Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 APS March Meeting
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2005; Los Angeles, CA
Session S17: Issues in Physics Education |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd DCOMP Chair: Karen Cummings, Southern CT State Univ Room: LACC 404B |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
S17.00001: What is physics? The perceptions of middle and high school students in El Paso Eric Hagedorn, Manuela Ortiz The border region of El Paso, Texas contains many families of low socioeconomic and educational background. The majority of local public high schools are not only failing to achieve in math and science, but few of the students take non-required science courses such as physics and chemistry. This is consistent with the disturbing national trend that only 11{\%} of U.S. Hispanic children take both chemistry and physics in high school. In order to increase the number of students prepared for and willing to take physics in high school, we have been investigating the perceptions of middle and high school aged students about science in general and about physics in particular. Because parental attitudes play such a critical role in students development, this study also solicited the parental perceptions of the middle school students. Fifty-eight middle school students and 18 of their parents as well as 130 high school students responded to the prompt: ``Briefly write what you think physics is about.'' Responses were sorted and coded by hand as well as by using the TextSmart software package. Percentages for the various categories are provided as well as interpretation, theoretical explanations and possible educational implications. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
S17.00002: Girls, Cars, and Science Beth Parks For the past two summers, I have run an NSF-funded residential camp for girls ages 14-17. This camp is designed to stimulate girls' interest in science by building on their interest in automobiles. The girls spend half the day in hands-on work with cars at Morrisville State College. The other half of the day is dedicated to laboratory exercises at Colgate University that have been designed to help girls learn the science behind the operation of cars. While it is impossible to assess the long-range impact of this program after only two years, the results seem promising. I will discuss the camp program, with particular emphasis on the laboratory experiments that have been developed, which could easily be incorporated into standard high school or college laboratories. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
S17.00003: Internships in Public Science Education program: a model for informal science education Greta Zenner, Olivia Castellini, Arthur Ellis, Wendy Crone The NSF-funded Internships in Public Science Education (IPSE) program provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students with varied academic background to experience learning and teaching science--specifically nanotechnology--to the general public and middle-school students. The program is in collaboration with Discovery World Museum of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. IPSE interns have created a number of classroom activities ranging from understanding the scale of a nanometer to experimenting with liquid crystal sensors to critically examining the societal implications of nanotechnology. In a new phase of the program, the interns are developing a museum exhibit on nanotechnology to be housed at the Discovery World Museum. Through this experience, intern teams learn about nanotechnology, brainstorm ideas, present and receive feedback on their ideas, and create an exhibit prototype to explain nanotechnology and related science concepts. The program also focuses on professional development, during which interns learn techniques for presenting to non-technical audiences, strategies for assessing their materials, and work on their skills in teamwork, project design, leadership, and science communication. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
S17.00004: The LEAPS GK-12 Program Elisabeth Gwinn, Fiona Goodchild, Wendy Ibsen, Marilyn Garza The NSF-funded GK-12 program at UCSB, ``Let's Explore Applied Physical Science'' (LEAPS), awards full fellowships to competitively selected graduate students in the physical sciences and engineering, to support their engagement in local 8th and 9th grade science classrooms. The Fellows' responsibilities to LEAPS total 15 hours per week during the school year. They join consistently in the same classes to collaborate with teachers on delivery of discovery-oriented science instruction. Fellows work in 3-member, interdisciplinary teams. They benefit from this team approach through interaction with colleagues in other disciplines, validation from peers who share enthusiasm for science and mentoring, increased leadership and teaching skills, and a research safety net provided by teammates who can pick up the slack when one Fellow's research requires undivided attention. For teachers, the disciplinary breadth of the Fellow teams is an enormous asset in covering the broad physical science curriculum in CA. Students benefit from hands-on labs and small-group problem-solving exercises enabled by the Fellows' presence and from mentoring by these young scientists. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 3:18PM - 3:30PM |
