Conveners
110: Parallel 1
- Stew Williamson (Collegiate School US Science Chair)
110: Paralell 2
- Elissa Levy (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology)
Many students enter physics with limited math readiness, yet they must learn scientific concepts while developing the mathematical tools to apply them. This creates a tension: students need science to drive math learning, but math gaps can hinder progress in physics. To address this challenge, a revised instructional sequence was piloted in which waves were introduced before kinematics. This...
"Planting the Seed" is one way that the Virginia Department of Aviation describes the objective of their educational programs. Initiatives include the ICON A5 Introduction to Flight Program, which brings a light sport amphibious aircraft to public events; the Virginia Aviation Teacher’s Grant, offering up to $500 for K–12 educators to develop aviation-themed lessons; and two scholarships...
I will review the opportunities for research awards, grants, scholarships, and presentations through the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) for undergraduate students and the Virginia Junior Academy of Science for high school students. VAS has been actively promoting science in Virginia for over 100 years.
The Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) provides a valuable platform for secondary students in Virginia to engage in scientific research, including specialized opportunities for those interested in Physics. By participating in hands-on projects and presenting their work, students—particularly Physics enthusiasts—cultivate scientific...
Since the COVID pandemic, the algebraic fluency of our pre-health college students has been diminishing, yet that math is still very important to students' success even in concept-centered introductory physics classes.
As a possible solution to this problem, we will present a year-long applied algebra course that we developed and offered in the past 4 years at the University of Virginia...
Single photons provide a compelling entry point into quantum physics, offering a tangible way to explore the fundamental principles of quantization. Creating a single photon is hard. The key way to determine that you have a single photon is to show it can be measured once and only once. The experiment to certify that you have a single photon source was first completed by Nobel Laureate Alain...
The purpose of this project is to uphold fairness while maintaining rigor and consistency across different exam versions, all while assessing the same learning objectives. Furthermore, we intend to streamline the exam format to fulfill two main purposes: first, maximizing the benefits of the different study resources utilized in the course, and second, creating a format that is ideal for...
Students introduced to thermodynamics often struggle with the distinctions between temperature, heat, and internal energy, concepts all used more or less interchangeably in everyday life or in pop-science but which have precise and distinct definitions in physics. In this talk I will highlight how physical systems with negative heat capacity, for which spontaneous energy losses correlate to...
