AAPT–New England Section
Spring Meeting

March 17-18, 2017

Quinsigamond Community College

602 West Boylston ST, Worcester, MA 01606

https://aapt-nes.org/regional-meeting

Theme:  AIM Higher – Astronomy, Instrumentation and Making

You are cordially invited to the 2017 Spring Meeting of the AAPT–New England Section, and encouraged to contribute posters, papers and demonstrations related to teaching at the high school and college/university levels.

Register for the meeting: https://aapt-nes.wildapricot.org/event-2332622

There are special registration rates for students and early career high school teachers.

Submit Abstracts Online by March 1, 2017 for Posters, Contributed Talks & Share-a-Demo Contest: https://goo.gl/forms/n5XKtxvpBhEXBJZ42

Contributed Talks & Posters: We invite you (and your students) to contribute 15-minute talks and posters relevant to secondary- and college-level physics instruction in these areas:

• Astronomy: observation & measurements; optics; etc.
• Instrumentation: using or programming instrumentation for instruction/lab experiences
• Making: Have you or your students built a device that you used to explain a concept or experiment with some phenomenon? (3-D printing, etc.)
• Teaching: What new approaches/methods are you trying in your classes?
• Assessment: how do you know that your students are learning?

Share-a-Demo Contest: Do you have an especially effective 5-10 minute demo that you use in your teaching?  Enter it in the Share-a-Demo Contest.  The winner will be chosen by audience vote.  Please note: due to facilities restrictions, we will not be able to host anything pyrotechnic.

Venue: All events will be in the Harrington Learning Center and the QuEST Building on the QCC campus at 602 West Boylston ST, Worcester, MA.

Hotels: We have reserved a block of 20 rooms at the Marriott Courtyard. You must book by 2/17 for the group rate of $189.  We are also working on other hotel options. See aapt-nes.org for details.

Parking & Access: Parking will be available in the Faculty and Staff lots.  Both buildings are handicap accessible.

Planned Schedule

Friday, March 17, 2017 – Room 109 & Adjacent Foyer, Harrington

4:00 pm       Registration
5:00 pm       Poster Session, Vendors
6:30 pm       Buffet Dinner
7:30 pm       Key Note: Dr. Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor & Director of the Hopkins
Observatory, Williams College

The August 21, 2017, Total Solar Eclipse: Science, Equipment, and Circumstances

9:00 pm       Observing with the local Amateur Astronomers (weather permitting).

Saturday, March 18, 2017

7:30 am       Continental Breakfast, Registration, Posters & Vendors – Harrington
8:00 am       Share-a-Demo Contest – Harrington
9:00 am       Coffee Break – Harrington
9:15 am       Contributed Talks – QuEST
11:00 am     Invited Talks – Harrington
12:30 pm     Buffet Lunch. Board Meeting and Brief Section Meeting
Posters, Vendors, Janet Guernsey Award and Share-a-Demo Prizes

1:30-4:30    Workshops in the QuEST Building.

4:30 pm       Pick up Professional Development Certificates – Harrington

Workshops

You can submit a paper to the Spring Meeting of AAPT at this link.

https://goo.gl/forms/n5XKtxvpBhEXBJZ42

The Spring meeting will be at Quinsigamond Community College

March 17-18

Details on the meeting will be available here

https://aapt-nes.wildapricot.org/event-2332622

For the Regional Meeting look at this link:

https://aapt-nes.org/regional-meetings/

Regional Meetings

Theme: How Physics Teaching Has Changed Since 1950: 66 years after the landmark AAPT National Meeting at Wesleyan University

In 1950, the first AAPT National Meeting was held at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Travel down Rt. 66 and meet us on October 21-23, 2016 for the Tri-Regional meeting of the New England, New York and New Jersey Sections of AAPT.

We will look at how we taught Physics, how we teach Physics now, and where we’re headed in the future.

