2023 Spring Meeting at UNC-Chapel Hill

March 24-25

In-person at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


The Spring 2023 meeting of the NCS-AAPT will be held March 24 (evening) and March 25 (morning and afternoon) at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This will be in conjunction with SHAPE (Symposium on Horizons in Astronomy and Physics Education). 

FRIDAY EVENING PLENARY TALK - Exploring the Adjacent Possible


Aaron Titus, North Carolina State University.


The "adjacent possible" refers to the set of possible outcomes for an evolving system. With each new discovery, new possibilities emerge, just waiting to be fully understood, discovered, designed, realized. In the physics classroom, predicting the future state of a system is often the goal in solving a problem. Constraints, assumptions, and fundamental principles (like conservation laws) limit the set of possible outcomes and provide the means to predict the evolution of the system. But what does the "adjacent possible" look like for students as they learn physics? In this presentation, we will take a journey through the "adjacent possible" in both physics and in teaching and learning.


Aaron Titus is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Physics at North Carolina State University and has a B.S. in physics from Penn State University and a Ph.D. in physics from North Carolina State University. Aaron’s contributions are at the intersection of undergraduate research, educational technology, and computational physics. In 1997, Aaron and Larry Martin co-created WebAssign—a web-based homework application. Aaron and Joe Heafner co-wrote solutions for the 3rd and 4th editions of the textbook Matter and Interactions by Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood, and Aaron and Steve Spicklemire will be coauthors on the 5th edition of the textbook with Chabay and Sherwood. Aaron also contributes to VPython, a Python package for 3D graphics and vector algebra designed for integrating computational modeling into introductory physics. In 2011, Aaron received High Point University’s highest award for distinguished teaching and service. In 2020, Aaron was one of 18 collaborators on the Open Source Physics Team led by Wolfgang Christian to receive the American Physical Society’s 2020 Excellence in Physics Education award. 

 The Spring 2023 NCS-AAPT meeting will be held in Phillips and Chapman Halls  There are a few parking spaces adjacent to these buildings, but they are usually occupied, even on nights and weekends.  If you cannot find a space near these buildings, the next closest parking lot that is usually available (and FREE) is the Nash Lot, on Wilson Street, two blocks west from Chapman and Phillips. If you park in the Nash Lot, you can walk to the east through the Carolina Inn, where you may want to look around a bit as you pass through this beautiful historic landmark.  Two official visitor parking lots can be found off Rosemary Street to the north or the Morehead Planetarium lot in the northeast corner of campus.

Contact the host if you have questions about the meeting.