Every student carries an untold story—and every educator holds the power to change its trajectory. In this talk, astrophysicist and science communicator Hakeem Oluseyi reflects on the teachers and mentors who altered the course of his life, from elementary school through graduate studies, and how their belief, curiosity, and presence transformed possibility into reality. Drawing from his own...
The traditional version of the Bernoulli equation assumes the fluid is incompressible and thus realistically it only applies to liquids. However, I will show that it is not hard to modify the derivation so that it applies to compressible gases. This modification is a useful addition in lecture or homework in an introductory calculus-based physics course. I will then show that this modified...
A Light Polarization Experiment was done in 5 Active Physics classes for level 1 English Learners. The purposes were to encourage experimentation, scientific thought, and public speaking, and it was the first “experiment” of the year. Of the approximate 75 total students, ~95% were intrigued and puzzled by how light passed through 2 and 3 polarization filters. About 50% continued...
Quantum is a weird and wonderful way to get students interested in STEM. In addition, as new quantum technologies are realized it will be important for students to understand some of the basic concepts on which this technology is built and how it might be used in a variety of fields. We have been working with teachers to create new QIS materials for students from elementary school through...
Special relativity is a standard topic in the undergraduate physics curriculum, appearing in the Modern Physics course during the second year of the program. This topic is usually covered in the first few classes of the course, following a conventional approach of using Lorentz transformations presented in the beginning chapters of all Modern Physics textbooks. Some years ago, it had been...
As quantum technology improves, quantum information science is becoming a topic of increasing interest. High schools are starting to think about how to incorporate these ideas into existing and new courses. We are a team of college and high school educators with backgrounds in physics, education, chemistry, and computer science who have come together to design a middle-high school QIS course....
I will present a model that illustrates the behavior of photons for K-12 students. The model of the photon I used combines both the 'wave' and 'particle' nature of light. We will incorporate a hands-on activity using pipe cleaners to represent the wave properties, while play dough will symbolize energy. We will share our experiences teaching this model and highlight some observations we made...
In a spins-first quantum mechanics class, or in treatments of quantum mechanics suitable for high school, one often discusses simple quantum experiments, such as the Stern-Gerlach experiment, the two-slit experiment, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and so forth. Usually, these experiments are discussed, but not demonstrated, because the experiments are either too difficult as single quantum...
At the college level, introductory physics laboratory courses for non-majors present an interesting set of pedagogical challenges. With such large enrollment courses, the administrative load on the instructor is high, the motivation of the students is often low, and the scientific and mathematical background levels vary widely from student to student. Misunderstandings are also bound to arise;...
In this Make-and-Take session you will construct a class set of Vector Tubes, that were invented by the presenter, to help students more readily understand the right/left hand rules pertaining to magnetic fields associated with current bearing wires. These vector tubes can also be used to help visualize electric fields associated with Gauss or used for other vectors applications. The second...
In this presentation, I will showcase some of the online and free resources available through the Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (OPTYCs). These resources can be accessed by anyone! OPTYCs is supported by NSF-DUE-2212807.
Quantum entanglement is a key resource for the use of multi-qubit quantum states in quantum computing and quantum information science. However, the traditional ways of teaching about entanglement deploy challenging concepts such as tensor product Hilbert spaces and tensor product operators. In this talk I will describe a much simpler method to introduce quantum entanglement at a level...
In physics education, experiments play a crucial role in testing and validating theoretical concepts, providing empirical evidence to support or refute existing theories, and allowing students to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios by observing and measuring physical phenomena. Quantum mechanics has unique limitations in experimentation due to the lack of easily conductible...
You may be familiar with the STEP UP lessons to support students in the pursuit of undergraduate physics. One of STEP UP's resources is the Everyday Actions Guide, which is currently being expanded with new professional development resources. In this session, I'll share some of these new resources, including opportunities to see into others' physics classes as an entry point to critically...
For centuries, physics and mathematics have been deeply intertwined in describing the natural world. From Newton to Einstein, new mathematical concepts have been essential in explaining fundamental principles, theories, and laws. However, the recent decline in mathematics scores, as highlighted in the Nation’s Report Card, raises concerns about students’ preparedness for STEM fields. This...
Active learning in large classrooms prioritize student engagement and participation while emphasizing on adopting best practices for better performances and outcomes. In my presentation, I will be highlighting the strategies I adopted in teaching large classrooms during my time at the University of Virginia, the challenges I faced in terms of course management and administration, the positive...
At the dawn of the 20th century physicists began to understand that the usual classical physics could not explain important features of nature, and the “Old Quantum Theory” emerged as an admittedly imperfect mix of classical physics with quantum ideas. Then, 100 years ago, a revolution replaced classical physics with a new mechanics, that of Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Dirac, and others, which...
In my Physics class, I include links of video solutions recorded by an undergraduate teaching assistant to weekly assignments. These videos serve as comprehensive guides for students as they tackle comparable homework problems.
The videos have garnered positive feedback from students who appreciate the step-by-step explanations. The recorded solutions enable students to learn at their own...
Common techniques to show how diffraction gratings work include passing out gratings to students and having them look at a light source or placing a grating in front of a video camera and projecting what the camera sees. However, an alternate & creative way to display many interference patterns makes use of a vintage overhead projector or modern video projector as the light source itself for...
To provide more opportunities for professional development for in-service high school physics teachers, a study of a new program (not yet approved) for you to earn a Master of Arts in Physics Education Degree from the Department of Physics at the University of Virginia will be presented. The degree program is based on a similar program that existed and graduated over 150 teachers during the...
How might we increase the percentage of women in Physics? This presentation is relevant for both high school and university instructors. It is a combination of research, qualitative analysis, and practical ideas. It is informed by 22 years of teaching high school Physics, a survey of 120 undergraduate physics students (108 identifying as women), and 15 follow-up interviews.
Everyone knows that everything rolls downhill when released from rest, or does it? In this demo, we show how to construct objects that roll uphill, defying gravity.
Taking notes during lectures is one of the required skills, among many others, that students need (i) to master the topic covered in the lecture, (ii) to actively engage in the learning process with no or minimal distraction, (iii) to retain learned knowledge and skills for a longer time, and (iv) in securing better grade. To learn the role of note-taking in learning undergraduate-level...
