Global Physics Department

Abe Karplus: Arduino data logger

arundquist — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:56:07 +0000

Abe shared the details of the Arduino/python code he’s developed for a datalogger. He did this to both support the physics labs he’s doing as a high school student, and to produce a working data logger for his dad’s electronics course taught at UC Santa Cruz. We talked about what he learned doing the project, and we learned just how useful and powerful the software is.

Here’s the recording.

This week we’ll be talking with Andrew Vanden Huevel who teaches physics online and has a prototype of the Google Glass setup.

Note that we will then start our summer hiatus. We’ll be back with guests starting in September.

Ben Stottrup: undergraduate collaborative research

arundquist — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:11:51 +0000

We talked with Ben about how he runs his research program at Augsburg College. He shared some of the background of the research on lipids and we talked about mentoring undergraduate students in a research environment. One important question that we tackled was why, if collaborative research is so useful to students, do we pay them instead of charging them. Very interesting.

Here’s the recording.

This week (today!) we’ll be talking with Abe Karplus, a high school student, who has developed a sophisticated data logger program for the Arduino microprocessor. Join us!

Chris Gosling: Fulbright in Argentina

arundquist — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:47:47 +0000

Chris told us about the process and experience he had as a Fulbright teaching fellow in Argentina. We talked about the education research he did there, and compared and contrasted teaching physics both in the US and there.

Here’s the recording.

This week Ben Stottrup will talk about “Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Interdisciplinary Disciplines.” Join us!

4/17/13 JT Miller: adjustment from HS to elementary science teaching

arundquist — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:51:08 +0000

JT talked with us about his transition from teaching high school physics (including AP) to teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th grades student at an independent school in D.C. We talked about levels of math, conceptual issues, and labs.

Here’s the recording.

There is no Global Physics Department this week (4/24). Join us next week (5/1) for Chris Gosling’s description of teaching physics in Argentina.

Group problem solving

arundquist — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:39:41 +0000

John Burk selected several problems from this book for us to all consider. We talked about how we would approach them, and how/whether we’d introduce them to students. It was fascinating looking at how we all used different approaches.

Here’s the recording.

This week (Wednesday, 4/17) we’ll be talking with JT Miller about transitioning from teaching high school physics to middle school science. Join us!

4/3/13 Share-a-thon

arundquist — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:36:13 +0000

We talked with a few members about cool things they’ve done in their teaching. We heard about making a video of dry ice sliding off a bike wheel (from Peter Bohacek), interesting and challenging problems for your students (from John Burk – see below), and using complex numbers in modern physics (from SuperFly).

We also spent time talking about different ideas for how to improve the Global Physics Department. We brainstormed several things, but realized that we need more input from the larger community. If you could, please take a couple minutes to fill out this google docs feedback form.

Here’s the recording of the session.

This week (4/10 at 9pm ET) we’re going to explore community problem solving, by tackling some of the problems from the book John talked with us about. We’re hoping that, by collaboratively brainstorming a solution, we’ll learn something for ourselves and our teaching. Please join us!

3/27 Arlene Knowles on APS diversity initiatives

admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:20:59 +0000

We heard from Arlene Knowles, who works as the Career and Diversity Programs Administrator for APS. Arlene shared some disturbing statistics about the small number of minority students who are graduating from US Physics programs, and the many efforts the APS is undertaking to increase the number of women and minority physics graduates.

Here’s the recording.

Fran Poodry: Physics Olympics

arundquist — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:27:38 +0000

We talked with Fran about the Physics Olympics league her school participates in. We talked about how the students were motivated to do it, the logistics of how it works, and the benefits to the school, the teachers, and the students.

Here’s the recording.

3/13 Rhett Allain’s blog greatest hits

arundquist — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:17:02 +0000

We talked with Rhett about how he goes about blogging and he shared with us some of the physics approaches he’s used to analyze things.

Here’s the recording.

This week (3/20) we’ll be talking with Fran Poodry about Physics Olympics.

3/6/13 Wendy Adams and Gabriel Hanna: FCI research

arundquist — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:06:21 +0000

We spoke with Wendy and Gabriel about attempts they’ve made to address issues with the Force Concept Inventory. We talked about confusing questions, research methodology, and practical ramifications of their work.

Here’s the recording.

This week (3/13/13) we’ll talk with Rhett Allain about his blog‘s greatest hits. Join us!