S17.00005: Graduate Physics Education – Adding Industrial Culture and Methods to a Traditional Graduate Physics Department Ken Vickers, Greg Salamo, Ron Foster, Ronna Turner The education and training of the workforce needed to assure global competitiveness of American industry in high technology areas, along with the proper role of various disciplines in that educational process, is currently being re-examined. Several academic areas in science and engineering have reported results from such studies that revealed several broad themes of educational need that span and cross the boundaries of science and engineering. They included greater attention to and the development of team-building skills, personal or interactive skills, creative ability, and a business or entrepreneurial where-with-all. We will report in this paper the results of a fall 2000 Department of Education FIPSE grant to implement changes in its graduate physics program to address these issues. The proposal goal was to produce next-generation physics graduate students that are trained to evaluate and overcome complex technical problems by their participation in courses emphasizing the commercialization of technology research. To produce next-generation physics graduates who have learned to work with their student colleagues for their mutual success in an industrial-like group setting. And finally, to produce graduates who can lead interdisciplinary groups in solving complex problems in their career field. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 3:30PM - 3:42PM |
S17.00006: What Computational Approaches Should be Taught for Physics? Rubin Landau The standard \emph{Computational Physics} courses are designed for upper-level physics majors who already have some computational skills. We believe that it is important for first-year physics students to learn modern computing techniques that will be useful throughout their college careers, even before they have learned the math and science required for Computational Physics. To teach such \emph{Introductory Scientific Computing} courses requires that some choices be made as to what subjects and computer languages wil be taught. Our survey of colleagues active in Computational Physics and Physics Education show no predominant choice, with strong positions taken for the compiled languages Java, C, C++ and Fortran90, as well as for problem-solving environments like Maple and Mathematica. Over the last seven years we have developed an Introductory course and have written up those courses as text books for others to use. We will describe our model of using both a problem-solving environment and a compiled language. The developed materials are available in both Maple and Mathaematica, and Java and Fortran90\footnote{Princeton University Press, to be published; www.physics.orst.edu/\~{}rubin/IntroBook/}. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 3:42PM - 3:54PM |
S17.00007: Classroom Physics Applications Using The Open Source Physics (OSP) Library Javier Hasbun During the past few years the OSP library$^{1}$ has gained broad usage due to the various workshops held recently, in addition to the development of a wide variety of applications.$^{2}$ Here, three applications are presented in which such library has been employed and which are suitable for classroom use. The first is a 17 function data curve-fitter. The fitter can do up to 5th order polynomials, and includes power, logarithmic, lorentzian, and gaussian curve fitting capabilities. Such applications can be useful in undergraduate laboratories as well as in research involving undergraduates. The second application involves the simulated solution of a charged particle in crossed electric and magnetic fields, in which the 2D cycloidic behavior of the motion can be easily demonstrated. The third and final application involves the extension of the charged particle interacting with Both E and B fields. The motion that results from solving the equations $md^2\overrightarrow{r}/dt^2=q\overrightarrow{v}\times\overrightarrow{B} +\overrightarrow{E}$ is demonstrated in three dimensions with the ability to experiment with the parameters that affect the particle's trajectory as well as the user's viewpoint. The final versions of the applets will be available at http://www.westga.edu/$^\sim$jhasbun/osp/osp.htm, including the source code. \newline $^{1}$ J. E. Hasbun APS. Bull. \underline{49}, 1361 (2004). \newline $^{2}$ http://www.opensourcephysics.org [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 3:54PM - 4:06PM |
S17.00008: MIT’s 3.091 and NSDL Materials Digital Library: Investigating the Role of Digital Libraries in Freshmen Introductory Science Courses with No Lab Component Donald Sadoway, Laura Bartolo One example of the reality facing science educators is the practical impossibility of providing meaningful laboratory experience in large introductory undergraduate science courses. The Materials Digital Library (MatDL), as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Science Digital Library (NSDL) program, investigates issues associated with the delivery of content in materials science and its cognate areas. The focus of the current work is to investigate the feasibility of using data archived in digital libraries to provide freshmen in large introductory science classes a virtual laboratory experience that meets many of the educational objectives of classical laboratory offerings. Also, the question of scalability and broader applicability, e.g., to freshman physics, is under study. The results of a new pilot project launched this academic year will be reported. The virtual laboratory is associated with ``\textit{Introduction to Solid State Chemistry} 3.091,'' a course that over half the freshman class at MIT choose to satisfy the chemistry requirement but which lacks a laboratory component. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 4:06PM - 4:18PM |
