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AAPT SM 20

An Instructional Approach to Facilitate Introductory Physics Students’ Transfer of Learning

learning resources

transfer of learning

problem solving

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AAPT SM 21

technical paper

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.


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 recent pandemic has severely restricted in-person instruction in K-16 settings. A recently developed set of tools, PhyPhox, created in Germany, allow learners to harvest data directly using their cell phone. Experiments currently under development across a number of topics from mechanics ((In)elastic collisions, acceleration, pendulum motion) to audio analysis (Doppler effect, sonar, speed of sound) and creatively utilize multiple sensors to collect raw data. This free tool is available online and works across multiple cell phone platforms and services. Physics educators in RWTH Aachen University initially developed the tool and have collaborated with physics educators in New York State to develop and validate deployment strategies, including the use of instructional scaffolding approaches, video conferencing tools (including the use of breakout rooms for lab groups) and other appropriate techniques.

Using Cellphone Sensors for Data Collection

In a simple time of flight experiment, the speed of sound is observed to travel about 5% slower inside a corrugated irrigation pipe as compared with measurements conducted in open air. In addition to teaching students how to operate an oscilloscope to measure a known quantity, we suggest this slowing of sound might provide the sort of unanticipated finding that is a hallmark of recent, inquiry-based learning strategies, championed by Holmes and Wieman, but geared to an upper division, advanced lab audience. We propose an inquiry-based approach to this investigation wherein students must carefully evaluate the error in the measurement, concede that the finding is unexpected and apply critical thinking to decide how to resolve their observation in a second round of open-ended investigations.

Slow Sound: An advanced lab experience in critical thinking

Radiating is a Verb

At Western Washington University, labs for the calculus- and algebra-based physics courses were converted to an online format for Spring quarter 2020 in response to the COVID crisis. Two different implementation formats were used. One involved required synchronous lab sessions facilitated by a TA, a lab worksheet that served as a learning resource but was not a graded assignment, and a subsequent postlab quiz based on the lab worksheet. The other involved an optional synchronous lab session, a lab worksheet that was collected and graded as a required assignment from each student, and no postlab. In this talk, we describe these formats, report on student participation rates and engagement levels, and share student self-reports of learning value and enjoyment from identical surveys administered for each format. We find that leaving synchronous participation optional resulted in substantially lower participation rates.

Comparison of student participation and experience for two online lab formats

Case Study on the Computational Experiences of High School Physics Students

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An Instructional Approach to Facilitate Introductory Physics Students’ Transfer of Learning

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Using Cellphone Sensors for Data Collection

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