Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Joint Spring 2012 Meeting of the Texas Sections of the APS and AAPT and Zone 13 of the SPS
Volume 57, Number 2
Thursday–Saturday, March 22–24, 2012; San Angelo, Texas
Session C3: Contributed Oral Presentations: AAPT 1 |
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Chair: Eric Hagedorn, Universit of Texas at El Paso Room: Houston Harte University Center UC 211 |
Friday, March 23, 2012 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
C3.00001: Report on THECB Decisions Regarding Physics Programs Heather Galloway In April 2010, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board adopted rules requiring bachelor's programs to produce 25 majors in five years and master's degree programs to produce 15 in five years. In Fall 2011, a number of physics programs were facing the loss of degree programs. Data regarding the decisions will be presented including the effects on non-physics areas. This presentation will focus on the discussion during the Coordinating Board meeting at which these appeals were presented and on the current coalition that is under consideration by the Coordinating Board. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
C3.00002: 10 years after SPIN-UP Andrew Wallace As a new department head in 1998 I gained access to institutional data that indicated the BS Physics program at Angelo State University would be extinct by 2006. The Department of Physics implemented several changes to increase enrollment and graduation rates in the BS Physics program. These changes involved curriculum, effectiveness, policy, recruiting, and resources. Today the department has over 160 declared majors and graduates 10-11 per year for the past 5 years. Recent Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Low Producing program closures, proposed increases in production rates, and new strategic initiatives from the Texas Tech University System will require additional solutions to remain a viable undergraduate physics program in Texas. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
C3.00003: Simulation Based Conceptual Tutorials for Introductory Physics Paul Williams The author has been developing a series of simulation based conceptual tutorials for introductory physics. The goal of the tutorials is to present the conceptual development usually done in lecture with a more learner centered approach. To date, tutorials have been developed on kinematics, force, energy, thermal processes, and the electric field. Some sample activities from the tutorials will be shown and some very preliminary data assessing the effectiveness will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
C3.00004: Cognitive Advantages of Blending with Material Anchors in Energy Instruction Hunter Close, Eleanor Close, Rachel Scherr, Sarah McKagan Conceptual blending theory [1] explains how the human imagination creates unreal situations that help us think about reality. In these imaginary blended situations, we establish new correspondences, interactions, and dynamics, and the outcomes of the dynamics lend insight to the nature of various real situations that were used to compose the blend. Blends are not just in the head, however; in some cases, a material system participates in the blend by lending its material structure as conceptual structure [2]. In the instructional activity Energy Theater [3], people represent units of energy and move around in order to solve puzzles of energy transfer and transformation. We use the ideas of blending and material anchors to understand how learners are able to use the representation to their cognitive advantage. \\[4pt] [1] Fauconnier, G. \& Turner, M. (2002). The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.\\[0pt] [2] Hutchins, E. (2005) Material anchors for conceptual blends. Journal of Pragmatics 37, 1555-1577.\\[0pt] [3] Scherr, R. E., Close, H. G., McKagan, S. B., \& Close, E. W. (2010) ``Energy Theater'': Using the body symbolically to understand energy. In C. Singh, M. Sabella, \& S. Rebello (Eds.) 2010 PERC Proceedings. Melville, NY: AIP Press. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
C3.00005: Unequivocal Proof Supergirl is Faster Than Superman or The Flash: Inclusion of Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Jim Sizemore Diversity in physics and engineering, including inclusion of women, is a problem that has been discussed for several decades yet has not found adequate systemic solutions. It is presumed that most physicists and engineers today agree, as evidence supports, that women and minorities have as much intrinsic ability to succeed as men and majority students although some prejudice continues to exist. Therefore, the primary question today becomes how to improve inclusion. Other STEM disciplines, particularly mathematics and medicine, have made great strides including women and it appears inclusion of minorities is improving at a slow rate. In this talk, a review of papers reporting department practices in STEM fields that successfully improved inclusion will be presented. Also specific practices to improve inclusion will be reviewed and presented including the example proving Supergirl is faster than either Superman or The Flash. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
C3.00006: Engaging physics majors as partners in teaching: Learning Assistants in introductory physics Eleanor Close, David Donnelly, Hunter Close This semester we are running a pilot Learning Assistant (LA) program in one section of our introductory calculus-based mechanics course. The LA model of course transformation was developed at the University of Colorado (http://laprogram.colorado.edu/). In our current implementation, five undergraduate physics majors are assisting with tutorial instruction in the lecture section once a week (using primarily Tutorials in Introductory Physics); in addition, most weekly laboratory sections begin with a tutorial. Both LAs and laboratory TAs attend tutorial preparation sessions prior to instruction each week. In this talk we briefly describe the current program, including implementation issues; give preliminary notes on the experiences of the new LAs; and discuss future plans for an expanded LA program. Overall our plan is to improve the experience of being an undergraduate physics student in our department by improving student understanding of physics concepts and by including students as legitimate participants in the mission of the department. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2012 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
C3.00007: Physics Public Engagement--Not Just for Kids Anymore! Toni Sauncy Engaging the community with physics is a way of developing and supporting a vibrant and strong physics department at Angelo State University. The Society of Physics Students chapter has been actively involved in numerous public engagement activities for over 10 years. These efforts claim to focus on ``enhancement of attitudes'' for the audience participants, but the benefits of these public engagement opportunities go well beyond getting the younger students excited about science. The more critical need addressed by outreach programs such as ours is getting the undergraduate student presenters engaged as professional scientists, immersed in the true culture of scientific citizenship, and taking ownership of not only the physics they present, but also the impact that they potentially have on the students with which they interact. As undergraduate physics programs across the nation find themselves facing programmatic cuts, the value of engaging undergraduate students in purposeful service as a means of retention in the major should be considered as a standard part of a successful program curriculum. [Preview Abstract] |
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