CSAAPT, AAPT-SEPS, NJAAPT Spring 2026 Joint Semi-Virtual Meeting

This meeting is hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware,

with additional funding from

• Department of Physics and the College of Science at Virginia Tech 
• Departments of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Virginia

Overview:

The Chesapeake, Southeast Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Sections of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will hold their Spring 2026 Meeting jointly on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.

The University of Delaware is one of the nation’s oldest institutions of higher education, combining tradition and innovation. Founded in 1743 and chartered by the state in 1833, the University of Delaware today is a major research university with extensive graduate programs that is also dedicated to outstanding undergraduate and professional education, with an enrollment of around 19,000 undergraduate students, 4,300 graduate students, and close to 1,000 professional and continuing studies students. In addition to our main campus in Newark, UD has locations across the state, in Wilmington, Dover, Georgetown and Lewes.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy (DPA) at the University of Delaware is within the College of Arts and Sciences. The DPA is home to more than 35 full time faculty with research interests spanning sub-atomic phenomena to astrophysics, with external research grant funding in excess of $9M per year. The DPA currently has about 90 graduate students and 100 undergraduate majors. The DPA introductory physics curriculum serves over 2500 undergraduate students per year.

No membership required!             
You do not have to be an AAPT, CSAAPT, AAPT-SEPS, or NJAAPT member to attend. We welcome participation of all physics/science teachers and students in the region (DC, DE, MD, VA, PA, NJ and neighboring states) as well as anyone interested in physics education, or physics in general.

The semiannual meetings of the Chesapeake, Southeast Pennsylvania, and New Jersey sections of the AAPT are great forums to exchange ideas on novel teaching techniques and economical physics demonstrations, and to meet a fascinating cohort of physics education enthusiasts.

This meeting is semi-virtual. The in-person meeting venue will be at the University of Delaware. Further details can be found on the Meeting Location page. The Meeting will be broadcast on Zoom so that people from afar (both presenters and attendees) can join in.  

Lodging Support!                            
We have limited funds to provide up to $354 in lodging support to high school physics teachers. Please see the Travel & Lodging Info page for more details.

Program:

TBA

Invited Speakers:

TBA

Contributed Talks and Demos:

We solicit contributions within the following parameters:

• 15-minute talk or demo (12 minute talk + 3-minute Q&A, both in-person and via Zoom)
                    
  Talk topic/demo can be anything pertaining to physics teaching
  
  
• To submit the title and abstract of your talk, please register first and then click on Call for Abstracts in the menu
  
  
• The deadline to submit your title and abstract for talks and demos is midnight of Sunday, March 29, 2026. 
   
• We plan to have a demo share-a-thon in the afternoon (no demo presentations in the morning). 
   
• Contributors of talks/demos will be issued certificates of presentation. These will be emailed to you after the Meeting.
    
  
  

Registration:

• In-person attendance:                                  
   
  • Please use the in-person attendance registration form on the Registration page,  
    
    
  • The deadline to register for in-person attendance is midnight of Sunday, March 29, 2026. 
    
    
  • In-person attendees are requested the following registration fees to cover administrative and other costs:                                  
     
    • • Instructors/faculty of 2-year and 4-year colleges/universities, employees of institutions/organizations/companies : $40
      • K-12 Instructors, Retirees, Students, Guests : $30
      • 1st-time in-person attendees : $20                     
        
        
  • The registration fee is NOT payable upon registration.  A link for you to directly pay the registration fee online will be emailed to you after the registration deadline.  
    
     
• Remote Attendance:                                  
   
  • Please use the Zoom attendance registration form on the Registration page.                  
     
  • The deadline to register for remote attendance is midnight of Friday, April 17, 2026. 
    
    
  • There is NO registration fee for remote attendees.
    
    
  • Please note that the Zoom link for the meeting will not be made public and will only be emailed to registrants, so please pay attention to what you are receiving in your email.               
     
  • Once on Zoom, please change your Zoom name to your full name followed by your affiliation in parentheses, e.g. Jane Doe (Newark High School). This is so that we can identify your presence for the purpose of issuing your certificates of attendance.                               
    
     
• Certificate of Attendance/Presentation:                                  
   
  • Certificates of attendance/presentation will be issued to both in-person and virtual attendees/presenters.                                  
     
  • If you need a certificate of attendance and/or presentation, please register your name exactly as it should appear on your certificate(s).  No nicknames or pseudonyms, please.                      
     
  • A detailed program in pdf can be generated by clicking on the "PDF" button at the top of the "Timetable" page (once the timetable is available).
    

Important Deadlines:

• Application for Lodging Support: Sunday, March 29, 2026
• Hotel room-block cutoff: Wednesday, April 1, 2026
• Submission of talk and demo abstracts: Sunday, March 29, 2026
• Registration for in-person attendance: Sunday, March 29, 2026
• Registration for virtual attendance: Friday, April 17, 2026

Organizational Committee:

Alfredo Sánchez (Chair, University of Delaware, DE)
Mark Akubo (University of Delaware, DE)
Véronique Petit (University of Delaware, DE)
Kathleen Hennessey (Saint Joseph's University, PA)
Peter Kaplan (Montclair High School, NJ)
Andres Akamine (Boyd J. Michael, III Technical High School, MD)
Anupama Bhat (Delaware Technical Community College, DE)
Jeremy Carlo (Villanova U., PA)
Qi Lu (Delaware State University, DE)
Kris Lui (AAPT-OPTYCs, MD)
Sithy Maharoof (Stevenson University, MD)
Michael Price (Dover High School, DE)
Kent Yagi (CSAAPT President, University of Virginia, VA)
Jency Sundararajan (CSAAPT Vice President, University of Virginia, VA)
James Freericks (Georgetown University, DC)
Muge Karagoz (CSAAPT, MD)
Carl Mungan (USNA, MD)
Jason Sterlace (James Madison University, VA)
Tatsu Takeuchi (Virginia Tech, VA)