Bulletin of the American Physical Society
78th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the APS
Volume 56, Number 9
Wednesday–Saturday, October 19–22, 2011; Roanoke, Virginia
Session PA: Physics Education |
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Chair: Gerald Feldman, The George Washington University Room: Crystal Ballroom A |
Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:45AM - 10:57AM |
PA.00001: LabVIEW ALPHA Immersion at Reed College R. Seth Smith During the summer of 2011, ALPHA (Advanced Physics Laboratory Association) hosted a series of laboratory immersion experiences in which faculty could spend several days working closely with a mentor on an advanced undergraduate experiment. The goal of this program is to foster wider implementation of these experiments at the undergraduate level. One of these immersions took place at Reed College and focused on the use of LabVIEW software in undergraduate physics laboratories. This was an extremely valuable laboratory. The immersion experience and the LabVIEW projects will be described. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:57AM - 11:09AM |
PA.00002: What is the purpose of undergraduate physics labs? William Sams, Michael Paesler, Cliff Chafin In recent years, enrollment in undergraduate physics courses at NC State has grown significantly, especially in introductory physics. Since most of these courses involve a laboratory component, the increased enrollment is leading to a shortage of laboratory space. Starting this spring NC State will implement kit labs in calculus-based mechanics labs. These kits will make it possible for students to have laboratory experiences outside of the standard lab rooms, decreasing space demands. During the implementation the kit labs will be evaluated with an instrument developed for this purpose. This paper discusses the first step of designing this instrument, determining what the specific goals and purposes of the labs are. Literature reviews have led to focus on three primary areas where students should make gains during lab: content knowledge, scientific process, and affect. Physics faculty members were surveyed to identify specific areas considered important for our labs. Using results from our survey and published literature we have developed a specific set of goals for our labs, and we are using this to guide the development of our assessment instrument. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:09AM - 11:21AM |
PA.00003: Remote Sensing: Radio Frequency Detection for High School Physics Students Daniel Huggett, Michael Jeandron, Larry Maddox, Sanichiro Yoshida In an effort to give high school students experience in real world science applications, we have partnered with Loranger High School in Loranger, LA to mentor 9 senior physics students in radio frequency electromagnetic detection. The effort consists of two projects: Mapping of 60 Hz noise around the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), and the construction of a 20 MHz radio telescope for observations of the Sun and Jupiter (Radio Jove, NASA). The results of the LIGO mapping will aid in strategies to reduce the 60 Hz line noise in the LIGO noise spectrum. The Radio Jove project will introduce students to the field of radio astronomy and give them better insight into the dynamic nature of large solar system objects. Both groups will work together in the early stages as they learn the basics of electromagnetic transmission and detection. The groups will document and report their progress regularly. The students will work under the supervision of three undergraduate mentors. Our program is designed to give them theoretical and practical knowledge in radiation and electronics. The students will learn how to design and test receiver in the lab and field settings. [Preview Abstract] |
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