United States

Computational physics courses are becoming an integral part of the undergraduate physics curriculum because they prepare students for their post-baccalaureate career where computational skills are applicable to research and industry jobs. The instruction of computational physics courses varies greatly based on curricular requirements and departmental resources. At Oregon State University, the computational courses are a project-driven laboratory experience. The computational physics lab course is strongly related to the content delivered in the junior-level lecture courses, but they are taught by different instructors so that a non-computational physicist can still deliver the lecture material. In the computational physics lab course, students solve physics problems related to lecture course content using Python and pair programming, a coding technique shown to improve code quality and learning outcomes. We will present the design choices of using the lab structure and the coordination with lecture courses, and the development of the computational physics lab course.

AAPT WM 21

Development and Design of a Computational Physics Lab Course

introductory computation

paradigms

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


AAPT SM 20

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

poster

AAPT® is a strong professional physics science society dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in physical science education.

Winter and Summer National Meetings:
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- discuss innovations in teaching methods
- share the results of research about teaching and learning.

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Sensemaking is a skill valued in the physics classroom as it aids students and expert physicists in drawing connections between varying representations and concepts in order to make sense of what they are learning or teaching. To promote students’ use of sensemaking practices throughout The Paradigms in Physics program we designed a course to explicitly teach students sensemaking skills early in their physics curriculum, Techniques of Theoretical Mechanics. This course covers both classical mechanics and special relativity, giving students experience with sensemaking in two different contexts. By teaching sensemaking explicitly and early, students have a tool box of sensemaking skills to draw on when solving novel physics problems. In this poster we explain the different pedagogical strategies used in Theoretical Mechanics to expand students’ views about sensemaking and help them develop habits that persist throughout The Paradigms in Physics program.

A Sensemaking Foundation for Paradigms in Physics at OSU

At the USAF Academy, 36.4% of the cadets who intended to major in STEM before their first semester ended up graduating in a nonSTEM career. This study investigated factors associated with cadets declaring STEM majors or switching out of them. Of the 3,248 cadets with a declared major at the end of the academic year, 128 switched majors, with the most cadets switching within either STEM or nonSTEM. Twenty-four cadets switched out of STEM, and seven switched into STEM. STEM departers were more likely to have a low GPA and to come from a preparatory school, and were less likely to be scholars, international or ESL students. Cadets who went from undeclared to STEM majors were more likely to have higher Core GPA and SAT scores and were less likely to participate in athletics. STEM attrition must be addressed through academic support and advising before cadets declare a major.

Selecting and Switching STEM Majors at USAF: Associated Retention Factors

The idea of Peer Review is inherent to NextGen PET. Many problems within the curriculum propose a conversation between students where each students defend a different idea. In these cases NextGen PET provides a specific method on how to evaluate the ideas of these hypothetical students. Step 1) Is the information accurate?&nbsp;Step 2) Are all aspects of the argument presented? Step 3) Is the argument presented in a logical way? This semester I wanted to apply this kind of framework as a type of Canvas assignment called Peer Review.&nbsp;Students must complete a rubric regarding a randomly assigned peer's ideas in order to help teach how to evaluate the ideas of others in group discussions.&nbsp; I will present how to set up in the assignments in a Canvas environment and lessons learned during the Fall 2020 semester at Los Angeles Pierce College.

NextGen PET Oriented Canvas Rubric for Online Elementary Education Majors

The start of the spring semester 2020 for universities all over China was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The team of Fudan Physics Teaching Lab actively explored new mode in Physics-experiment teaching for sophomore in special period. We divided the course content into several modules and adopted different teaching methods according to the existing resources, such as recording instructional videos, online Q&amp;A, Physics experiment based on smartphone, virtual experiments, optical simulation experiments etc. As our lives enter into the Network Information Age, it brings us a lot of convenience. We can use a variety of ways to make up for the regret of not being able to teach in class, so that students can complete experimental courses at home.

Physics Experiment Teaching Case sharing in COVID-19 Pandemic

There is abundant research showing systemic biases in STEM and academia. Facilitating a discussion around these issues, and ways to mitigate them, can be challenging. In this poster, I present a board game demonstrating how biases in the system disadvantage some people disproportionately, creating an inequitable system. This generates discussions about sources and consequences of these biases (unconscious bias, socioeconomic strata, etc.) Students brainstorm strategies to 'change the system' and with these new structures, the game is replayed to demonstrate decreased inequity.

