February 27, 2025 Issue #43

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

• Adding Quantum Ideas to Introductory Physics Courses February 28, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST As we celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, join us for an exciting session during which we will discuss quantum ideas that can be incorporated into an introductory physics class. These include: How do we measure single quanta? What does indeterminism and superposition mean? What is entanglement? How does wave-particle duality work? We will discuss a few different learning goals that can be covered in a single week, to a few weeks of time.  Facilitator: James Freericks (Georgetown University)

• 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)

• Supporting Physics Education with Gameplay March 14, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm EDT
  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)

• Learning Assistants Programs April 4, 2025 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
  Classes with LAs have been shown to improve conceptual understanding and course pass rates. The number of LA programs at two-year colleges (TYCs) is growing. Join us in this interactive session to learn about LA programs, and hear from TYC faculty who have incorporated LAs into their teaching toolkit. Facilitators: Jim Rabchuk (Oakton Community College, IL), Mel Sabella (Chicago State University, IL) 

• 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)

• NRAO Info Session 2025 May 2, 2025 from 3:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
  The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is more than just astronomy—we have opportunities for those interested in fields like physics, computer science, engineering, data science, and science education. During this session, you'll learn about our student programs, undergraduate curriculum, and citizen science projects. Facilitator: Valarie Bogan (National Radio Astronomy Observatory.) 

Recent events

Publishing in American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher Information Session (February 15, 2025)

Right now, OPTYCs is in our third year of a four-year grant. As part of our grant proposal, we had planned to develop a sustainability model for OPTYCs, so that our community can continue in perpetuity. I cannot overstress the importance of sustainability - in the past few decades, many grant-funded initiatives have been highly successful in supporting TYC physics and astronomy, only to wither once funding ended. This is not what we want to happen with OPTYCs. We have been aggressively building our community by offering many different opportunities for professional development, and you have responded. Clearly there was a need for OPTYCs to provide a home for all of us! However, this momentum cannot continue indefinitely, especially when funding ends. So this is a call to action: WE NEED YOU! We need YOU to keep participating and completing surveys so that we have data to demonstrate needs and positive impacts. We need YOU to share your expertise and experiences as participant leaders and presenters and facilitators, so that we aren’t each re-inventing the wheel. We need YOU to welcome others into our community and to provide future leadership, so that OPTYCs will continue to help TYC physics and astronomy faculty and students thrive. Whether grant funding ceases prematurely or in 10 years, we need all of us to contribute so that OPTYCs can provide future TYC physics and astronomy instructors with a home too.

Terence Tao on how we measure the cosmos | The Distance Ladder Part 1

Terence Tao on how we measure the cosmos | The Distance Ladder Part 2

• 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.