Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Joint Spring 2010 Meeting of the Texas Sections of the APS, AAPT, and SPS
Volume 55, Number 3
Thursday–Saturday, March 18–20, 2010; Austin, Texas
Session C2: AAPT: College and Pre-college Teaching and Teacher Education I |
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Chair: Saad Eways, Austin Community College Room: Robert Lee Moore Hall 6.104 |
Friday, March 19, 2010 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
C2.00001: Improvements to the Learning Environment Using Technology Ray Burnstein, Morrie Schulman Technology has changed the learning environment of large classes with the use of hand controlled and other response devices. At the same time comprehensive software packages containing learning tools have been developed. The utility, economics and flexibility of these systems has improved markedly within the last few years. Therefore it is useful to present a review of some of the current hardware and software systems available. We discuss how the technology might evolve to produce additional advances in learning science practices and research. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 19, 2010 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
C2.00002: Use of videos for students to see the effect of changing gravity on harmonic oscillators Raymond Benge, Charlotte Young, Alan Worley, Shirley Davis, Linda Smith, Amber Gell In introductory physics classes, students are introduced to harmonic oscillators such as masses on springs and the simple pendulum. In derivation of the equations describing these systems, the term ``g'' for the acceleration due to gravity cancels in the equation for the period of a mass oscillating on a spring, but it remains in the equation for the period of a pendulum. Frequently there is a homework problem asking how the system described would behave on the Moon, Mars, etc. Students have to have faith in the equations. In January, 2009, a team of community college faculty flew an experiment aboard an aircraft in conjunction with NASA's Microgravity University program. The experiment flown was a study in harmonic oscillator and pendulum behavior under various gravity situations. The aircraft simulated zero gravity, Martian, Lunar, and hypergravity conditions. The experiments were video recorded for students to study the behavior of the systems in varying gravity conditions. These videos are now available on the internet for anyone to use in introductory physics classes. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 19, 2010 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
C2.00003: The NASA Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) Regional Teaching Exchange Program: What it can do for you! W. Lee Powell Jr. The NASA Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) has played an important role in facilitating and performing astronomy education research (AER). They have been particularly effective at making the results of AER, particularly methods of interactive engagement, available and accessible to the general teaching community. The Regional Teaching Exchange is another tool that the CAE has developed to that end. I will discuss the role envisioned for the exchanges, and discuss my own vision for the Texas Regional Teaching Exchange which will have its inaugural event at this meeting. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 19, 2010 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
C2.00004: Quest Learning and Assessment, UT Austin Gerald Lewis, Patsy McDonald, Rhonda Hostetler Quest Learning {\&} Assessment is an innovative web-based tool for instructors and students of math and science. Quest was created at The University of Texas at Austin to address educational challenges at one of the biggest universities in the country. It now serves a primary role in classes taught within UT's College of Natural Sciences. Quest covers subjects ranging from mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, computer science and statistics. For instructors, Quest offers an easy way to create homework assignments, quizzes and exams with its extensive knowledge base. Since most questions have built-in variations Quest can create custom assignments for each student, which are automatically graded. Once solutions are available, students can read detailed explanations to questions and understand why their answer was correct or incorrect. Quest has graded over 30 million student responses and is now available to all education institutions. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 19, 2010 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
C2.00005: A Novel Use of Wikipedia in the Instruction of Introduction Physics Labs for Non-majors Nathan Erickson Over the past 2 years, I have incorporated the use of Wikipedia entries into the conclusion sections of the students' lab reports for an introductory physics I laboratory course. The goal of this inclusion is to give students further motivation to learn the knowledge was well as allow the students to bring their knowledge of physics from a memorization schema to a deeper and more fundamental understanding. I will provide initial feedback from students which indicates that this simple cross-disciplinary addition has helped with motivation while exciting a more robust understanding of course material. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 19, 2010 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
C2.00006: Dark Matter -- What Is It, Where Does It Come From, And Why Is It Cold? Lionel D. Hewett One of the most perplexing mysteries of modern cosmology is dark matter. It can be observed today only through the orbital mechanics of galaxies and the bending of light rays. And in the early universe it was required to produce the gravitational pockets necessary for the formation galaxies. But neither the extremely successful $\Lambda $-CDM model of cosmology nor the widely accepted inflationary theory of cosmology provide any clue as to why dark matter should exist or exhibit such unusual properties. On the other hand, Time-Symmetric Cosmology not only identifies dark matter to be the remnant of primordial black holes that emerged from the first physical events following creation but also explains how dark matter began cold and was able to remained cold even during the primordial universe when temperatures were hot enough to prevent quarks from condensing into nucleons. [Preview Abstract] |
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