Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Spring 2017 Joint Meeting of the Texas Section of AAPT, Texas Section of APS, and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students
Volume 62, Number 3
Thursday–Saturday, March 9–11, 2017; San Antonio, Texas
Session B1: Computational Physics and Others |
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Sponsoring Units: AAPT Chair: Paul Williams, Austin Community College Room: Oppenheimer OC 108 |
Friday, March 10, 2017 10:00AM - 10:24AM |
B1.00001: Who Needs Computation in Undergraduate Physics Courses? Invited Speaker: Norman Chonacky In recent years computation has significantly shaped science and engineering practices. Research and development in the professional sciences and engineering have adopted this ``three legged'' (theory, experiment, and computation) approach at ``warp speed'' amid breath taking achievements. But with few exceptions, computation has not yet been integrated with theory and experiment across undergraduate curricula. This suggests that the transition process is either very difficult or not a high priority. Physics faculty have traditionally been responsible for designing the physics curriculum in this country. The AAPT SPINUP study found that undergraduate curricula -- standard offerings, topics, and their arrangement in the courses -- are highly standardized among American colleges and universities, despite an absence of external standards. This implies that agreement on content among undergraduate physics instructors is quite uniform, even if their pedagogy is not. Faculty are the key to breaching this uniformity. This talk describes a path for transition based upon survey findings of the \textit{American Institute of Physics }(AIP). That study stimulated the \textit{Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics }(PICUP) to develop a Framework for faculty development learning to use computation in their courses. Now, with the support of the NSF and the AAPT, PICUP projects are underway to carry out this work in supportive and collaborative environments. Faculty and students need this. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 10:24AM - 10:36AM |
B1.00002: Using Glowscript in the Introductory Physics Laboratory Thomas O'Kuma During the past several years, I have students use VPython (\underline {http://vpython.org}) to perform certain mechanics and electricity and magnetism laboratory activities in my calculus-based courses. Starting fall 2016, I have switched these activities to Glowscript (\underline {http://www.glowscript.org}). In this presentation, I will discuss what I am currently doing in these laboratory courses, some of the advantages in using Glowscript, and some student generated results. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 10:36AM - 10:48AM |
B1.00003: Implementing a visual programming editor for VPython Cody Blakeney, Michael Dube, Hunter Close, Aimee Roundtree Programing skills are becoming increasingly more important in physics and other STEM fields. Existing tools for teaching physics and engineering using computational modeling, like VPython, can require students to already have a foundation of programming, thus narrowing students learning opportunities. Block programming with visual environments like Blockly provides a way to engage learners with algorithmic thinking without extensive pre-requisite knowledge of keywords, functions, and syntax. It has also been observed to have various benefits for beginning programmers. We have created a prototype for a visual programing environment that allows students to create physics simulations utilizing the open source projects VPython and Blockly. This prototype is currently being imported into an existing website for teaching coding, and we hope to report on that process as well. We discuss lessons learned during development and initial user testing about the challenges of making a visual programming environment for physics simulations. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 10:48AM - 11:00AM |
B1.00004: Review of research on student learning of physics through computation Aaron Collins, Hunter Close "Programming is everything." According to the recent Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs report "Phys21: Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers", the most common thing that physics graduates entering the STEM workforce say they wish they could have learned is programming. The growing PICUP (http://www.compadre.org/PICUP/index.cfm) movement in physics instruction is expanding both the opportunities and the need for physics education research focusing on student learning of computation. New research should be grounded in existing literature on student learning in computer science. We review studies to understand the state of teacher professional development in the area, visual programming environments, and student learning of computational concepts. In particular, we look at research on Scratch and VPython environments and idea-mapping as a method of assessing computational thinking. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 11:00AM - 11:12AM |
B1.00005: Introductory Physics Labs -- Using `smart phones' to engage students Toni Sauncy While cell phones are sometimes an unwanted distraction, new applications that access the multiple sensors on these common devices make them useful laboratory tools. Students in freshman physics labs have been encouraged to find new ways that smart phone functions and applications can be used in the design and execution of lab experiments. Several examples for both the intro mechanics and intro E{\&}M labs will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 11:12AM - 11:24AM |
B1.00006: Making In-House Videos for Lab Instruction. Lionel Hewett It is often impossible to schedule physics laboratory experiments to coincide with the lectures that cover the same material. As a result, students often enter the laboratories completely unfamiliar with both the laboratory topic and the experimental equipment. Sometimes these deficiencies are also true for the student teaching assistants who help manage the laboratory sessions. Preparing these students for performing the experiments can consume considerable amounts of repetitive time from our departmental faculty. In order to reduce this teaching load, we have begun preparing short demonstration video for each lab. To reduce the costs and speed up turn-around time, we have chosen to prepare the videos in-house. This talk outlines our procedure for making such videos, discusses our experience so far, and shows some sample videos of what we have accomplished. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 11:24AM - 11:36AM |
B1.00007: A Tale of Two Slinkies: Learning about Model Building in a Student-Driven Classroom Calvin Berggren, Punit Gandhi, Jesse Livezey, Ryan Olf We describe a set of conceptual activities and hands-on experiments based around understanding the dynamics of a slinky that is hung vertically and released from rest. The motion, or lack thereof, of the bottom of the slinky after the top is dropped sparks students' curiosity by challenging their expectations and provides motivation and context for learning about scientific model building. This curriculum helps students learn about the model building process by giving them an opportunity to enlist their collective intellectual and creative resources to develop and explore two different physical models of the falling slinky system. By engaging with two different models, students not only have the opportunity to understand an intriguing phenomenon from multiple perspectives, but also learn deeper lessons about the nature of scientific understanding, the role of physical models, and the experience of doing science. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 10, 2017 11:36AM - 11:48AM |
B1.00008: How Much Does the Laboratory Component of Entry Level Physics Courses Affect the Lecture Component? John Winfrey Suppose one were to ask a room full of Physics instructors: 1) What is/are the purpose(s) of Laboratories, 2) Do Laboratories have stand-alone goals or do they (in part) influence the Lectures, and 3) If you think Laboratories influence Lectures, how much? It is unlikely there would be much consensus. In this presentation, two examples are presented that show that there is a \underline {nontrivial} influence of Laboratories on Lectures. The mechanism is conceptual understanding. Also presented: some examples of tuning old Labs into Millennial-generation Labs: bigger Bang for your Buck. [Preview Abstract] |
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