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2022 AAPT Virtual Winter Meeting Workshops

AAPT-Registration
When
1/21/2022 - 1/23/2022

Program

Friday, 21 January 2022

Description
W21A: Just Physics?: Community Conversations
Join the editors of the new TPT column "Just Physics?" and some of the authors who've written for us in a conversation surrounding issues of justice in physics and physics education!
Time
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
4:00 PM
W21B: Promoting STEM Student Resilience Through Growth Mind
Promoting STEM Student Resilience Through Growth Mindset Communication - This workshop brings together Physics Education Research experts and distance learning and mathematics education experts from Western Governors University to present a workshop on engaging best practices for promoting physics and math student resilience through growth mindset communication. Workshop presenters will introduce the topic of growth mindset and resilience to participants through a series on engaging activities and role-playing demonstrations. Attention will also be given to sharing communication strategies and practicing communication skills via small group activities. Improving persistence and retention rates in physics and math courses is one of the largest challenges facing STEM higher education today. Research shows that effective faculty-student communication can help alleviate students’ fear of physics, math, and other STEM courses and improve student persistence within these courses. In addition, research suggests that focusing on student resilience through growth mindset techniques may be the key to improving persistence and retention rates especially for nontraditional or minority STEM students. However, we as faculty are not always expert at the interpersonal communication skills necessary to communicate effectively with today’s students, and despite recognizing the importance of resilience and growth mindset in STEM education, STEM instructors often do not have access to a repertoire of practices to develop resilient learners. Activities include Exploring Growth Mindset and Resilience, Role Playing of Tough Conversations, and Student-Centered Communication. - Workshop Organizer - Rebecca Rosenblatt
Time
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
4:00 PM

Saturday, 22 January 2022

Description
W22A: Creating Curricular Materials to Accompany Physics Sim
Creating Curricular Materials to Accompany Physics Simulations - The goal of this workshop is, as a group, to create curricular materials (e.g., recitation activities, class worksheets, or simulation-based labs) that are based on this set of 200+ physics simulations that are aimed at introductory physics at the college level, as well as high school physics. For more information visit https://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/sims.html. There are already some existing curricular materials, created by our Boston University group as well as by others, so we'll look at what already exists, and then take some time to build, individually or in small groups, more materials that we can share and make use of in our own classes. - Workshop Organizer - Andrew Duffy
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM
W22B: Teaching Waves with PEER Physics: Free
Teaching Waves with PEER Physics: Free Resources for General Physics - This workshop is intended for high school conceptual physics teachers and for university faculty who support inservice or preservice teachers to enact the NGSS. In this interactive workshop, participants will engage with the newly released (and FREE!) NGSS-aligned PEER Physics Waves unit. By working through one of the waves activities, we will consider ways to support students as they make claims from data, construct models, and argue from evidence. Participants will also engage with student work to characterize the classroom conditions necessary for enacting the NGSS. - Workshop Organizer - Emily Quinty
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM
W22C: PIRA Lecture Demonstrations I & II Condensed
During this ½ day virtual workshop, we will introduce you to the Physics Instructional Resource Association (PIRA) and the PIRA 200. Almost every demonstration one can think of has a catalog number within the Demonstration Classification System (DCS); we will introduce you to this system and the comprehensive bibliography that details journal articles and demonstration manuals for construction and use in the classroom. The PIRA 200 are the specific 200 most important and necessary demonstrations needed to teach an introductory physics course. We will also show a subset of approximately 50 demonstrations explaining use, construction, acquisition of materials, and answer any questions in this highly interactive and dynamic environment.  Ideas for organizing and building your demonstration collection will be presented. We especially invite faculty members teaching introductory physics to attend.  NOTE: that this is a paperless workshop. All information and materials will be distributed via Zoom. A computer, tablet, or other device capable of viewing and/or recording the virtual workshop will be needed. -Workshop Organizer - Dale Stille
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM
W22D: Coding and Data Science Integration in High School Phy
Coding and Data Science Integration in High School Physics and Physical Science - (Grant funds will reduce the cost of this workshop. Cost before reimbursement: $70 Member / $120 non-member - Reimbursement (post conference): $50 thanks to grant funds from AIP) - Ever wondered how to integrate a little bit of coding or data science into a high school physics or physical science class without overwhelming your students or taking up lots of class time? This hands on workshop will provide an overview of simple, conceptually-motivated “STEMcoding” exercises where students construct PhET-like games like asteroids and angry birds using an in-browser editor that works great on chromebooks or whatever devices you have. We will also provide a tutorial of the STEMcoding Object Tracker which is a browser based program that can track the motion of brightly colored objects against a solid colored background. Students can analyze the tracking data in Excel or Google sheets to extract the velocity and acceleration as a hands on introduction to data science. These activities are part of a much wider curriculum that is highlighted on the STEMcoding YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/c/STEMcoding). The STEMcoding project is led by Prof. Chris Orban from Ohio State Physics and Prof. Richelle Teeling-Smith in the physics department at the University of Mt. Union. - Workshop Organizer - Chris Orban
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM

Sunday, 23 January 2022

Description
[Canceled] W23A: Muon Activities in the Classroom
The moun—the electron’s heavier cousin—will be the star of this show as we dive into activities from the QuarkNet Data Activities Portfolio that feature this elementary particle. Learn how to engage your students in authentic scientific investigations with data from CERN, Fermilab, and cosmic ray muon detectors. In addition, you will find out how these activities connect to the standards and content you teach in your introductory physics courses as you discuss classroom implementation with other participants. -(The cost of this workshop has been defrayed by a grant from the American Institute of Physics. Participants will be reimbursed after the workshop.) - Workshop Organizer - Shane Wood
Time
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
11:00 AM
W23C: Heliophysics based resources for high school and colle
Heliophysics based resources for high school and college by the NASA HEAT Team - Join this fully reimbursable workshop to engage in integrated activities appropriate for high school and introductory college physics and astronomy teachers who want to teach with integration and authentic NASA data. Attendees will use resources developed and tested by physics education researchers through the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team, including labs, lecture tutorials, clicker questions, and diagnostic assessments. These materials address topics that integrate Physics, Earth Science, and Space Science, including (1) habitable zone planets lecture tutorial, (2) use of solar sails versus chemical rockets to explore inside and outside our solar system, (3) understanding exoplanet atmospheres, (4) tracking high energy protons in coronal mass ejections. These and other activities, as can be found on https://aapt.org/resources/SSEC/. (This workshop is fully funded by a NASA Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number NNX16AR36A awarded to Temple University and the AAPT. Participants who complete the workshop may seek full reimbursement of their workshop registration fee.) - Workshop Organizer - Sharron Willoughby
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM
W23D: PTRA and Perimeter Institute: Beyond the Atom: Measur
PTRA and Perimeter Institute: Beyond the Atom: Measuring the Mass of the Higgs Boson - Come explore Beyond the Atom, a classroom resource designed by educators in collaboration with researchers from Perimeter Institute and CERN to introduce high school students to some of the fundamental ideas in particle physics. Participate in hands-on activities that will engage your students in analyzing data from the LHC that leads to the mass of the Higgs boson. The activities link to the curriculum topics of collisions, conservation of momentum and energy and E = mc squared. - Workshop Organizer - Karen Jo Matsler
Time
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
1:00 PM
W23E: Quantum Party! Using a Board Game to Learn about Quant
Quantum Party! Using a Board Game to Learn about Quantum Mechanics - Given the amount of competition students have for their attention (social media, extracurricular activities, jobs, etc), it can be a challenge to get them to fully engage with classroom material while *in* the classroom. There are a variety of approaches to reclaiming some of their attention, such as introducing material so fascinating that they can’t help but think about it outside the classroom or gamifying the classroom interactions to the point that they may not even realize they are learning. Since 2018, a small group at Siena has been working on a board game that teaches quantum mechanics at the middle- and high-school level, driven by rules inspired by the science behind 4 classic science experiments/observations: the double slit experiment, blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, and the Rutherford scattering experiment. The first version of the game was completed in 2021 and is being manufactured by a small company that specializes in independent board games. In addition to the game board and pieces, the game comes with a pamphlet that concisely describes the science behind the game at an introductory level. After workshopping the game with local middle and high school teachers and students, we have a good idea of how this game can be used in the classroom to support your curriculum.  For this virtual setting, you are encouraged to have someone with you to play the game with, locally, but we can also use breakout rooms for participants to play with each other. We will also have lectures about the science behind the game and its development, and all pedagogical materials will be shared with participants. Time will be allotted for everyone to discuss how the game can best be used in *their* classroom and how it might be improved or expanded upon in future iterations. The cost of the workshop covers a copy of the game for each participant, which will be mailed to them in advance of the workshop. - Workshop Organizer - Matt Bellis
Time
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1:00 PM
[Canceled] W23B: Get the Facts out
In this workshop we will share strategies and resources for recruiting students into physics, chemistry, math and general science teaching careers. The strategies include recommendations for sharing facts about teaching, how to talk to students, listing of venues for reaching students, updated recommendations and resources for sharing the facts virtually. The online resources provided include student presentations, posters, brochures, program flyer templates and presentations for faculty and staff who advise students. All materials are professional quality, research-based and have been extensively user-tested. These materials have been developed as part of Get the Facts Out, an NSF funded project for changing the conversation around STEM teaching recruitment. The project is a partnership between the American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, and AAPT led by the Colorado School of Mines. This workshop is fully funded by NSF #1821710 & 1821462. Participants who complete this workshop can be reimbursed for their workshop registration fee. - (The cost of this workshop has been defrayed by a grant. Participants will be reimbursed after the workshop.) - Workshop Organizer - Drew Isola
Time
3:00 PM - 7:00 PM
3:00 PM