Schedule

 

Schedule 2024

 

 

 

TALK 1:

Ananda Shastri and Gabriel Grant – Minnesota State University-Moorhead

Using a smartphone barometer to measure the excess pressure of a soap bubble

Students have fun exploring interesting physics questions about objects around them. Soap bubbles are familiar to everyone and have been objects of inquiry for hundreds of years. The pressure resolution of a typical smartphone barometer is about 1 Pa, which is good enough to measure the difference in air pressure between the inside and outside of a soap bubble (excess pressure). We demonstrate that a simple experiment using a smartphone barometer, a sealable plastic bag, and two plastic drinking straws reveals how the excess pressure of a soap bubble changes with bubble radius.


TALK 2:

Leland Aldridge and Ananda Shastri – Minnesota State University - Moorhead

Smartphone-based Tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle

Under Earth's gravity, ambient air pressure near Earth's surface decreases with height at a rate of roughly one pascal per ten centimeters. By the Einstein equivalence principle, an air pressure gradient will develop in an accelerating container as well. Current smartphones models have integrated barometers which are sensitive enough to measure these acceleration-induced pressure changes for modestly-sized containers and accelerations. We present smartphone-collected data of the air pressure in a rotating apparatus and discuss methods of analysis by which this simple setup can be used to test the equivalence principle.


TALK 3:

Lifeng Dong – Hamline University

Sparking Innovation: Integrating Renewable Energy Advancements into High School Science Classrooms

The rapid development of renewable energy technologies presents a unique opportunity to engage and empower high school science students. This talk explores how we designed and implemented a "Renewable Energy Innovations" workshop for local science educators. We will share how we leveraged our facilities, faculty expertise, and existing student research projects to create a dynamic learning experience for teachers. We'll delve into the key takeaways from this workshop, including insights into the needs of both students and educators when integrating renewable energy topics into the curriculum. Finally, we'll discuss strategies for planning future workshops that effectively bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and high school science classrooms.


TALK 4:

 Jerry Artz – Hamline University

The Energy Audit, a Laboratory for High Schoolers, Non-Science Majors Taking Physics, and, Yes, Even Physics Majors

A highly popular laboratory taught at Hamline for many years includes measurement of not only heat loss from conduction and infiltration in a building but also heat gained from solar energy.  Reasonable approximations are used thereby giving the student an appreciation of the practical use of classroom equations.  This is especially useful for anyone building or buying a home or building.  Only a portion of the laboratory will be presented, but the entire lab will be made available to all.


TALK 5:

Benjamin L. Stottrup, Jill Dawe, and Darcey Engen – Augsburg University

Observations on the Importance of an Audience: Undergraduate Research, High-Altitude Ballooning, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show

In this talk, we will discuss some observations about student learning, focus, engagement, and professionalism in the context of high-impact practices often encouraged as an essential part of the undergraduate curriculum.  In physics and other sciences, undergraduate research, usually culminating in a public presentation to the scientific community, is often considered the benchmark for high-impact practices.  We hypothesize that the role of an external audience is a crucial element of the student experience.  However, presentations at research conferences are only one way a student can authentically interact with an external audience.  Music and theater students also use performance as culminating experiences.  What is the role of an external audience in the student experience?  What can physics educators learn from other disciplines?  We will use case studies from our research lab, high-altitude ballooning, and a college production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show to explore the intersection of audience and student learning and how we can be more intentional in physics.




Finding Joy in Teaching Physics

In a time when we are faced with a significant shortage of physics teachers, it is worth reflecting on the reasons that that someone might find joy in pursuing a careering in physics education.


OBSRVATORY TOUR

 



TALK 6:

Ken Heller – University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Bringing the Content of Introductory Physics into the Second Half of the 20th Century: An incremental shift in emphasis.

The order that introductory physics is presented in textbooks is remarkably similar.  They start with a presentation of classical mechanics that in turn starts with kinematics.  Only toward the end of the term, do they get to conservation of momentum and conservation of energy.  This ordering makes conservation principles almost an afterthought in the minds of students instead of being at the center of the physics viewpoint.  This shift in viewpoint only dates back about 50 years when the full power of Noether’s theorem that links universal symmetries to conservation became appreciated.  To start a discussion about changing the order and emphasis of topics in introductory physics, I will present a potential reordering of the beginning of introductory physics that I have been trying out in our introductory physics class for students without calculus. 

 

TALK 7:

Laura Adams – University of Minnesota - Duluth

Reinforcing Physics Concepts in Upper Division Electromagnetic Theory Course

In our upper division electromagnetism course taught at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), we have been reinforcing physics concepts through a series of weekly quizzes, pre-lecture worksheets, and a final video project.  This is in addition to weekly homework, in class activities,  two two-hour exams and a final comprehensive exam.  Part of the materials we have been using come from the University of Colorado's Physics Department and the rest is from materials we create. We will discuss the success of these various tools in reinforcing the course concepts.

 

TALK 8:


Moumita Dasgupta – Augsburg University


Building Physics Research Lab around Curiosity and Equity


As a faculty at a minority-serving institution, I've noticed students face barriers in succeeding in physics due to limited resources and self efficacy levels. I'm integrating curiosity-driven physics research with mentoring to address these challenges early on, aiming to excite students about physics through accessible research and develop their problem-solving skills for broader interdisciplinary applications. In our lab, we study motion of Daphnia or water fleas - millimeter sized zooplanktons abundantly found in the Great Lakes region and commonly studied as model organisms in ecology, ecotoxicology and evolutionary biology. They propel themselves by periodically beating their antennae in a breaststroke motion. These antennae movements change dynamically to achieve particular swimming gaits whose descriptions in the literature have been qualitative and vaguely quantitative. Our study creates a granular level quantitative classification of baseline motion parameters of these swimming gaits. Students receive a very hands-on experience on imaging and analysis techniques like high speed video microscopy and SLEAP, a machine learning tool for animal pose tracking to analyze the observed motion. In this talk, I will lay out some intentional strategies that have led to creating this research environment that is empowering me and the students working with me to be a more authentic version of ourselves in different intellectual and physical spaces. 


Talk 9:

 Jennifer Docktor – University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

The Science of Superheroes: A First-Year Seminar Course

UW-La Crosse recently added a required course for all first-year students that combines strategies for being successful in college with group work around a theme chosen by the instructor. I am currently teaching this 3-credit course with a superhero science theme. I will share resources and examples I have used to engage students in analyzing the scientific plausibility of their favorite superheroes and superpowers.


Talk 10:


Jolene Johnson – University of Wisconsin - River Falls


Designing and implementing a one credit first-year physics seminar to increase retention of physics majors


In Fall of 2023 I developed a 1 credit freshman seminar course for physics majors.  This course was developed in response to a decrease in the number of physics and engineering dual degree majors persisting in the program particularly post covid. As a department we identified difficulties students were encountering in the school and program and tried to provide additional support through this course that meets once per week. The course includes lessons on career options, problem solving, physics specific study skills, diversity in physics and group projects in electronics and mechanics. All students interested in physics and engineering were encouraged to enroll in the course even if they were not able to start in Physics I while they completed math prerequisites. In general student feedback on the course first version of the course (Fall 2023) was very positive and there was a 100% retention rate of students in the major for those who were enrolled in the course.   I will also discuss changes planned for the course based on the first trial run and the literature review being completing as part of an Evidence Based Teaching Fellow program.