Events
- Annual Convention
- Great Teaching Round-up
- Leading from the middle
- fall conference for faculty leaders
- The Texas Network
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Events: 2009 Physics Schedule
Physics Summary
Friday, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
"Icorporating PhET Simulations into the Introductory Physics Class"
Speaker: Paul Williams, Department Chair for Astronomy, Engineering, Geology, and Physics, Austin Community College
Saturday, 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
"Video Analysis in the Physics Laboratory"
Speaker: Martin Mason, Assistant Professor of Physics, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, California
Friday, February 20th, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
"Icorporating PhET Simulations into the Introductory Physics Class"
Speaker: Paul Williams, Department Chair for Astronomy, Engineering, Geology, and Physics, Austin Community College
The Physics Education Technology (PhET) simulations developed at the University of Colorado provide a versatile tool box of simulations that can be used in introductory Physics courses. The web-based simulations (phet.colorado.edu) are free and cover a variety of topics in mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics. The author has developed a number of activities including qualitative and quantitative lab activities, free inquiry activities, and conceptual exercises that make use of the PhET simulations. This presentation will give an overview of the PhET website and some uses of it. Following that, participants will go through a variety of hands-on activities making use of PhET simulations.
Biography:
Paul Williams is currently Professor of Physics and Department Chair of Physical Sciences at Austin Community College (ACC). He has been employed at ACC in various capacities – with a few breaks – since 1987. He received a BA in Physics from Rice University and a PhD in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin. His teaching interests include the incorporation of inquiry based learning, and the effective use of technology into introductory Physics courses. He is an active member of the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is a recipient of a NISOD Teaching Excellence Award and the Alpha Gamma Pi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Teaching Excellence Award. When not working, he enjoys playing a number of stringed musical instruments badly.
Saturday, February 21st, 10:30-11:45 a.m.
"Video Analysis in the Physics Laboratory"
Speaker: Martin Mason, Assistant Professor of Physics, Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, California
Video analysis allows everyday objects to become the subject of physics experiments. It helps to remove the separation students perceive of classroom reality vs. their own internal definitions. This presentation/workshop will provide a hands on introduction to using video analysis in the laboratory. It will focus on both new experiments that become possible with video analysis and ways to take existing experiments and demonstrations and make them quantitative through video analysis. A CD of video analysis experiments for the mechanics course will be provided.
Biography:
Martin Mason is a professor of Physics and Engineering at the Mt. San Antonio College where he teaches all level of physics and advises both the Society of Physics Students and the Robotics Team. He has been actively involved in using video analysis in the laboratory for the past eight years. He has converted the freshman engineering physics lab over to video analysis based laboratories which is now being run successfully by other faculty. Over the past three years his emphasis has been on project based physics, specifically the use of robotics as a context for teaching introductory physics. His robotics team has won both state and national competitions and competed internationally. He was selected as distinguished faculty of the year in 2008. He will spend the 2009-10 year in the UK investigating current research in robotics and how it can be applied to the classroom.
Physics and Engineering Section Chair: Tom O'Kuma, Lee College