We examine how upper-division physics students find derivatives from an equipotential graph in an individual interview setting.  We focus specifically on identifying the different kinds of behavior that students engage in when finding a derivative from an equipotential graph, and also on the representational elements that students use or introduce during their work.  We find that the students were able to find the derivative successfully using a ratio-of-small-changes approach.  Students engaged in behavior like sketching straight lines or arrows on the given graph as a way to choose points for calculating a ratio and to keep one variable constant for the derivative.  We also saw students make sense of the equipotential graph and reinterpret the derivative they found using those representations using two other graphical representations: cross-sections and three-dimensional plastic surfaces.  We find these results encouraging because the students had studied equipotential graphs and derivatives as ratios-of-small-changes as part of their junior-level electrostatics, suggesting that such a course is effective at helping students develop representational fluency for working with multivariable derivatives.

Finding Derivatives from an Equipotential Graph

The electric field is one of the more abstract concepts taught in introductory physics. Introductory E&M courses often start by introducing Coulomb’s Law—an expression for the force between two point charges—before eventually defining the electric field as a ratio of the electric force to the charge on a “test charge”. This definition can result in some confusion among students; for example, students often have difficulty with the idea that the electric field is independent of the “test charge”. We decided to switch the order in which these topics are taught in a calculus-based introductory physics course: first introducing the electric field as the cause of electric forces, and later introducing the electric field caused by a point charge. We will share some pedagogical affordances of beginning E&M in this fashion as well as some observations from our initial implementation.

Teaching Electric Field before Coulomb’s Law

The COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a rapid switch to remote teaching for most university courses.&nbsp; One major concern of many introductory physics instructors has been the security of assessments (such as exams) in this remote environment.&nbsp; As an alternative to the high-stakes exams that are more traditional for introductory physics courses, we assigned group projects to students as an alternative assessment (along with individual low-stakes quizzes).&nbsp; We discuss advantages and disadvantages of putting group projects into practice, such as students’ engagement with the project and their affective response to working in groups on a high-stakes assignment.

Group Projects: An Alternate Assessment for Remote Teaching (and Beyond)

Poster Session

poster

PERC 2022 is focused on "queering physics education" through an intersectional lens. By "queering," we are centering queer theory which breaks down social constructions and hierarchies to unpack normalized assumptions. In the context of physics education, we want to apply the theory to unpack who has power in physics to control the production of future physicists, how physics policies and practices are sometimes built on ideas of punishment and power, and how PER embeds binaries in both its content and sociological research. Further, we want to encourage a dialogue that is both a critique and an imagining of a queer future for PER.

Explicit attention will be given to constructions of race, (dis)ability, gender, sexuality and how they interact and impact lived experiences.

We have had such a fun time organizing this year’s PERC. You might be aware that we were committed to transparency and documenting our processes and decision making which we outlined here. This year has also been challenging to be a queer or otherwise marginalized person in the US. And we continue to seek and provide support for those individuals.

As such, we recommend that folks visiting Grand Rapids who have the means consider giving to some local organizations who are working to advocate for those impacted by historic and ongoing marginalization and violence.


PERC SM 22

PERC 2022 focused on "queering physics education" through an intersectional lens. By "queering," we centered queer theory which breaks down social constructions and hierarchies to unpack normalized assumptions. In the context of physics education, we apply the theory to unpack who has power in physics to control the production of future physicists, how physics policies and practices are sometimes built on ideas of punishment and power, and how PER embeds binaries in both its content and sociological research. Further, we wanted to encourage a dialogue that is both a critique and an imagining of a queer future for PER. Explicit attention was given to constructions of race, (dis)ability, gender, sexuality and how they interact and impact lived experiences.

PS.D-SU-02: Introductory Courses I

technical paper

Join AAPT and Physics Educators worldwide in developing and strengthening your professional connections by attending the 2021 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting. AAPT meetings are a great way to reflect on your teaching, recommit to best practices and re-energize your career with new research, products, and techniques.

Listen to internationally known plenary speakers, attend sessions, workshops, and special activities. Attending the virtual summer meeting is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise and learn from and network with leaders in the field.

Please log in with your AAPT account or register for the event if you haven't already.

If you are registered please note that you need to be logged in with your AAPT email / credentials in order to get access.

AAPT SM 21

B2.2 Built-In Assessements

AAPT® is a strong professional physics science society dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in physical science education.

Winter and Summer National Meetings:
These National Meetings, held each winter and summer, are opportunities for members, colleagues, and future physicists from around the world to:

- participate in physics workshops
- meet and greet other physics educators
- form networks nationally and locally
- engage exhibitors and learn about the latest physics resources
- discuss innovations in teaching methods
- share the results of research about teaching and learning.

If you're not able to log in, you're most likely using **incorrect login credentials**. Double-check that you are using the same email and password that you used to register for the conference, submit your abstract or access your AAPT membership. There may also be **an issue with your AAPT meeting registration**. Please email aapt2021@underline.io and programs@aapt.org and we will work quickly to resolve this issue.

Paul Emigh

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SHORT BIO

Presentations

Finding Derivatives from an Equipotential Graph

Teaching Electric Field before Coulomb’s Law

Group Projects: An Alternate Assessment for Remote Teaching (and Beyond)

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