AAPT Section News, July 2013
—Page 12
Bill Layton, Chija Bauer, and Frank Lee) who share their
expertise and advise with the participants. The focus is on
demonstrations and hands on training. Typically, in the first
half of the workshops the participants view demonstrations
and receive a content primer to help them organize their
instructional units. In the second half of the workshops (after
lunch), the participants work in teams to perform the actual
laboratories recommended to them by the master teachers.
Often the lab equipment is given to the participants. The
participant feedback for the program has been very positive.
Funding for NPTW has come from both SCAAPT and the
Brown Foundation. The previous budget was $2,000/year but
is now being increased by the Brown Foundation to $8,000/
year with intent of expanding the workshop to all parts of
Southern California and improving the package of materials
that are given to the new teachers. More information
about NPTW, including workshop schedules and contact
information can be found at
.
—Jeff Phillips, Section Representative
Southern Nevada Section
SNAAPT’s spring 2013 meeting was held at CSN’s East
Cheyenne Campus on Saturday, March 9.
Section President David Mills welcomed the attendees
and briefly summarized the history of AAPT and of
SNAAPT.
Host Carlos Delgado described the recently-completed
remodeling of CSN’s East Cheyenne Campus’ science
laboratories.
David presented a PPP entitled
TIPERS: In-Class
Learning Activities for Electric Fields, Magnetic Fields,
and Circuits
. This PPP is available upon request (david_
).
Carlos shared a series of demonstrations, presented in
chronological order, that he regularly uses in his Physics
152 courses (both during the term and as a review at
the end), that trace the development of the discoveries
and concepts associated with electromagnetism. These
demonstrations begin with the attraction and repulsion
of charged objects (Thales of Miletus), continue with the
discoveries of charges in motion (Benjamin Franklin),
electric current and potential (Alessandro Volta), Oersted’s
observations of the relationship between electric current
and magnetic fields, J.J. Thomson’s discovery of the
electron and the deflection of electron beams by magnetic
fields, Michael Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic
induction, Nicola Tesla and electric generators, the
prediction and verification of electromagnetic radiation
(James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz) and, finally,
microwave- and visible-spectrum optics.
David presented a demonstration and paper entitled
Forced Oscillations and Magnetic Resonance
. He
expressed the opinion that, while the demonstration is
appropriate for all high school physics students, the physics
and mathematics may be appropriate only for AP students.
This paper is also available upon request (david_mills@
cox.net).
John Farley (UNLV) shared a PPP entitled
Going
Beyond the Lecture
in which he called our attention
to the ineffectiveness of teaching by lecture and
introduced some of the methodology and advantages of
interactiveengagement methods identified by physics-
education research. He described some of his experiences
using “clickers” to obtain immediate feedback and to
motivate his student’s learning.
The business portion of the meeting included the following:
(1) Janelle Bailey (Section Representative, UNLV)
provided dates and locations for several future Summer
and Winter Meetings. She also suggested that we fill the
offices of Second Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, and
Section Representative by announcing these vacancies via a
message to everyone on our emailing list that would invite
interested individuals to nominate candidates (including
themselves) and volunteered to prepare such a document. It
was agreed that we would proceed in this manner.
(2) John Farley explained that he had been made aware
that, of the four yearly in-service days in the CCSD,
only one is at the discretion of the site principal. He and
David were authorized to continue the Section’s efforts
to persuade the high-school principals to authorize their
physics teachers to satisfy this in-service collaboration
requirement through participation in one or more SNAAPT
meeting(s) that would be devoted to issues associated with
teaching physics at the high school level.
(3) Because there was a general consensus among
participants that our academic year 2012-2013 meetings
were both instructive and enjoyable, it was decided that
we will continue our emphasis on the high school physics
curriculum during the academic year 2013-2014.
2012-2013 Officers
David Mills, President - Professor Emeritus–College of the
Redwoods
Tim Waters, Secretary/Treasurer - UNLV
Jim Barker, 1st Vice President - Valley High School
John Farley, Past President - UNLV
Mitch Johnson, 2nd Vice President - West Career and
Technical Academy
Janelle Bailey, Section Representative - UNLV
—Janelle Bailey, Section Representative
Southern Ohio Section
The Southern Ohio Section’s spring meeting was March 9,
2013 at Dublin Jerome High School. About 30 members
were in attendance, including several first-time attendees.
Many thanks to Barb Hilligoss for hosting an educational
and enjoyable meeting.