We invite you to contribute talks, workshops and posters related to secondary- and college-level Physics pedagogy:

• The history of Physics education
• Teaching methods:Studio, Flipping, Team-based Learning, Guided and Open Inquiry, Problem-based Learning, Project-based Learning, Modeling Physics, Blended/Online courses, the new AP Physics, etc.
• How does conceptual understanding inform mathematical rigor?
• Experiments in process: What new approaches are you trying in your classes? What are your preliminary results?
• Assessment:How do we know our teaching is effective? What are the best assessment tools?
• And, by the way, how does it all fit with NGSS?

Please submit your abstracts on-line. or cut and paste

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1fg4jmkpJxmZ9cVpRrwEF6VW0RCI3FyQksENZVQzcrp8/viewform

Workshops already tentatively scheduled include:

• Ardwino (3-hour)
• Optics (1.5-hour)
• PTRA Workshop (10/23)

Mark Greenman, who is currently the Boston University Physics Department Physics Teacher in Residence is the 2016 Janet Guernsey New England Physics Teacher of the Year!

You can now register online for your spring meeting

https://aapt-nes.wildapricot.org/event-2211445

Here is a great summer professional development opportunity to earn some good money while working on stuff you love. You know the rule of thumb, “if it is too good to be true, then it probably isn’t as good as you think,” well I have a deal for you that is the exception to this rule.

Read below and contact Professor Paul Withers, withers@bu.edu, as soon as possible if interested.

The Boston University Center for Space Physics is seeking several K-12 science teachers to participate in 4-6 week program in Summer 2016. Participants will conduct cutting-edge astronomical research on the Boston University campus. The research project will focus on the analysis of spacecraft data from the upper atmosphere of Venus, our closest planetary neighbor. Participants will review the history of the exploration of Venus, will learn how familiar scientific principles control conditions in the upper atmosphere of Venus, and will use computers to organize and investigate relevant scientific datasets.

It is hoped that exposure to a research environment will give educators a deeper appreciation for how real-life science is conducted: the realization that science is messy and uncertain, rather than unassailable and immutable facts listed in textbooks, is tremendously important for keeping children engaged in science as students and later as active citizens.

No prior research experience is required. A stipend of $6,000 per participant will be provided, in addition to minor transportation costs. Start and end dates are negotiable, but a minimum of 4 weeks is required.

Active Learning in Introductory Physics Courses: Research-Based Strategies that Improve Student Learning—July 28-30, 2016, Portland, Oregon

Designed for those who teach introductory physics at universities, colleges and high schools. Graduate credit will be available through the University of Oregon.*

Instructors: Priscilla Laws, Dickinson College, David Sokoloff, University of Oregon, Ronald Thornton, Tufts University

Participants will be introduced to research-validated, classroom-tested strategies for each component of the introductory course that have been demonstrated to improve learning. These include Interactive Lecture Demonstration (ILDs), RealTime Physics (RTP) labs, Collaborative Problem-Solving Tutorials, Workshop Physics (WP), Physics with Video Analysis (PVA), and related online video analysis exercises. The course will also include the use of video analysis to identify analytic functions describing real data. Among other recent developments are (1) 3^rd ed. RTP E & M labs using video analysis, (2) ILDs using clickers, and (3) online homework using Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs). Topics will be chosen from both semesters of introductory physics. Research on the effectiveness of these strategies will also be discussed.

The tools and software used in these active learning curricula are compatible with Macintosh and Windows OS, and with the popular interfaces and sensors. Participants will receive complimentary printed copies of the curricula (published by Wiley and Vernier, and also available for high school use as the ABP High School E-dition). Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite, a comprehensive book by E.F. Redish (University of Maryland) on strategies for implementing physics education research-based curricula, will also be distributed.

The course fee is $200. (Early bird registration until April 15 is $180.)

* Up to three graduate credits from the University of Oregon will be available for an additional $90/credit.

For more information and to register: http://pages.uoregon.edu/sokoloff/CHAUT.htm

David Sokoloff

Professor of Physics, University of Oregon

Way Past President, American Association of Physics Teachers (2011)