Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2018 Joint Fall Meeting of the Texas Sections of APS, AAPT and Zone 13 of the SPS
Volume 63, Number 18
Friday–Saturday, October 19–20, 2018; University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Session C02: American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) I |
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Chair: Milijana Suskavcevic, Clear Creek High School Room: Science and Engineering Classroom (SEC) 104 |
Friday, October 19, 2018 2:25PM - 3:01PM |
C02.00001: Using Glowscript in Introductory Physics Invited Speaker: Thomas L O'Kuma For several years I have been using Glowscript, http://www.glowscript.org, (and VPython before Glowscript) to give students an experience using computational modeling in introductory physics and recently in introductory astronomy courses as well. In this talk, I will show what programs students are currently doing and when they are done in the various courses. I will show several students example programs. |
Friday, October 19, 2018 3:01PM - 3:13PM |
C02.00002: Exceling in Physical Science Nathan Pool, Basel Hamad, James Charles Espinosa Physical Science courses have been recently non mathematical due to declining standards in K-12 education. Comparing any current physical science textbook with Kemble’s Physical Science: It’s Structure and Development shows this demise of mathematics education. We have tried to reintroduce more rigor by showing our students to use Excel to solve Newton’s second law iteratively. No algebra is utilized, just arithmetic. The preliminary results are promising. Students are able to solve numerous physically interesting problems with their Excel programs without the use of algebra. By using purely Newtonian physics, electromagnetism and atomic physics are easily introduced into the curriculum. Some of the spreadsheets that have been developed by physical science students will be presented. We will also indicate how this approach will be incorporated into our Physical Science II course which covers astronomy, chemistry, and geology. |
Friday, October 19, 2018 3:13PM - 3:25PM |
C02.00003: Superconductivity across the curriculum Andra Petrean Physics Departments at small colleges oftentimes are comprised of only a few faculty members, and hence the range of research topics the faculty can engage students in is limited. However, a little bit of ingenuity can expand a particular research topic into teaching opportunities in courses across the curriculum. In this talk, we will present how we use the topic of superconductivity in research with undergraduates both in summer and during the semester, in upper-level and entry-level courses, courses for physics and chemistry majors and as well as non-science majors. Possibilities for including superconductivity in theoretical courses and in courses that study the interplay between science, technology, and society are also explored. |
Friday, October 19, 2018 3:25PM - 3:37PM |
C02.00004: Advancing your Advanced Lab: Conference on Laboratories Beyond the First Year (BFYIII) Toni D Sauncy The Advanced Laboratory Physics Association (ALPhA) was formed in 2007 to provide communication and interaction among the faculty and staff who are involved in advanced laboratory physics instruction at colleges and universities in the United States and the rest of the world. The association has been pro-active in supporting educators and researchers in the development of apparatus, instrumentation, and curriculum designed to support this key component of the undergraduate physics education experience. At the most recent conference devoted to this topic, hosted by Loyola University-Baltimore, over 50 workshops were presented, aimed at expanding and enriching advanced lab offerings at the institutions of the over 200 attendees. Information on ALPhA, BFY Conferences, ideas and resources for excellent advanced labs, and current opportunities for learning more about advanced lab development will be discussed. |
Friday, October 19, 2018 3:37PM - 3:49PM |
C02.00005: Computational Physics at TLU Calvin Berggren I will present the recently devised strategy for integrating computational physics into the Physics and Applied Physics degrees at Texas Lutheran University, covering student learning objectives, a renovated two-semester sequence in computational physics, course strategies, content coverage, tools, and results so far. |
Friday, October 19, 2018 3:49PM - 4:01PM |
C02.00006: A way to find precise dispersive curves and optical characterization of transparent dielectric. Cristian Bahrim The index of refraction is the optical response of a material. We study dielectrics transparent to visible and near-visible light. We use the minimum deviation method of light passing through triangularly shaped dielectrics in order to measure precisely their indices of refraction. This method is spectacular for students because they can discover that when they look through a rotating prism mounted on a spectrometer table, the emission spectrum lines from a discharge tube placed in front of the prism rotate in one direction, let’s say clockwise, till they reach a turning point from where the spectrum rotates exactly counterclockwise. This turning point corresponds to the minimum deviation angle. The method is precise and allows to observe small differences between materials of same chemical composition. Using the Cauchy-Lorentz model for light propagating through transparent dielectrics, which considers the oscillations of the dipole constituents, we can find the density of electrons participating to light propagation, the speed of various lights released by the discharge source dispersed through the dielectric and its opacity wavelength. The students can recognize that light is emitted and detected as photons, but propagates and disperses as a wave through the dielectric. |
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