OPTYCs SPOTLIGHT 2025 Issue 41

January 23, 2025 Issue #41
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.
OPTYCs News
OPTYCs Programs New Faculty Development Series The American Association of Physics Teachers presents a 16-month New Faculty Development Series designed specifically for Two-Year College Physics Faculty in their first six years of teaching at a Two-Year College. NFDS Applications for Cohort 2 are now open and will close January 31, 2025. |
Upcoming events
- AJP TPT Info Session 2025 -
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) -
ComPADRE 2025 -
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) -
Supporting Physics Education with Gameplay -
Gaming provides an opportunity to immerse students in collaborative problem-solving using their knowledge and reinforcing their identities. In this session, we’ll discuss different experiences with introducing gameplay in physics education: gamifying the classroom, physics-related boardgames, physics-related video/mobile games—all experiences are welcome! Facilitator: W. Brian Lane (University of North Florida) -
Aurora Magnetic Fields 2025 - 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)
Kris’ corner
Tips, summaries, and musings from Kris Lui (OPTYCs Director).
Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy have a series of recommendations relating to summative assessments in their book Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (West Virginia University Press, 2022). Foremost is that “students should not be surprised by the type of questions that you will ask in a summative assessment.” They suggest providing instructions in advance, such as on your learning management system or in an email to the class; at the start of an exam, students are anxious and are unlikely to be as receptive to instructions as they could be otherwise. Another good practice is to avoid cultural references and outside-of-class knowledge, such as idioms or sports. You can also get feedback from students by asking if any question seemed ambiguous, and why; perhaps many students interpreted a question differently than you had intended. Finally, contact students who excelled, and invite them to share their tips (anonymously) in a document shared with the whole class.
Resources
- 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
The work of OPTYCs is supported by NSF-DUE-2212807.