Board Game to Facilitate Discussions on Systemic Bias

Exploring Physical Phenomena: What happens when light from the Sun shines on the Earth?&nbsp; &nbsp;is now available at&nbsp;https://open.oregonstate.education/physicsforteachers/. We developed this open source textbook in a laboratory-based physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers. Explorations mostly involve everyday equipment so portions also are appropriate for use in general science courses,&nbsp;hallway exhibits, and outreach activities.&nbsp;Units include the nature of light phenomena, nature of thermal phenomena, influence of light and thermal phenomena on local weather, influence of light and thermal phenomena on global climate change, and nature of astronomical phenomena such as phases of the moon. Emphasis is upon questioning, predicting, exploring, and discussing what one thinks and why.&nbsp;This open source textbook also emphasizes the integration of science and literacy learning. Each unit ends by making connections to the&nbsp; Next Generation Science Standards. &nbsp;Supplementary materials include equipment lists suitable for both on-campus and&nbsp;remote learning contexts. &nbsp; &nbsp;

Open Source Textbook: Exploring Physical Phenomena

The rapid transition to virtual teaching in March 2020 created opportunities for panic and chaos in high school classrooms across the country. Our physics teacher advisory group (TAG) in Northeast Indiana quickly became an important resource for high school and university faculty. In multiple Zoom meetings, participants shared strategies, evaluated digital tools, created wish lists, and vented frustrations. Grant funding was diverted to schools in need of materials for at-home laboratory activities. Two members shared their personal experience and recovery from COVID-19. While an significant resource before the pandemic, the ability of the group to provide community to otherwise isolated physics teachers demonstrated the need to broaden our mission and increase our commitment of university resources for this venture.&nbsp;

Physics Teacher Collaboration in Pandemic Times

This talk focuses on how a traditional, face-to-face teacher professional development workshop series on electric guitars, acoustic guitars, CNC/Electric guitar hybrids was rapidly switched to be delivered in an online environment using Canvas.&nbsp; The switch posed a particular problem because of the hands-on nature of the workshops.&nbsp; The workshop series also served as a model for teachers as they were considering how to teach a project-based course online.&nbsp; This talk will highlight a roadmap for PD providers who may be facing similar situations.&nbsp; Workshop outcomes and lessons learned will also be shared.

Delivering Integrated STEM Professional Development in an Online Environment

How does physics fit into the Classical Education paradigm? What must any student pursuing a minor in Classical Education know about physics? A previously-offered one-credit undergraduate seminar course “Teaching Secondary Physics” has been redesigned to be accepted as an elective in the Classical Education minor program at Hillsdale College, directed toward future physics teachers in a classical school setting. In addition to modules on physics standards and the various components of a standard physics course (lecture, lab, equipment, demos, homework, exams, texts), the course specifically addresses the place and role that physics can and should play in the growing Classical Education movement. Topics of discussion in this component of the course include views of physics and physics education in the Classical School movement, what Classical pedagogy might look like as applied to the physics classroom, and special topics dealing with thinkers from Aristotle to Francis Bacon to C.S. Lewis.

Physics for a Classical Education Minor

One of two complementary panels dedicated to raising awareness about improving the accessibility of undergraduate physics laboratory courses. In this panel, undergraduate and graduate physics students talk about their previous and current experiences in physics labs, and they make suggestions for improving accessibility of labs.] Physics labs are an exciting opportunity to teach and learn about physics by collaboratively planning, building, and carrying out experiments and interacting with advanced phenomena, apparatus, and software. Students, staff, and faculty with disabilities deserve full access to these learning environments, and it is everyone’s responsibility to recognize and mitigate the specific barriers to participation posed by space, technology, and pedagogical constraints that are unique to labs. To that end (and with support from an AAPT Special Projects Grant), the AAPT Committee on Laboratories assembled a task force whose charge is to issue an open call for increased investment in accessible physics labs.

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A Sensemaking Foundation for Paradigms in Physics at OSU

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