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There are multiple ways for K-12 students to learn about physics and communicate science. One example is informal physics programs, which provide significant science resources in their communities. These programs house unique collections of physics artifacts and experiences for K-12 and are facilitated by educators who are experts at motivating interest and involvement in students. As part of our nationwide effort to develop a systemic understanding of the landscape of informal physics, we have developed a framework to investigate how these programs are structured and facilitated. Our study is focused on a number of important aspects, including the curriculum used by practitioners, how informal physics programs are facilitated, how they are socially constructed, how they attract their audience, and what type of assessment they use to evaluate their own effectiveness. In addition, we will share our experiences combining physics for K-12 students with other disciplines, including art, in program curricula.

AAPT SM 20

Physics content and practices across the landscape of informal physics

hybrid physics spaces

blending physics and art

informal physics

physics outreach

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

The Next Generation Science Standards have elevated doing science to the same level of importance as knowing science. Three-Dimensional Learning, on which the NGSS is based, is shifting the way we think about what we want students to learn. This change in learning objectives pushes us to think differently about what we assess: It's not just what students know, but also what they can do with their knowledge. We have developed the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), which can be used to characterize assessments as aligning (or not) with scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas; or to develop assessment tasks that align with these three dimensions. In this talk, I will demonstrate these uses of the 3D-LAP and show results from our larger transformation project using the protocol.

3DL4US Project: Examining College Assessments in the Age of NGSS

Understanding how one builds a physics identity is an important step to creating structures and practices that support physics students both in and out of the classroom. We have investigated how university students’ physics identities can be fostered through teaching youth in informal physics programs. We collected reflections and interviews from participants in three different informal programs and analyzed them with an operationalized Communities of Practice framework. Our analysis shows that students’ identities can be supported through different structures and practices within each program. We find that students’ personal values aligning with the program’s mission was the biggest predictor of membership, while interactions with members of the community served as the most important mechanism for integration into the community. This work illuminates the specific aspects of informal physics programs that facilitate physics identity formation among the university students who choose to participate.

Structures that support students’ identities in informal physics programs

College courses are attempting to apply three-dimensional learning to both the instruction and assessment. This transformative way engages students in doing scientific practices and deepening disciplinary knowledge in physics. We used Evidence-Centered Design and the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol to assess students’ ability to engage in the scientific practice of Planning Investigations. We conducted a written exam and Think-Aloud interviews to collect data from physics students in introductory college course. We analyzed interviews using the lenses of planning theory and model-based reasoning in laboratory. The analysis helped us to identify the model of planning investigations process conducted by college students during assessment. Results from this analysis will help us interpret students’ written work and support the development of assessment tasks in the future.

Examining students' engagement in Planning Investigations practice in a written exam

Computer simulations have been used to support student learning in physics to boost conceptual understanding and make labs more widely accessible. To better understand their impact on student learning outcomes, the use of HTML5-based computer simulations for topics in mechanics were investigated in a large, algebra-based, studio physics course for life science students at a private, research-intensive institution. For the past three years, we have used an A/B testing methodology to compare learning outcomes associated with a lab activity on simple harmonic motion. Different groups in this study included students using traditional hands-on equipment only, a simulation only, or, a hybrid combination of both. We will present our findings of this study in the context of previous work and discuss the larger implications of the use of simulations in physics education.

Learning Outcomes in Physics Labs Aided by Simulations

Computer simulations for physics labs may be combined with hands-on lab equipment to boost student understanding and make labs more accessible. Hybrid labs of HTML5-based computer simulations and hands-on lab equipment for topics in mechanics were investigated in a large, algebra-based, studio physics course for life science students at a private, research-intensive institution. Computer simulations were combined with hands-on equipment and compared to traditional hands-on labs alone using an A/B testing protocol. Learning outcomes were measured for the specific topic of momentum conservation by comparing student scores on post-lab exercises, related quiz and exam questions, and a subset of questions on the Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey (EMCS) administered before and after instruction for both groups. We will present our findings of this study in the context of previous work and discuss the larger implications of the use of simulations in physics education.

Student learning outcomes with hybrid computer simulations and hands-on labs

“Essential Skills” is an online skills practice application assigned weekly to students to improve their fluency in the basic STEM skills necessary for solving more complex physics problems. We have investigated the temporal patterns of over 1500 algebra and calculus physics students practicing multiple topics, several times each, throughout the semester. We report an observed increase in student accuracy and a decrease in response time per question for the vast majority of the topics. We will characterize the progression of student response times and accuracies as they revisit the topics though out the semester, including observations of patterns relating the accuracy and time evolution data to student grades in the course. Additionally, we will comment on the comparisons between the two groups of students (algebra vs calculus physics students) in terms of their accuracies and response time throughout the practice.

Temporal Patterns of Students Using Online STEM Skills Practice Assignments

An important component to fostering computational thinking in the physics classroom involves helping students understand how to use programming code to represent physical models and physical principles—a process that requires one to interrelate knowledge of physics, mathematics, and programming code. In this talk, I will discuss Conceptual Blending as a framework for modeling how we read physical and mathematical meaning into the structural features of programming code and how features of the programming representation can influence student reasoning, both productively and counter-productively. Understanding these detailed considerations as well as avenues for failures in reasoning that novices might encounter can inform the development of instructional interventions, both in-the-moment and pre-designed.

Conceptual Blending: A model for how we interpret computational models

The NGSS presents teachers and researchers with an opportunity to rethink both the model of energy that is taught and the way that energy is taught in K12 classrooms, as evidenced by the inclusion of energy as both a CCC and a DCI and by the emphasis placed on model building and argumentation in the science practices. We have also taken this as an opportunity to re-envision our energy teaching in our university courses. As a result, we've designed courses that allow students to construct a model of energy from real-world scenarios. This process stresses the use of multiple representations to facilitate student thinking including: energy theater, energy cubes, and energy diagrams. In some of our courses students are encouraged to develop their own energy diagrams. This talk will present a framework for a scenario-based energy unit and suggest strategies for supporting students in developing their own energy diagrams.

Using the NGSS model of energy in university courses

Computer simulations for intermediate and advanced undergraduate courses provide students with tools that aid in visualizing difficult concepts. A suite of ten simulations has been developed for use in a sophomore/junior level course on vibrations and waves. This includes topics such as driven, damped oscillations; nonlinear oscillations of a pendulum; coupled oscillators; sound waves; and interference and diffraction. A feature of these simulations is the display of quantitative information about the phenomena in the simulation. For example, users can set the frequency and pressure amplitude of a plane sound wave, but the simulation also displays the particle velocity and displacement amplitudes and an animated graph of pressure, displacement and particle velocity of the wave. These simulations have been part of homework and discussion assignments in the related course.

Simulation Suite for Intermediate Undergraduate Course on Vibrations and Waves

One of the goals of physics instruction is to help students develop reasoning skills in the context of physics. As conceptual understanding is required to reason productively, it is challenging to design an assessment tool that solely focuses on student reasoning. To address this challenge, we have been developing sequences of screening-target questions: screening questions probe conceptual understanding, while target questions require students to apply this understanding in situations that present reasoning challenges. The level of consistency between responses to screening and target questions is used to make inferences about students’ reasoning skills. We will discuss pre- and post-test performance on these sequences of screening-target questions from algebra and calculus-based physics courses and the inferences that can be drawn about students’ development of reasoning skills in the context of physics. Preliminary results indicate the instrument can measure changes in student reasoning skills and detect differences in students with different backgrounds.

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Physics content and practices across the landscape of informal physics

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