• W08: (Cancelled) Ringflinger Make-and-take

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Samuel Sampere

  Cost

  • Members: $280
  • Non-members: $305

  Seats

  • Max: 25
  • Available: 25

  During this session, you will build (PIRA 5K20.30) a Thompson-Elihu coil, commonly known as the Ring Flinger demonstration. Your completed device will toss 2" OD aluminum rings six meters into the air, and higher when you cool them! Rings fashioned from other materials will jump to different heights. Learn why this is so, and build your own coil to take home by attending this workshop. The completed project weighs about 15 lbs. You should plan to ship your new favorite demo home via UPS or USPS.

• W09: (Cancelled) LEGO Robotics

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Jeremy Benson

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 16
  • Available: 16

  Many schools have begun using LEGO robotics to introduce programming, as well as the engineering & design process and complex problem solving skills. In this workshop we'll discuss creative ways you can use the LEGO EV3 robots to help encourage your own students' critical thinking and problem solving skills.

• W10: Fun & Engaging Labs

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Wendy Adams

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Duane Merrell

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 0

  In this workshop we will share many labs that are suitable for both high school and introductory college physics. The labs are challenging but not too difficult and, leave plenty of room for creativity! We have found success by limiting the goals for the labs to: 1. Fun and engaging, 2. Built in student choice, 3. Related to this week’s material. The labs are effective at engaging the students in problem solving and conceptual understanding. Merrell used this type of lab as a high school teacher and physics quickly became one of the most popular classes in the school. Adams, inspired by Merrell, has found that her college students no longer rush to leave, and in some cases stay to see how other groups do even after they’ve turned in their lab write up for the day! This workshop will allow you to try out these labs for yourself.

• W11: (Cancelled) Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Physics Teaching

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Matt Bobrowsky

  Co-Organizer(s)

  David Rosengrant

  Cost

  • Members: $75
  • Non-members: $100

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  This two-part workshop will feature research-based practices for incorporating pedagogical content knowledge in your teacher training, as well as methods for taking the activities presented and implementing them directly into your own classroom. The first half of the workshop will be run by Dr. Matt Bobrowsky. He will describe how you can use Phenomenon-Based Learning (PBL) to not only get your students excited about learning science, but also to better understand its relevance to their lives. Experience the kind of teaching the propelled Finland to educational excellence! The second half of the workshop will be run by Dr. David Rosengrant. Dr. Rosengrant is an Associate Professor at Kennesaw State University and was also voted science teacher of the year in Georgia in 2014. He will show you strategies to incorporate the history of physics into an inquiry based approach in the classroom and will show you how you can make culturally relevant pedagogy inquiry based in the classroom as well. All participants will receive inquiry lessons and a manipulative to take home with them.

• W12: (Cancelled) Teaching Introductory Astronomy Using Quantitative Reasoning Activities

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Stehanie Slater

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Windsor Morgan

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  In this half-day, participatory workshop specially designed for college introductory astronomy faculty and high school teachers, participants will learn how to use active learning tutorials to develop and enhance students’ quantitative reasoning skills. It has long been recognized that many astronomy students are terrified of courses requiring >them to perform what they perceive as being tedious arithmetical calculations. At the same time, few materials exist across the broader astronomy education community to help students overcome their reluctance to engage in mathematical thinking and enjoy success at doing astronomy. Created by teaching-experts affiliated with the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research Team, these active learning tutorials are purposefully designed to support students’ in learning challenging >astronomy concepts by introducing short and highly structured quantitative reasoning intervals where students collaboratively wrestle with how to think of astronomy in novel settings. Astronomy education research consistently demonstrates that students significantly increase their understanding of astronomy through the use of collaborative learning materials and that teachers find them easy to implement. Classroom-ready materials will be provided to all participants.

• W13: (Cancelled) Active Learning in College Meteorology 101 Courses

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Stephanie Slater

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Tim Slater

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 12
  • Available: 12

  Non-science major students in your class having trouble “getting it”? Think your lectures aren’t working as well as they should, but are at a loss for what to do differently? Designed for busy college and university professors, this half-day participatory workshop shows participations how to implement contemporary teaching techniques designed to intellectually engage students. Participants will learn how to use best practices in designing in-class activities, student debates, & mini-case studies; using think-pair-share class voting techniques that really work; giving students rapid-formative feedback to enhance their learning; and reorienting the course syllabus to enhance students’ motivation. Graduate students interested in college teaching careers are also welcome to attend. Participants will also receive classroom-ready materials that can be implemented right away developed by teaching scholars at the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research. The workshop is partially funded by NSF and the University of Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowment.

