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A key strategy in solving geometric optics problems is drawing ray diagrams. However, through interviews with middle school teachers in China, it appears that the ray diagram is not emphasized in instruction due to the fact that most problems homework and exams can be solved by memorizing the final results of special cases (such as the three special rays that go into a lens). As a result, students did not make the connection between the principles of geometric optics and the final results that they memorized. In this talk, a conceptual framework on geometric optics is introduced to map out students’ knowledge structures. Based on the conceptual framework, a multiple-choice test is designed to further probe students’ conceptual understanding. Assessment outcomes will be discussed to shed light on new instruction methods that emphasize the ray diagram method for achieving deep understanding of geometric optics.

AAPT SM 20

Assessment of knowledge integration in learning geometric optics

geometric optics ; the conceptual framework ; deep understanding

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

technical paper

Students’ positions within the social network of a physics classroom has been shown to correlate with students’ sense of belonging and performance. Students that are more well-connected in the classroom also tend to persist in physics. Current research in PER aims to understand how different types of active learning classrooms promote the development of students’ social networks. In this work, we examine how these networks develop in introductory physics labs. Physics labs offer ample space and freedom for students to interact with their peers and build a network. We use video of students working in labs to capture the interactions between students, examine how network topologies compare between labs designed with different goals, and evaluate how these topologies evolve over the course of a semester. I also discuss the viability and efficiency of using video to construct student networks with large amounts of data.

Connecting the dots: Student social networks in introductory physics labs

Weber State University is an open-enrollment commuter school where each year about 300 students take the first semester of calculus-based introductory physics, while about 10 students receive physics bachelor's degrees. We have successfully put quite a bit of computation into the curriculum for the latter group, but not for the former. In this talk I will describe some of the computational pieces in our curriculum for physics majors, including a sophomore-level scientific computing course, microcontroller programming in our electronics course, and integration of numerical approaches into some of our core theory courses. I will also offer our excuses for not making computation a significant part of the introductory course.

Computational Physics at Weber State University: Successes and Excuses

Graduate program’s reported Physics GRE requirements, recommended minimum scores, and previous cohort score averages influence students’ application decisions. In recent years, the test-optional language of No Required Minimum and GRE Optional requirements has muddied the waters for prospective applicants, particularly for women. In this qualitative study, 60 graduate students (27-F; 31-M; 2-DND) from 24 different graduate programs were asked how they decided where to (and not to) apply to graduate school. Male and female students were equally likely to apply to graduate programs that stated No Required Minimum or GRE Optional language on their admission requirements webpage. This talk will highlight how Physics GRE requirements influenced students’ decisions on where to apply to graduate school and how students interpreted GRE-optional phrases when submitting their application materials. Supported by NSF-1633275

“Optional” General and Physics GRE Requirements: The Impact on Prospective Graduate

The quantum double well is familiar to most of us as a model of molecular orbitals and of wiggling ammonia molecules. It's also a step toward understanding band structure in periodic potentials, an elementary system that exhibits tunneling, and, when only the lowest pair of states is accessible, a beautiful example of a qubit. As a qubit with wavefunctions, it's the perfect system for making the connection between continuous wave mechanics and discrete matrix methods. On top of all this, a double well in two dimensions provides a good first example of an entangled two-particle state. But how can students actually solve the double well energy eigenvalue equation without getting bogged down in transcendental equations or the WKB approximation? The solution is fast and easy if they have learned any of several numerical methods.

The Amazing Quantum Double Well

College faculty commonly participate in professional development to learn how to improve their teaching. Typically after the program finishes there is little support for faculty to bring new teaching practices into their classrooms. By employing the Situative Perspective and Pedagogical Reasoning and Action, we investigate how faculty take up ideas from a professional development program and the factors that influence their instructional design choices. In this study we investigate a program that aims to bring Three-Dimensional Learning (3DL) into undergraduate STEM classrooms. During this program participants are tasked with creating a teachable unit that aligns with 3DL. Using interviews, fellowship recordings, and online forum responses we look at two different faculty members, Ron and Charlie, and investigate influences that impact their design of classroom materials. Moving forward, we plan to expand the case study to more participants in order to explore how these influences effect the design of professional development programs.

