Building Thinking (Physics) Classrooms

The book Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl has made waves in the mathematics teaching world over the past several years. With a philosophy very similar to that of the Modeling curriculum, Liljedahl's “Thinking Classroom” methods are built on the idea that “thinking is the precursor to learning.” I have spent the last two years trying out some of Liljedahl's methods in my Physics I classes. I will discuss how I have been using vertical whiteboards, randomized groupings, and “consolidation from the bottom” to increase engagement and encourage collaboration.

LaTeX Worksheets

For the past couple years, I have typeset all of my worksheets and other teaching materials in LaTeX. Here is a repository containing all of my worksheets, with a CC0 license.

Experiences teaching ICP to Multilingual Learners

After spending a few years teaching multilingual inclusion sections of Integrated Chemistry/Physics, I discuss strategies I use to support students who are learning the English language.

Analog Telephone Physics

I discuss the basic analog telephone circuit and some of the old analog switching mechanisms at the telephone office. I also talk about the practice of ‘phone phreaking,’ the precursor to modern computer hacking, in which (mostly) high school and college kids learned how to manipulate the phone system in ways it was never intended to work.

Classroom Timer

This project exists to serve a very niche problem. In my classroom, students coming from across my rather large school have trouble making it to my room before passing period ends. Therefore, I give them an extra 45 seconds after the bell rings before I count them tardy. I also don’t allow students to pack up prior to three minutes before the end of the period. So, I wanted a script that would sound an alarm bell 45 seconds after the beginning of each period and 3 minutes prior to the end of the period.

Graphical Analysis of Lab Data using Desmos

I have been having students use the free online graphing calculator Desmos (www.desmos.com). It can perform linear and curve fits much more precisely than can be done by hand, but it is much friendlier to new users than Excel.

Energy is Made Up

Energy is Made Up: Interesting Conceptual Discussions around Energy and its Definition. I discuss how energy is nothing more than a helpful ‘bookkeeping method’ for multi-object systems. This leads to interesting discussions, especially for students who have already taken chemistry.

Holograms

Holograms: The Boundary Between Geometric & Wave Optics. We will use the geometric definitions of conic sections to explore the properties of concave, convex, and hyperbolic mirrors and then use this to demonstrate how holography takes advantage of wave interference in order to construct what is essentially a geometric phenomenon.

Cultivating Literacy without Giving up your Physics Curriculum

In this talk, I share some strategies and my experience integrating these strategies without giving up my prized physics instruction time.

Conservation of Intellectual Momentum

Conservation of Intellectual Momentum: Staying connected to the field of physics even if your job doesn’t make you. My four years of studying physics in undergrad had opened my mind to a way of thinking I had grown to love and didn’t want to give up. Would teaching provide the same intellectual stimulation I had enjoyed in college?

Using 3D Glasses to Tie Together Ray Optics, Wave Optics, and Color Mixing

Talk given at the Spring Meeting of the Indiana Section of AAPT in April, 2016.

Links

• PowerPoint Slides (.pptx)

The Quest for Uncertainty

The Quest for Uncertainty: Recovering an Appreciation for Truth. I here present a simplistic view–the idea that the world is wholly knowable and that education is what Dewey called a ‘quest for certainty’–and attempt to recover from it a more robust and subtle sense of Truth by exploring the philosophical differences between mathematics and science.