• W14: Introductory Physics for Life Science: Curricular Resources and Activities

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Nancy Beverly

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Ralf Widenhorn, Dawn Meredith, James Vasenka, Juan Rodrigues, David Smith

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 14

  The Introductory Physics for Life Sciences curriculum continues to be in an exciting period of development, sharing, and expansion. One size does not fit all, as every institution has its own particular mix of life science students as well as its unique set of institutional constraints and resources. A wide community of people from a variety of institutions have been developing and sharing their curricular materials, activities, and approaches, from which you can adopt or adapt the ones best suited for your students, or just get ideas. At this workshop, curricular resources for a wide array of presently accessible materials and activities will be organized and available for participant exploration and discussion. Several new curricular materials and activities will also be showcased for participant experience and discussion with developers.

• W15: Creating Physics Simulations in HTML5, Part 2: Intermediate Level

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Wolfgang Bauer

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 50
  • Available: 40

  This HTML5 workshop will enable you to write your own physics simulations, which can be used on computers, tablet devices, and smartphones. If you have ever programmed anything in any language, you will emerge from this workshop with the ability to program your own simulations. Participants without prior programming experience might first want to enroll in the “basic” HTML5 workshop, but the essential elements of that workshop will also be briefly reviewed in the first 30 minutes. This workshop will cover the use of canvas, svg, user input (mouse, keyboard, and touch screens), graphics files, and HTML5 video and audio. Participants are expected to bring their own computing device with an up-to-date browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Internet Explorer, …) and some basic text editor. All source code files will be distributed to all participants and can serve as the basis for their own interactive physics simulations tool set.

• W16: Low-Cost, At-Home Labs for School-Based or Online Courses

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Alex Burr

  Cost

  • Members: $85
  • Non-members: $110

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 10

  A physics course without experiments is not a physics course. However many instructors teaching high school, college, or on-line courses feel pressured in terms of money, time, and room to neglect this aspect of physics instruction. This workshop will address these problems. The participants will actually do real experiments, which do not have to use expensive, sophisticated equipment. The experiment instructions are simple, written notes which do not need class time to explain. The experiments can be done at home or some other place so a laboratory room is not needed. The experiments can be done at several levels, so they are appropriate for several types of general physics courses. The experiments can illustrate advanced experimental concepts if you wish but all will show that if you ask questions of nature, she will answer. Topics mentioned include mechanics, electricity, and optics. The experiments will be done individually and in groups. Participants should bring Apple or Android smart phones or tablets if they have them. Participants will leave with inexpensive apparatus, detailed notes, and a renewed commitment to physics as an experimental science.

• W17: (Cancelled) How to Organize a Summer Program for Girls: Finding Funding, Institutional Buy-In, Recruiting, and Logistics

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Emanuela Ene

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  Organizing a summer program is an effective way to initiate links between teenager girls, who are interested to explore what makes the world go around, and your physics or engineering department. We will demonstrate that the summer physics program can become an excellent opportunity for strong bonding between the participating girls themselves and, in long term, it could be beneficial for a larger group including parents, schools, and local industries. An ideal outcome of the summer physics program would be a network of girls supporting each other in the field of science and engineering. This interactive workshop will cover the full ABCs of finding funding, gaining institutional buy-in, recruiting, and logistics of the physics & engineering summer camps for girls. Success stories will be analyzed. Team-building activities will to be practiced. You, the participant in this session, will build your own proposal draft for such a summer program for girls. We, the organizers, will provide you feedback and support during and after the workshop.

