Conveners
PSC 3150: Morning Session 2C
- Stephanie williams
- Jason Sterlace (James Madison University)
PSC 3150: Morning Session 3C
- Jason Sterlace (James Madison University)
- Tatevik Chalyan
PSC 3150: Afternoon Session 1C
- Aria Heidarian
- Rachele Dominguez (Randolph-Macon College)
Inspired by the Underrepresentation Curriculum’s February 2021 Unconference, a nationwide group of about 10 physics teachers created an offshoot initiative to “decolonize” high school physics curricula. The idea was this: responsive teaching strategies and conversations about underrepresentation are imperative but still take place within the structures of traditional classrooms. We call...
Historically quantum education has been focused within physics at the upper-level undergraduate and graduate level. As we move into the second quantum revolution and look to expand understanding of quantum and prepare today’s students for the broad range of jobs in the field, we will need to educate students earlier and with a variety of STEM backgrounds. We have surveyed and interviewed...
Tossing a fair coin $N$ times, a gambler wins/loses $10\%$ of his/her holdings against the house if each toss is head/tail ($H$/$T$). Measuring his/her fortunes by $R$ (ratio of final to initial wealth), then we may ask for $\left\langle R\right\rangle $ (the average over all possible $2^{N}$ histories). Since the game sounds like it's even, we may guess $\left\langle R \right\rangle =1$. When...
In this talk, I will discuss two programming platforms - glowscript and NetLogo - and how they can be used as strategies to support Physics teaching and enhance student understanding.
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are the STEM teachers of today and the faculty of tomorrow. We have been working with GTAs in Math, Physics, and Computer Science at George Mason University to prepare them for their teaching efforts in classrooms and labs. Our professional development efforts begin with a two-day workshop that includes a discussion of practical teaching skills with an...
The rapid technological advances and the availability of public scientific data have broken the rigid boundaries of labs. Why bring your students to the physics lab room to teach them how to use this or that potentially outdated instrument? What should we teach our students in the physics lab? Why not send them out to explore independently and bring them back to the classroom for pre-lab...
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an important tool in the modern STEM workforce, and provides the foundation for more in-depth explorations in a variety of scientific disciplines - ranging from pharmacology to quantum computing. The recent development of inexpensive benchtop NMR spectrometers and freely available online simulations offer great opportunities for institutions to provide their...
Abstract
Science instruction is often criticized for focusing on the memorization of discrete concepts, facts and laws. The focus students perceive science as a set of final form ideas suggesting little change over time (Duschl, 1990). There is often a focus on one “right answer” rather than an exploration of ideas that includes incorrect or partially correct explanations (NRC, 2015)....
Quantum Information Science (QIS) is in its second technological revolution. STEM teachers can learn about quantum effects and effective curricular connections appropriate for high school students. Exposing K-12 teachers to quantum concepts that surround them, such as credit card security, phones, computers, and basic technology, can help develop a "quantum smart" population. Quantum for All...
