United States

The rapid shift to online instruction presented daunting problems, but also an interesting question: What do we REALLY want students to learn from an introductory physics lab? At Cuyamaca College, we decided that we cared that students (1) connected abstract course material to something concrete, (2) understood how to collect, analyze, and present data to test a scientific idea, and (3) could communicate their own scientific understanding. To do this we designed two simulation based labs and a project. The lab project, a multi-part assignment spread over the remainder of the semester, asked students to propose, design, run, and present a lab themselves using tools they had at home or could get safely and cheaply. By providing a few examples and a lot of support, we received some truly remarkable projects ranging from DC motors and electromagnets to pendulums and egg drops. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

AAPT SM 20

Home Lab Project: Cheap, Simple Labs Deliver Complex Lessons

student centered instruction

online labs

introductory physics

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. 

technical paper

A safe, nurturing learning environment, hands-on collaborative learning, interaction with women model scientists, laboratory and industrial plant tours, engagement using novel experiences, and an atmosphere of positive reinforcement were key interventions implemented in a physics camp designed to enhance the physics learning of and disciplinary appreciation by middle school girls. The Physics Wonder Girls Program provided a free, renewable energy physics-based summer camp to two cohorts of middle school girls from the Philadelphia area. Coming from diverse communities, the girls took a crash course on circuits using solar cell kits, and built and raced solar cars and boats. They compared the efficiencies of silicon cells vs. organic solar cells, built solar cells based on dyes from raspberry and blackberry fruit, and used a thermal imager to audit heat leaks. They met women physicists and engineers, toured a local food plant and presented demonstrations to a community of friends and teachers.

A Free Renewable Energy-based Physics Camp for Diverse Middle School Girls

Smartphones have the potential to revolutionize how students learn physics. This talk will introduce teachers to several hands-on activities designed to explore core disciplinary ideas in physics. The activities exploit the highly sensitive and precise sensors in the smartphones that students already own, and of which they are expert users. You will be amazed at the performance of the sensors and the diverse set of high-precision experiments that are now possible. These activities are designed to require minimal additional equipment beyond the smartphone, allowing them to be conducted in classrooms with limited resources and through distance learning programs to engage in sophisticated experimental activities at home. Several of the activities will be presented and resources to perform others will be provided. Examples include activities on motion, collisions, energy, and magnetic fields of the Earth.

Phone Physics: Using Cell Phone Sensors for Distance Learning Experimentation

The Advanced Laboratory Physics Association (ALPhA) had meetings with ~30 advanced lab instructors from around the US and the world in May 2020. Many of those instructors talked about how hard it was to transition to online or remote lab classes during the Spring when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and about their worries for the Fall. These instructors asked ALPhA for two things: 1) increased communication to allow instructors to share ideas or to team up to solve problems, and 2) a curated list/database/website/document of resources that includes instructors’ experiences. During June and July, ALPhA will focus on these two requests by facilitating member communication and posting instructor-curated resources. As secretary of ALPhA, I will report back about these resources and relay the most important take-aways. To get up-to-date information or to join the conversation, please visit the ALPhA website at advlab.org.

Resources from ALPhA for Fall 2020 Advanced Lab Classes

Many science instructors aspire to let students discover the laws of nature on their own but find it can be logistically difficult and time consuming to put in practice. In addition, the results are often more equivocal than one would hope. One practical way to let students discover how the universe works is using interactive video. Interactive video uses high resolution recordings of scientifically interesting events that students can characterize for themselves using built-in tools. In many cases, students can also change important parameters in the video (mass, frequency, velocity, pH, etc) which lets them ask their own questions, design their own experiments to answer those questions, and then collect and analyze the results to reach data-driven conclusions.

Letting students discover the laws of nature using Interactive Video

A course in mathematical methods for physics is a valuable course in many physics departments to build a bridge between introductory courses and demanding upper-division courses, yet there are a number of challenges in successfully implementing such a course. After designing a math physics course from scratch and refining it over the last six years, I will discuss strategies for the course relating primarily to a nontraditional grading scheme that I have found to be particularly effective.

Strategies for the Math Physics Course at TLU

Ordinary Differential Equations in Math and Physics: Some Preliminary Observations

The recent global move to online instruction has increased the importance of videos in education. At the same time, active learning has become increasingly accepted as an improvement over passive instruction. How can we transfer the advantages of active learning to instruction via video? We found that physics videos are most effective when they are designed both to actively engage students and manage their cognitive load. Notably, it is the combination that matters; videos that either solely promote active learning or solely manage cognitive load provide no advantage to learning outcomes.

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Home Lab Project: Cheap, Simple Labs Deliver Complex Lessons

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