December 12, 2024 Issue #39

SPOTLIGHT is the OPTYCs bi-weekly newsletter. It brings you OPTYCs activity updates, highlights from recent publications related to physics education, and news & resources for Two-Year colleges.

Upcoming events

• Assessment and Equity December 13, 2024 from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm EST 
  In this talk, I will motivate the need for the next generation of physics assessment tools and present a few projects that my physics education research lab at Michigan State University has been working on. In particular, I will discuss our efforts to build a more diverse set of tools to use within our classrooms in order to better understand our students’ learning as well as how we can best support them throughout their time in higher education. Facilitator: Rachel Henderson (Michigan State University)
• AJP TPT Info Session 2025 February 15, 2025 from 1:00pm - 2:00pm EST
  Join us for this lively information session on how and what to publish in both AAPT journals: American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher. Editors for each journal will present on the publishing process and relevant topics and content sought. Facilitators: Beth Parks (Colgate University and editor for AJP) and Gary White (The George Washington University and editor for TPT) 

• Matter & Interactions 2025 March 1, 2025 from 1:00pm - 3:00pm EST
  In addition to providing an overview of M&I , the facilitators will put participants into "student mode" so they can experience the difference between traditional curricula and M&I on a selected subset of topics in both first and second semester courses. Facilitators: Joe Heafner (Independent scholar, NC) and Aaron Titus (North Carolina State University)

• ComPADRE 2025 March 8, 2025 from 12:00pm - 2:00pm EST   
  AAPT/ComPADRE hosts many physics education projects, including OPTYCs, PICUP (computation in undergraduate physics), PhysPort (PER-based resources for all instructors), and the Living Physics Portal (teaching materials for life-sciences focused introductory physics courses).The goal of this workshop is to help all attendees understand what is available through the projects and content hosted on ComPADRE. Facilitator: Bruce Mason (ComPADRE Director, AAPT)

• Aurora Magnetic Fields 2025 April 19, 2025 from 1:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
  This workshop will use aurora and associated data as a way to teach about magnetic fields. The auroral currents in the ionosphere will be modelled as current-carrying wires. We will work with Biot and Savart’s law, with wires with current, and with the right hand rule. Real field data from auroral were obtained from the Magnetic Observatory Network. Facilitator Francesca Viale (Northern Virginia Community College, VA)

One way to get to know your students is to use some informal surveys. For example, on the first day of class, have students complete a survey. You could ask them school-related questions, such as their major, and what courses they are currently taking. To create a more inclusive environment, you could ask about (and use) their preferred names and their pronouns. To help create a space where students feel safe to make mistakes (and show that it is part of the learning process), Hogan and Sathy, in their book  Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (West Virginia University Press, 2022), suggest asking “What is one thing that was difficult to learn but you didn’t give up on?” I have found it also helpful to ask students to think about a previous class (or other activity) where they excelled, and what strategies helped them be successful. My students have also shared interesting information when I have asked them to “Share something about yourself that is not related to school.” I make sure to share a bit about myself too (essentially answering the questions myself) before I distribute the survey. I believe that it is not sufficient to collect your student’s information. To be most effective, you must make use of the information. I follow up with each student’s response in some way. For example, I might introduce students who are in the same classes together. I might ask them about their pets, or how long they have played a sport or musical instrument. To facilitate this, I choose 3-5 student surveys each class meeting and make sure I have a brief conversation with these students (keeping their survey responses handy so I can refer to them.) This signals that I have read their responses, and I see them as humans. 

Link to the vignettes provided by invited speakers

Summer TERC Scholars Program: STEM Education Research through a Social Justice Lens (SJL) A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

Conduct an independent STEM education research project this summer with TERC! Each project will have a particular focus on fostering equity in STEM and STEM education and enhancing transformative social justice.

Application Deadline: January 13, 2025

TYC TIDBITS, The Physics Teacher 

• The impact of TYC physics programs on STEM and Non-STEM majors 
• The impact of two-year college physics programs on the profession
• The importance of Two-Year Colleges
• Inaugural TYC Tidbits column   

• The American Association of Physics Teachers 
• Committee on Physics in Two-Year Colleges (AAPT area committee)
• Join the TYC Google group: Send an email to tycphysics@googlegroups.com
• PhysPort Recommendations about teaching methods, assessment, and results from PER
• PER Central A resource collection for physics education researchers 
• Physics Review Physics Education Research Fully open access journal for PER 
• arXiv Physics education The arXiv repository for physics education papers
• AIP Statistical Research Center Data on education, careers, and diversity in physics, astronomy and other physical sciences

optycs.aapt.org

The work of OPTYCs is supported by NSF-DUE-2212807.