Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the APS
Thursday–Saturday, November 10–12, 2005; Gainesville, FL
Session NB: Physics Education |
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Chair: Robert DeSerio, University of Florida Room: Hilton Hawthorne |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:45AM - 10:57AM |
NB.00001: Physics in Films: Student Performance and Expectations Dan Maronde, Costas Efthimiou During the past three years an ambitious, long term, pilot project, given the sobriquet ``Physics in Films,'' has been developed and implemented at UCF. The goal of the project is to revitalize the traditional general education Physical Science course typically included in the curricula of most colleges and universities. The transformation of the course introducing clips from popular Hollywood movies to illustrate principles of physical science has been very successful. It has been praised by the students and has attracted the attention of both scientific and public media. In this talk, we present data to support the claims that the course is more interesting for the students and that their performance is superior to that of students in the traditional course. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:57AM - 11:09AM |
NB.00002: Comparing Examples: WebAssign versus Textbook Evan Richards, Jeff Polak, Ashley Hardin, Dr. John Risley Research shows students can learn from worked examples.$^{1}$ This pilot study compared two groups of students' performance (10 each) in solving physics problems. One group had access to interactive examples$^{2 }$released in WebAssign$^{3}$, while the other group had access to the counterpart textbook examples. Verbal data from students in problem solving sessions was collected using a think aloud protocol$^{4}$ and the data was analyzed using Chi's procedures.$^{5}$ An explanation of the methodology and results will be presented. Future phases of this pilot study based upon these results will also be discussed. $^{1}$Atkinson, R.K., Derry, S.J., Renkl A., Wortham, D. (2000). ``Learning from Examples: Instructional Principles from the Worked Examples Research'', \textit{Review of Educational Research}, vol. 70, n. 2, pp. 181-214. $^{2}$Serway, R.A. {\&} Faughn, J.S. (2006). \textit{College Physics} (7$^{th}$ ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. $^{3}$ see www.webassign.net $^{4}$ Ericsson, K.A. {\&} Simon, H.A. (1984). \textit{Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data. } Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. $^{5}$ Chi, Michelene T.H. (1997). ``Quantifying Qualitative Analyses of Verbal Data: A Practical Guide,'' \textit{The Journal of the Learning Sciences}, vol. 6, n. 3, pp. 271-315. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:09AM - 11:21AM |
NB.00003: The CHEPREO Project: Building a Learning Community Around HEP Laird Kramer, Vanessa Gaultney, Pete Markowitz, George O'Brien, Priscilla Pamela, Jeff Saul The Inter-Regional Grid-enabled Center for High-Energy Physics Research Education and Outreach (CHEPREO) is a NSF-supported project that is building a learning community centered around high-energy physics, grid computing, and high speed networking. CHEPREO's goal is to generate excitement about physics and science in general, support inquiry-based instructional methods in the classroom, and increase physics enrollment at both the high school and college level. These changes are affected through our community of high school students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and university faculty in diverse South Florida. CHEPREO's efforts are based on physics modeling, QuarkNet, and Treisman-based study groups, integrating these programs into a high-energy physics-based research program supplemented by newly developed materials. An overall description and results from the first two years will be presented along with a look towards future growth. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:21AM - 11:33AM |
NB.00004: The CHEPREO Project: Results from the Undergraduate Learning Community Vanessa Gaultney, Laird Kramer, Pete Markowitz, George O'Brien, Priscilla Pamela, Jeff Saul The Inter-Regional Grid-enabled Center for High-Energy Physics Research Education and Outreach (CHEPREO) is a NSF-supported project that is building a learning community centered around high-energy physics, grid computing, and high speed networking. CHEPREO's goal is to generate excitement about physics and science in general, support inquiry-based instructional methods in the classroom, and increase physics enrollment at both the high school and college level. These changes are affected through our community of high school students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and university faculty in diverse South Florida. CHEPREO's efforts are based on physics modeling, QuarkNet, and Treisman-based study groups, integrating these programs into a high-energy physics-based research program supplemented by newly developed materials. We will report on results from the undergraduates involved in the project's first 24 months of operation. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:33AM - 11:45AM |