• W18: (Cancelled) Capitalize the P in physics: Drop Tower Physics

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Toby Dittrich

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 40
  • Available: 40

  Drop Tower Physics is a new and exciting classroom tool that enhances active learning and lively classroom discussion. A drop tower is a box that falls freely containing experiments and in the case of Drop Tower Physics they are physics lecture demonstrations and physical examples like a gyroscope. The question asked is what would happen to a floating cork, pendulum (simple or conical), a mass spring oscillator or gyroscope if gravity was suddenly "dropped to zero" within the falling non-inertial frame of reference. The student then must utilize the scientific method to postulate a theoretical result and test it according to their knowledge of physical laws. If the postulate fails, they must redefine their theory and proceed. Using the Dryden Drop Tower at Portland State University, videos on these examples have been obtained and posted on YouTube. The videos are the experimental branch of Drop Tower Physics, and produce some very astonishing results which beg further evaluation and explanation. Join in the fun and see if your explanations are correct! Students go wild when you ask them to explain what a precessing gyroscope would do when gravity is removed. You can spoil the mystery at Phys. Teach. 52, 415 (2014)

• W19: Changing How Students Learn In Gateway Physics Courses

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Calvin Kalman

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 60
  • Available: 54

  Our research using epistemological tests seems to indicate that if students in gateway physics courses participate in an activity called “reflective writing” and another interactive activity that they change the way that they learn. Participants will experience activities that they could incorporate in their classes: Use of Reflective Writing to engage students before class. Collaborative Groups to Promote Critical Thinking. Critique: a writing tool to enhance Critical Thinking Skills. We will also discuss an interactive laboratory method called “labatorial. Based upon my book “An Invitation To Successful Science and Engineering Teaching in Colleges and Universities” Jossey Bass/Wiley and upon research in the classroom that I have been conducting and publishing over many years using qualitative and quantitative methods. We will also look at the epistemological test results and some of the results obtained on interviewing and testing students in the classroom. http://reflectivewriting.concordia.ca/

• W20: (Cancelled) Making Learning Visible Through NextGenPET: From Elementary School Students to Undergraduates

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Fred Goldberg

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Stephen Robinson, Edward Price

  Cost

  • Members: $65
  • Non-members: $90

  Seats

  • Max: 30
  • Available: 30

  The ‘Next Generation Physics and Everyday Thinking’ curriculum [1] has been adapted from previous curricula (PET, PSET and others) to make the materials more aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Like the previous curricula, the conceptual and pedagogical design of NextGenPET builds on students’ prior knowledge and lends itself to making students’ thinking visible to both other students and to the instructor. In addition to developing core physical science ideas, students in the course also have the opportunity to examine elementary children’s thinking and reasoning. In this workshop we will briefly describe the conceptual and pedagogical design of NextGenPET, and show several video clips from both NextGenPET and elementary classrooms as a context for discussing students’ thinking and reasoning. [1] Major support for the development of NextGenPET has come from the National Science Foundation grant 1044172, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, and the Chevron Foundation.

• W21: Examining the Relationships among Intuition, Reasoning, and Conceptual Understanding in Physics

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  MacKenzie Stetzer

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Andrew Boudreaux, Paula Heron, Mila Kryjevskaia, Beth Lindsey

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 17

  It is a common expectation that, after instruction, students will consciously and systematically draw on their formal knowledge of relevant physics concepts in order to construct chains of reasoning that start from established scientific principles and lead to well-justified predictions. When student performance on course exams does not reveal such patterns, it is often assumed that students either do not possess the requisite conceptual understanding or are unable to chain the appropriate ideas together due to deficiencies in their reasoning abilities. An emerging body of research also suggests that students may “abandon” suitable formal reasoning in favor of reasoning based on ideas that are (perhaps) more intuitively appealing at that moment. Although relatively little is known about the complex relationships among intuition, reasoning, and conceptual understanding, insight into these relationships is important for both researchers and practitioners. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore these relationships by examining student responses to various research probes and tasks, participating in the process of data analysis and interpretation, and discussing implications for instruction.

• W22: Slingshot Physics

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Aaron Osowiecki

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Jesse Southwick

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 13

  Physics students typically learn about the work-energy theorem, friction and Newton's Laws of Motion as separate units. Rarely do they see the connections between these concepts. We have designed an interactive (and inexpensive) unit focused on these concepts with a culminating assessment forcing students to bring it all together. Using a rubber band slingshot and their own careful measurements of the stiffness and coefficient of friction, students launch a small box across the ground, calculating the required stretch so that the box stops at a specified location. Aligned with the new science framework, learn how to help your students use and adjust the work-energy model for a successful launch.