S17.00009: Uncertainty Calculations in the First Introductory Physics Laboratory Shafiqur Rahman Uncertainty in a measured quantity is an integral part of reporting any experimental data. Consequently, Introductory Physics laboratories at many institutions require that students report the values of the quantities being measured as well as their uncertainties. Unfortunately, given that there are three main ways of calculating uncertainty, each suitable for particular situations (which is usually not explained in the lab manual), this is also an area that students feel highly confused about. It frequently generates large number of complaints in the end-of-the semester course evaluations. Students at some institutions are not asked to calculate uncertainty at all, which gives them a fall sense of the nature of experimental data. Taking advantage of the increased sophistication in the use of computers and spreadsheets that students are coming to college with, we have completely restructured our first Introductory Physics Lab to address this problem. Always in the context of a typical lab, we now systematically and sequentially introduce the various ways of calculating uncertainty including a theoretical understanding as opposed to a cookbook approach, all within the context of six three-hour labs. Complaints about the lab in student evaluations have dropped by 80{\%}. * supported by a grant from A. V. Davis Foundation [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 4:18PM - 4:30PM |
S17.00010: Interdisciplinary Materials Science at a Small Liberal Arts College: Integration of Curriculum and Research Sasha Dukan, Scott Sibley Faculty members from the departments of Physics and Chemistry at Goucher College have begun an NSF-funded project to increase the exposure of undergraduates to topics in materials science. The centerpiece of the project was development of a team-taught course offered jointly by two departments. The hands-on projects in the course use investigative methods that model modern research collaborations in physics and chemistry and include study of metals, semiconductors, superconductors and other materials presented from the perspective of both disciplines. In this presentation we will report on the progress in the curriculum development as well as discuss the impact that the project has had on the interdisciplinary student/faculty summer research at a small liberal arts college. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 4:30PM - 4:42PM |
S17.00011: Undergraduate Instruction in Nanoscience: Visualizing Quantum Confinement and Resonance Effects in 2DEG Nanostructures Ronald Cosby, Arkady Satanin, Yong Joe Undergraduate learning about the basic physics of electron transport in nanostructures is enhanced by visuals depicting probe-induced conductance modifications. Historically, studies on electrostatically-defined nanostructures in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure interface have revealed the physics of electron transport at the nanoscale. For structures strongly coupled to leads, a single electron picture satisfactorily explains the effects of quantum confinement, including quantization of conductance and the appearance of transmission resonances. Here, to aid undergraduate instruction, we add the basic concept of charge flow impediment by a local scatterer and probe the flow characteristics. Computationally scanning a short-range potential probe in conducting 2DEG nanostructures produces conductance modifications that illustrate propagating modes and resonance conditions. Structures and patterns selected for their instructional value are discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 4:42PM - 4:54PM |
S17.00012: Classical analogy of Fano interference Arkady Satanin, Yong Joe The resonances are main object of theoretical and experimental investigations in modern physics and the concept of resonances is ubiquitous in teaching. Fano resonance is phenomena of the interference between the configurations of discrete level and continuum [1]. The main purpose of present work is to give a simple explanation of the nature of Fano resonances. First, we briefly introduce a general feature and manifestation of resonances. We study basic ideas of resonance manifestation in simple mechanical systems by considering a single oscillator and two coupled oscillators. These models provide a main idea about an analytical zero-pole structure of amplitude and phase behaviors near the resonances. Therefore, we obtain the physical meaning of the zero amplitude in these systems. Second, we examine the Fano interference in quantum systems within the help of similar analogy with oscillators. As an example of quantum interference, we give a detailed examination of wave interference in a waveguide with an embedded attractive potential (quantum dot). In particular, the interference between the narrow group of states (quasi-bound or decaying states) and the continuum will be analyzed. We present a general expression for the scattering amplitude with a complex coupling parameter and an explicit expression for the Fano-profile. [1] U. Fano, Phys. Rev. \textbf{124}, 1866 (1961). [Preview Abstract] |
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S17.00013: Nanotechnology, Society, and Freshman, Oh My! Charles Tahan, Wendy Crone, Karin Ellison, Ricky Leung, Clark Miller, Greta Zenner Nanotechnology has emerged as a broad and exciting, yet ill-defined, field of scientific research and technological innovation. Important questions have arisen about the technology's potential economic, social, and environmental implications by prominent technology leaders, nanotechnology boosters, science fiction authors, policy officials, and environmental organizations. We have developed a freshman-level seminar course that offers an opportunity for students from a wide range of disciplines, including the natural and social sciences, humanities, and engineering, to learn about nanoscience and nanotechnology and to explore these questions and reflect on the broader place of technology in modern societies. The course is built around active learning methods and seeks to develop the students' critical thinking and research skills, written and verbal communication abilities, and general knowledge of nanotech. Continuous assessment is used to gain information about how effective the class discussions are and how well the overall course enhances students' understanding of the interaction between nanotechnology and society. [Preview Abstract] |
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