How Faculty Take Up Ideas from a Professional Development Program

The AAPT Speakers Bureau can be a powerful tool to share the expertise of AAPT members and disseminate the diverse work we do to support physics education at all levels throughout the world. The work of my group, at Chicago State University, focuses on supporting students underrepresented in physics by creating opportunities for faculty to collaborate with students on education reform efforts. Much of this work leverages the Learning Assistant Model, input from students, and input from undergraduate education researchers. This student expertise can create effective, inclusive learning environments as well as shifts in who has power in the classroom and who has power in how our learning environments are structured. These are exciting spaces to work in for both faculty and students who all play a role in how we think about physics teaching and learning.

Contributing to the AAPT Speakers Bureau: Students as collaborators in creating effective, inclusive learning spaces

Research has shown that traditional instruction often falls short of helping students develop deep understanding in learning physics. To support the assessment and instruction that promote knowledge integration and deep learning, a new modeling approach, the Conceptual Framework, has been developed, which establishes models of plausible student knowledge structures that focus on the core idea(s) and sub-dimensions for a given concept. Assessments based on conceptual frameworks focus on determining what connections students exist for students in both familiar and novel problem formats, while instruction based on conceptual frameworks suggests which material to teaching in order to best facilitate building expert-like connections within the students’ knowledge structures. This presentation will introduce the conceptual framework approach and review the recent studies that have shown promising outcomes from applying this method.

The Conceptual Framework Approach for Modeling Deep Learning in Physics

In a flipped classroom model, students are expected to master a base level of information before coming to class. Such a structure can result in not only more class time to explore more complex topics, but also a more equitable classroom. To achieve these goals, the level of knowledge students are expected to master must be appropriate. Moreover, quality materials and support, which focus solely on what is needed for preparation, must be available so that all students, regardless of prior experience, can come prepared for class. In order to ensure accessibility, these materials should be free or very low cost and conform to Universal Design for Learning principles. In this talk we present a free-and-open multi-modal textbook developed in Pressbooks for a second semester IPLS course at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Student mastery of the preparation is further developed through formative online assignments in the low-cost Edfinity homework system.

Ensuring student preparation using Pressbooks and the Edfinity homework system

At San Francisco State, the Alma Project was created to support connections to students’ life experiences and affirm their identities in STEM classrooms. In Spring 2017, the Alma Project was piloted in select sections of the Supplemental Instruction (SI) program, which offers 1-unit courses that support “large lecture” STEM classes. In Fall 2018, the project was expanded to all SI classes and to all introductory physics and astronomy labs, allowing over 1000 students to share their experiences in STEM spaces each semester. Through instructor interviews we identify implementation challenges and success as well as the perceived effect of reflective journaling on the classroom environment. Interview questions also allowed instructors to reflect on their teaching practices and ways in which they support and encourage a sense of belonging in their classrooms.

Promoting Inclusion Through Reflective Journaling in Introductory Physics

Many students experience their first practical application of statistics and error analysis in their introductory physics laboratory courses. The activities they conduct in their lab courses teach definitions, concepts, and skills in statistics and error analysis that they will use for the rest of their academic and postgraduate career. We analyze the use of statistical methods in college-level introductory physics laboratory courses by reviewing a sample of student lab manuals collected from two-year community colleges and four-year universities. Approaches to introducing statistical concepts and procedures are examined for consistency, with particular reference to national and international statistical guidelines such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). Our analysis reveals a severe inconsistency in the treatment of statistics and error among the sampled lab manuals for courses aimed at science and engineering students.

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Teaching geometric optics through drawing ray diagrams

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