• W23: Fun, Engaging, and Effective Labs and Demos in Mechanics and Optics with Clickers, Video Analysis, and Computer-Based Tools

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  David Sokoloff

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Ronald Thornton, Priscilla Laws

  Cost

  • Members: $75
  • Non-members: $100

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 1

  RealTime Physics and Interactive Lecture Demonstrations have been available for over 15 years—so what’s new? Participants in this workshop will have hands-on experience with some of the new activities in RTP and ILD using of clickers, video analysis and computer-based tools to teach mechanics and optics concepts. These active learning approaches for lectures, labs, and recitations (tutorials) are fun, engaging and validated by physics education research (PER). Research results demonstrating the effectiveness of these curricula will be presented. The following will be distributed: Modules from the Third Edition of RTP, the ILD book, the Physics with Video Analysis book and CD, and Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite by E.F. Redish.

• W24: (Cancelled) Engaging TYC students in Astronomical Inquiry

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Tim Slater

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Stephanie Slater

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  The latest National Research Council publications describing effective learning environments call for all students to engage in scientific research and participate in scientific discourse – in short, to do science themselves rather than just learn about it. Modern cognitive science results demonstrate that in order for novice science students to effectively design, conduct, report, and defend science observations and experiments, learners must be purposefully supported in each step of the scientific process before they are able to successfully pursue scientific questions of their own design. This participatory workshop provides strategies for bringing these two ideas together. It is an introduction to scaffolding strategies that teach students to fruitfully engage in scientific thinking and design astronomy investigations by mining online astronomy databases. Participants in this workshop will learn how to structure effective student learning experiences using online NASA data. All participants will receive copies of classroom-ready inquiry teaching materials. Additionally, participants will be shown how to make their own assignments based on the principles of a backwards-faded scaffolding approach, developed by faculty at the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research. Workshop sponsored by NSF & Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowment. Participants are encouraged to bring their personal laptop computers.

• W25: (Cancelled) The Physics of Chemistry

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Jan Mader

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Karen Jo Matsler, Tommie Holsenback

  Cost

  • Members: $85
  • Non-members: $110

  Seats

  • Max: 20
  • Available: 20

  Many high school physics teachers do not have the luxury of only teaching physics. Often they are assigned a physical science or chemistry course in addition to their first love. This workshop will present 5E Learning cycles that address physical science, physics and physics concepts.

• W26: The Menu of Physics Pedagogies: How to Choose - or Do You Have To?

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Matt Bobrowsky

  Cost

  • Members: $135
  • Non-members: $160

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 13

  Despite the fact that we were all taught mostly via traditional lectures, it should be common knowledge now that this is a very ineffective way to teach. In the long term, students retain very little of what is delivered in a standard lecture. So now we have alternative — and often better — pedagogical techniques. We have progressive inquiry, problem-based learning, project-based learning, collaborative learning, responsive teaching, phenomenon-based learning, lecture tutorials, role playing, Socratic questioning, just-in-time teaching, and so on. The idea is to teach broader concepts and useful thinking and performance skills (as with NGSS) rather than asking students to simply memorize facts and formulas. In this workshop, research-based practices will be employed that are very effective with diverse learners and that promote science and engineering practices. Participants will engage in hands-on activities and will leave with a copy of one of the NSTA “Phenomenon-Based Learning” books and with a couple of the interesting gizmos that go with the book.

• W27: Making Physics Accessible to Students with Different Abilities Using iPads and Simulated 3D Worlds

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Andre Bresges

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Christoph Wollny

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 15
  • Available: 12

  Educational Technology always had the potential to serve as bridge-builder. In this workshop, the potential of iPads for inclusive learning in heterogeneous Learning Groups will be explored. We use the free MacOS Software iBooks Author and the built-in accessibility features of the iPad to demonstrate its possibilities. In addition, we show how even students with severe disabilities can freely explore the environment and solve complex tasks using immersive 3D Goggles and Personal Computers, as demonstrated using an Oculus Rift VR. An introduction into the creation of virtual Worlds using Unity3D will also be included in the Workshop.

• W28: (Cancelled) Activities for Teaching About Climate Change

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Brian Jones

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Sheila Ferguson

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  During the day, the earth is warmed by sunlight that shines on it. This is something that your students can see, something that they can feel. But, over the course of a day, the surface of the earth receives more radiant energy from the bottoms of clouds and the lower atmosphere than it does from the sun. This influence of thermal radiation is critically important for an understanding of the earth’s climate and how it is changing. In this workshop we’ll share activities that make this invisible form of energy transfer tangible. We’ll also share activities that illuminate other important but complex concepts, such as how climate models work, how feedbacks—both positive and negative—affect the climate. Our goal is to give you a set of tools to give your students a real understanding of the earth’s climate and how scientists predict its development in the future.