NB.00005: The CHEPREO Project: Results from the High School Learning Community Jeff Saul, Vanessa Gaultney, Laird Kramer, Pete Markowitz, George O'Brien, Priscilla Pamela The Inter-Regional Grid-enabled Center for High-Energy Physics Research Education and Outreach (CHEPREO) is a NSF-supported project that is building a learning community centered around high-energy physics, grid computing, and high speed networking. CHEPREO's goal is to generate excitement about physics and science in general, support inquiry-based instructional methods in the classroom, and increase physics enrollment at both the high school and college level. These changes are affected through our community of high school students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and university faculty in diverse South Florida. CHEPREO's efforts are based on physics modeling, QuarkNet, and Treisman-based study groups, integrating these programs into a high-energy physics-based research program supplemented by newly developed materials. We will report on results from the high school activities in the project's first 24 months of operation. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:45AM - 11:57AM |
NB.00006: Comparative Study of Federal Spending on College and University-Based Research and Development and the position Southeastern States Sam Aceil United State with 5\% of the population has the largest economy on the globe and is the largest producer or consumer of many products, services, resources and byproducts. The dynamic and the socio-economic trends are for more globalization and permeation and ultimate elimination of economic and probably even political boarders. The linkage between socio-economical progress and science and technology is undeniable. And science and technology are advanced through Research and Development (R\&D). There are no doubt that the nation Colleges and Universities (C\&U) perform a great deal of R\&D economically and efficiently. Federal government is the largest single source of R\&D funds in the nation. Available data indicates that the top 80 C\&U receive 71\% of the total federal R\&D funds (FY2002). Available data shows southeastern states C\&U are continuously receiving below national average federal R\&D funds. Considering this fact question can be raised that, are students at these C\&U are shortcut in R\&D and education. Considering the direct linkage between economic growth and R\&D, is the region being denied to fulfill its potential to help the herself, the nation and etc. Is it a part of SEASAPS mission as a professional and science and technology organization to realize this problem and seek ways to eliminate the disparity in distribution of federal funds. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:57AM - 12:09PM |
NB.00007: A New Twist on Resonance in a Tube Rich Schelp Understanding resonance is key to making sense of a wide range of physical phenomena. I will illustrate a simple and inexpensive way to allow students to explore resonance using equipment that many high schools and colleges already have available. The benefits of this method include: (1) Students get clear, convincing data without much difficulty, (2) Students are themselves the sound sources, bringing the experiment from ``what lab apparatus does'' to ``how the world works'', (3) Students work through the meaning of a visual representation of sound as they predict how altering the setup will affect the representation, (4) Students use their data to find the speed of sound in air to within a few percent of the standard value. With the appropriate emphases and level of analysis, this experiment is suitable as a lab for college students, a lab for high school students, or as a demonstration. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 12:09PM - 12:21PM |
NB.00008: The Atomic Bomb Fragment: An Experience in Explaining Nuclear Science to the Popular Media Derek Jokisch, David Peterson, Philip Fulmer On March 11, 1958 a B-47 strategic bomber on a training mission accidentally dropped a Mark 6 nuclear bomb over rural South Carolina. The bomb, which did not contain the fissionable core, detonated on a lot in Mars Bluff, SC, less than a mile from the current campus of Francis Marion University (FMU). Though the accounts of this event have been written several times, the most extensive account was recently published in the May 2005 issue of Esquire magazine. The author of the Esquire article contacted health physics faculty at FMU in February of 2005 after finding a local resident that claimed to have a fragment of the bomb. In attempting to authenticate the fragment, the author was surprised to measure radioactivity with a Geiger counter. He asked if FMU had the equipment necessary to determine the source of the activity. We spent one afternoon with the author while acquiring a gamma-ray spectrum from the fragment. In addition to presenting the brief scientific analysis, this talk will describe the communication with the author of the article and the subsequent interpretation presented in the publication. [Preview Abstract] |
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