2022 Spring Meeting at High Point

FRIDAY EVENING PLENARY TALK - Digital future for physics teaching tools

Peter Bohecek, Pivot Interactives

The COVID pandemic acted as a catalyst for innovation in education. Pivot Interactives was positioned perfectly and helped nearly one million students during the pandemic. Now, we are using the resources acquired during the pandemic -- instructor feedback, new technology, and revenue -- to develop a new vision for the role of digital tools in science education.

For as long as he can remember, plenary speaker and workshop presenter Peter Bohacek has wanted to be a physics teacher. He took the long road, studying electrical engineering instead and spending 15 years in industry before becoming a teacher. His passion is helping students use physics to become more powerful thinkers and problem solvers. After 20 years of teaching, he still enjoys working with students every day on his quest to improve his ability to help students learn. Peter also founded Pivot Interactives (originally Direct Measurement Video), a platform that expands students' opportunities to learn science using real events.

SATURDAY INVITED TALK - Building Back: Makerspaces and Classroom Communities

Anne Cox, Eckerd College

Now that we are back in-person, let’s explore how we can get students more meaningfully engaged in their own learning. Physics already has the advantage of fun and interesting concepts that lend themselves to engaging hands-on activities, but we can extend this with Makerspace-style endeavors to help students build both resilience and confidence in their analytical and creative skills. Learning can be (and should be) uncomfortable, but developing a classroom community to support students can make a difference in physics classrooms, labs, and beyond.

Recipient of the 2021 AAPT David Halliday and Robert Resnick award for excellence in undergraduate physics teaching, invited speaker Anne Cox has mentored over two dozen students in atomic cluster studies and in developing new labs for advanced courses. Her current research focuses on curriculum development and the pedagogical uses of technology.