• W29: (Cancelled) Supporting Diversity Efforts through Collaborations, Administrative Support, and External Funding

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Ximena C. Cid

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Geraldine L. Cochran, Mel S. Sabella

  Cost

  • Members: $120
  • Non-members: $145

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  Participants in this workshop will focus on three components that support bringing diverse students into different types of STEM Programs. The first component will guide participants on how to create individual plans at their own institution that utilize existing resources. As a group, we will identify campus organizations with the goal of fostering collaborations between faculty, project PIs, program officers and administrators that align student benefits with specific plans. The second component will focus on how to engage with K-12 schools and communities. This portion will focus on developing authentic collaborations that are mutually beneficial for all parties by drawing upon the diverse expertise in the schools. The final component of this workshop will focus on successful examples of grant writing for projects that target diverse communities. Participants will engage in discussions of concrete examples and focus on addressing broader impact clauses in meaningful ways. This workshop will be team lead and will build on the experiences of the participants and the workshop leaders. It will require all participants to bring a laptop, a tablet, or some other device with internet capabilities. Participants will leave this workshop with a plan for supporting and implementing diversity initiatives at their home institutions.

• W30: Integrating Computation into Undergraduate Physics

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Larry Engelhardt

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Marie Lopez Del Puerto, Kelly Roos, Danny Caballero

  Cost

  • Members: $20
  • Non-members: $45

  Seats

  • Max: 25
  • Available: 3

  In this workshop we will discuss the importance of integrating computation into the physics curriculum and will guide participants in discussing and planning how they would integrate computation into their courses. The PICUP partnership has developed materials for a variety of physics courses in a variety of platforms including Python/VPython, C/C++, Fortran, MATLAB/Octave, Java, and Mathematica. Participants will receive information on the computational materials that have been developed, will discuss ways to tailor the materials to their own classes, and will learn about opportunities that are available to receive additional support through the PICUP partnership. This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation under DUE IUSE grants 1524128, 1524493, 1524963, 1525062, and 1525525. PLEASE BRING A LAPTOP COMPUTER WITH THE PLATFORM OF YOUR CHOICE INSTALLED.

• W31: (Cancelled) Engaging Students using an Academically-focused Social Media Platform

  Date/Time

  • Sun, Jan 10
  • 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Andy Gavrin

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Andy Hirsch, Rebecca Lindell

  Cost

  • Members: $60
  • Non-members: $85

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 24

  There are many well-known techniques for engaging students in the classroom setting, but what happens when they leave class and scatter across a campus or a city? They may discuss physics with one another, or they may not. This workshop will introduce participants to “Course Networking” (CN) a new social-media platform designed to engage students with classmates and faculty beyond the classroom. CN combines many of the features of a learning management system with those of social media platforms favored by current students. It can be used either stand-alone or in concert with other course management systems, and allows students and faculty to post text, graphics, videos, links, and quizzes/polls for one another. Students and faculty can “like” one another’s posts, and reflect on prior posts. Participants will learn to use CN, review examples from the presenters’ classes, and discuss best practices for engaging students in this new format. Notes: CN is free for academic use, and committed to remain free. CN is FERPA compliant, and can be accessed through any web browser, or through CN apps developed for iOS and Android mobile devices.

• W32: Projects and Practices in Physics – Inquiry-based Computational Modeling

  Date/Time

  • Sat, Jan 9
  • 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

  Organizer

  Danny Caballero

  Co-Organizer(s)

  Paul W. Irving, Michael J. Obsniuk

  Cost

  • Members: $70
  • Non-members: $95

  Seats

  • Max: 24
  • Available: 8

  Most introductory science courses emphasize the acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge, but fail to prepare students to engage in science practice including constructing explanations, developing models, and using computational modeling. We have designed an introductory mechanics course that engages students with computational modeling through the use of short modeling projects. By engaging students in more authentic science activities, we aim to help students develop their science identity while they also appropriate the practices and understanding of a scientist. These projects require students to negotiate meaning of physics concepts in small groups and to develop a shared vision for their group's approach to developing a solution. The projects that the groups are presented with are sufficiently complex such that students make use of and move between analytical and computational approaches to creating a solution. In this highly interactive workshop, we will engage participants with the course materials and pedagogy and discuss implementation issues as well as learning outcomes and assessment.

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