Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2018
Volume 63, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 14–17, 2018; Columbus, Ohio
Session G03: Excellence in Physics Education AwardInvited Session Prize/Award Undergraduate Students
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Sponsoring Units: FED Chair: Geraldine Cochran, Rutgers University Room: A114-115 |
Sunday, April 15, 2018 8:30AM - 9:06AM |
G03.00001: Excellence in Physics Education Award Talk: PhET Interactive Simulations: Making physics engaging and accessible for all Invited Speaker: Katherine Perkins With a collection of 142 interactive simulations for teaching and learning, and nearly 100 million uses per year worldwide, the PhET Interactive Simulations project has come a long way since its beginning in 2002. Founded as the ``Physics Education Technology'' project, the vision was to make physics engaging and accessible for all learners by tapping into a natural curiosity about real world phenomena. From motion to E{\&}M to quantum, each simulation creates an inviting, interactive environment where students learn through exploration, where the invisible is made visible, and which include the visual models that physicists use. Today, teachers use PhET simulations with diverse students from elementary through college, and in diverse ways from interactive lecture, to lab, to homework. The journey from 2002 to today has included many cycles of innovation and learning as PhET expanded from physics to chemistry to math, from college to middle school, and from a local resource to an international mainstay. We will reflect on the challenges and the successes, and how physics and the physicist's perspective has shaped and advanced our work throughout. Finally, we will look ahead to what's on the horizon for PhET -- bringing physics learning to students with disabilities, advancing assessment of science practices, and building a sustainable business model. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 15, 2018 9:06AM - 9:42AM |
G03.00002: Equity and inclusion by design in calculus-based introductory physics Invited Speaker: Suzanne White Brahmia Extended Analytical Physics (EAP) at Rutgers University is a large-enrollment introductory calculus-based mechanics course for mathematically underprepared engineering students - many coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged New Jersey school districts. EAP is offered in parallel with, and as an alternative to, the mainstream calculus-based course. It was designed to help close degree completion gaps for female and under-represented minority students in engineering while holding all students to the same standards as the mainstream course. This talk describes the history, the development and the mistakes made along the way. EAP was designed from its outset to empower students who may feel they don't belong by developing community, valuing naive ideas, creating a collaborative social climate, and broadening access through scaffolded activities and targeted interventions. The curriculum and community structure has helped drive more equitable graduation rates for over 20 years, in addition to helping realize significant gains on the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey(CLASS) and the Force Concept Inventory(FCI). The talk will highlight the features of EAP that are transferrable to typical large-enrollment introductory physics courses. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 15, 2018 9:42AM - 10:18AM |
G03.00003: Rethinking Physics for Biologists: A Design-Based Research Approach Invited Speaker: Vashti Sawtelle As physicists we'd like to think of our physics classes as communicating the beauty of the world around us from a physics perspective. However, the students most likely to take our introductory physics classes are those who do not appreciate physics for its own right nor see the course as connected to things they do appreciate. Biology programs typically require students to take courses in introductory biology, chemistry, and physics - but they often see these courses as disconnected. To combat this problem, Introductory Physics for the Life Science (IPLS)courses are gaining momentum in the physics education community, with the creation of multiple curricula for a variety of implementation strategies. At Michigan State University, we have designed an integrated lab-lecture (studio style) introductory physics course that meets the needs of life science students. Our design of this course focused on (1) connecting the disciplines of physics, biology, and chemistry through designing authentic tasks for students in collaboration with biophysicists, (2) incorporating computational simulations that model complex biological phenomenon, and (3) building positive relationships for life science students with physics. Our key goal in the design of this course was to help students see the relevance and utility of physics to things they care about. In this presentation I will detail our process of collecting systematic data, listening to and valuing students' reasoning, and bridging diverse perspectives. I will demonstrate how this process led to improved curricular design, refined assessment objectives, and new design heuristics. [Preview Abstract] |
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