Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2015
Volume 60, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 2–6, 2015; San Antonio, Texas
Session L33: Focus Session: Undergraduate Teaching at the Intersection of Physics and Biology |
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Sponsoring Units: DBIO FEd Chair: Wolfgang Losert, University of Maryland, College Park Room: 208 |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
L33.00001: Rethinking Physics for Biologists: A design-based research approach Invited Speaker: Vashti Sawtelle Biology majors at the University of Maryland are required to take courses in biology, chemistry, and physics -- but they often see these courses as disconnected. Over the past three years the NEXUS/Physics course has been working to develop an interdisciplinary learning environment that bridges the disciplinary domains of biology and physics. Across the three years we have gone from teaching in a small class with one instructor to teaching in a large lecture hall with multiple instructors. We have used a design-based research approach to support critical reflection of the course at multiple-time scales. In this presentation I will detail our process of collecting systematic data, listening to and valuing students' reasoning, and bridging diverse perspectives led. I will demonstrate how this process led to improved curricular design, refined assessment objectives, and new design heuristics. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 8:36AM - 8:48AM |
L33.00002: Introductory Physics Laboratories for Life Scientists -- Hands on Physics of Complex Systems Wolfgang Losert, Kim Moore We have developed a set of laboratories and hands on activities to accompany a new two-semester interdisciplinary physics course that has been successfully implemented as the required physics course for premeds at the University of Maryland. The laboratories include significant content on physics relevant to cellular scales, from chemical interactions to random motion and charge screening in fluids. We also introduce the students to research-grade equipment and modern physics analysis tools in contexts relevant to biology, while maintaining the pedagogically valuable open-ended laboratory structure of reformed laboratories. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 8:48AM - 9:00AM |
L33.00003: A biotic video game smart phone kit for formal and informal biophysics education Honesty Kim, Seung Ah Lee, Ingmar Riedel-Kruse Novel ways for formal and informal biophysics education are important. We present a low-cost biotic game design kit that incorporates microbial organisms into an interactive gaming experience: A 3D-printable microscope containing four LEDs controlled by a joystick enable human players to provide directional light stimuli to the motile single-celled organism \textit{Euglena gracilis}. These cellular behaviors are displayed on the integrated smart phone. Real time cell-tracking couples these cells into interactive biotic video game play, i.e., the human player steers \textit{Euglena} to play soccer with virtual balls and goals. The player's learning curve in mastering this fun game is intrinsically coupled to develop a deeper knowledge about \textit{Euglena's} cell morphology and the biophysics of its phototactic behavior. This kit is dual educational - via construction and via play -- and it provides an engaging theme for a formal biophysics devices class as well as to be presented in informal outreach activities; its low cost and open soft- and hardware should enable wide adoption. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 9:00AM - 9:36AM |
L33.00004: Hands-on-Entropy, Energy Balance with Biological Relevance Invited Speaker: Mark Reeves Entropy changes underlie the physics that dominates biological interactions. Indeed, introductory biology courses often begin with an exploration of the qualities of water that are important to living systems. However, one idea that is not explicitly addressed in most introductory physics or biology textbooks is important contribution of the entropy in driving fundamental biological processes towards equilibrium. From diffusion to cell-membrane formation, to electrostatic binding in protein folding, to the functioning of nerve cells, entropic effects often act to counterbalance deterministic forces such as electrostatic attraction and in so doing, allow for effective molecular signaling. A small group of biology, biophysics and computer science faculty have worked together for the past five years to develop curricular modules (based on SCALEUP pedagogy). This has enabled students to create models of stochastic and deterministic processes. Our students are first-year engineering and science students in the calculus-based physics course and they are not expected to know biology beyond the high-school level. In our class, they learn to reduce complex biological processes and structures in order model them mathematically to account for both deterministic and probabilistic processes. The students test these models in simulations and in laboratory experiments that are biologically relevant such as diffusion, ionic transport, and ligand-receptor binding. Moreover, the students confront random forces and traditional forces in problems, simulations, and in laboratory exploration throughout the year-long course as they move from traditional kinematics through thermodynamics to electrostatic interactions. This talk will present a number of these exercises, with particular focus on the hands-on experiments done by the students, and will give examples of the tangible material that our students work with throughout the two-semester sequence of their course on introductory physics with a bio focus. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 9:36AM - 9:48AM |
L33.00005: A Low-Cost, Hands-on Module to Characterize Antimicrobial Compounds Using an Interdisciplinary, Biophysical Approach Vernita Gordon, Karishma Kaushik, Ashley Kessel, Nalin Ratnayeke We have developed a hands-on, experimental module that combines biology experiments with a physics-based analytical model to characterize antimicrobial compounds. To understand antibiotic resistance, participants perform a disc diffusion assay to test the antimicrobial activity of different compounds, then apply a diffusion-based analytical model to gain insights into the behavior of the active antimicrobial component. In our experience, this module was robust, reproducible, and cost-effective, suggesting that it could be implemented in diverse settings such as undergraduate research, STEM camps, school programs, and laboratory training workshops. This module addresses the paucity of structured training or education programs that integrate diverse scientific fields by providing valuable, interdisciplinary research experience in science outreach and education initiatives. Its low cost requirements make it especially suitable for use in resource-limited settings. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 9:48AM - 10:00AM |
L33.00006: An undergraduate course, and new textbook, on ``Physical Models of Living Systems'' Philip Nelson I'll describe an intermediate-level course on ``Physical Models of Living Systems.'' The only prerequisite is first-year university physics and calculus. The course is a response to rapidly growing interest among undergraduates in several science and engineering departments. Students acquire several research skills that are often not addressed in traditional courses, including: basic modeling skills, probabilistic modeling skills, data analysis methods, computer programming using a general-purpose platform like MATLAB or Python, dynamical systems, particularly feedback control. These basic skills, which are relevant to nearly any field of science or engineering, are presented in the context of case studies from living systems, including: virus dynamics; bacterial genetics and evolution of drug resistance; statistical inference; superresolution microscopy; synthetic biology; naturally evolved cellular circuits. Publication of a new textbook by WH Freeman and Co. is scheduled for December 2014. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 10:00AM - 10:12AM |
L33.00007: Teaching Optics to Biology Students Through Constructing a Light Microscope Jennifer Ross The microscope is familiar to many disciplines, including physics, materials science, chemistry, and the life sciences. It demonstrates fundamental aspects of ray and wave optics, making it an ideal system to help educate students in the basic concepts of optics and in measurement principles and techniques. We present an experimental system developed to teach students the basics of ray and wave optics. The students design, build, and test a light microscope made from optics components. We describe the equipment and the basic measurements that students can perform to develop experimental techniques to understand optics principles. Students measure the magnification and test the resolution of the microscope. The system is open and versatile to allow advanced projects such as epi-fluorescence, total internal reflection fluorescence, and optical trapping. We have used this equipment in an optics course, an advanced laboratory course, and graduate-level training modules. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 10:12AM - 10:48AM |
L33.00008: What Physics do Biophysicists Need to Know? Invited Speaker: Jonathon Howard |
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