AAPT-New England Section, Spring 2025 Meeting

Date:Saturday, April 26, 2025

Location:Building 26, Room 152 (Map Directions for MIT Building 26)

Time	Event	Activities
8:30 - 8:50	Reception/Check In	Poster set up (tape onto white board wall) and Coffee
8:50	Call to Order	Julie Hammond (UMass), President-Elect
9:00 - 9:30	Invited Speaker: Daniel Davis (Harvard): Demonstrations: Instruments of Inquiry and Inspiration	What is a demonstration, and how is it different from an experiment or lab? What role have they had in the history of science, Royal Society, and Royal Institution, and in shaping science today? What challenges are there in doing demonstrations, and what resources and communities are there for doing them safely and effectively? What do attitudes toward the popularization of science and education research tell us about demonstration pitfalls and promise in and outside of the classroom? Demonstrations are widely used in social and traditional media, festivals, and museums, making them formidable vehicles for public engagement. Establishing dedicated demonstration sessions at section meetings, either on-site or hosted by a nearby partner, would enhance our relevance across meeting themes while fostering collaboration with these diverse communities, ultimately broadening our impact and membership base.
9:30 - 9:45	Questions
9:45 - 10:15	Invited Speaker:  Joshua Wolfe (MIT): Demonstrations in an Active Classroom	Demonstrations are a staple in most introductory physics classes and help students to connect the theory to real life. However, they can result in misconceptions. To mitigate this we are adding an interactive component of concept questions to most of our demonstrations in our active classroom. This talk will show how the concept questions for demonstrations are being incorporated into our active classroom.
10:15 - 10:30	Questions
10:30 - 11:00	Break/Walk to Edgerton Center, Building 4, Rooms 409 and 410	Group A: 4-409 Group B: 4-410
11:00 -12:00	Aliyah Villalva (MIT) Maria Cortez (MIT) Elizabeth Cavicchi (MIT)	Building 4-409: Experiential Learning Activities (30 minutes) Building 4-410: Activities Inspired by Historical Figures (30 minutes)
12:00 - 1:00	Lunch Break	Dine in Building 26-152 Catered lunch will be delivered to those who chose that option. Recommend others bring lunch or consider one of two options on Massachusetts Ave: Saloniki or Beantown Taqueria
1:00 - 1:15	Poster Session	Michael Frey (QCC), Andria C. Schwortz (QCC), and Andrea C. Borowczak. Comparison of Lecture and Active Learning Pamela Perry (Lewiston Public), Astronomy Lab Research with Authentic Data and Js9 Vita Bialiauskaya (MoS),Geomagnetic Fields, Magnetite, and Neural Behavior: A Physics-Based Approach Shawn Reeves (EnergyTeachers.org), Building and Programming Photo-gate Timers
1:15 - 2:00	Contributed Talk Session: Advancing Access and Inclusion	Liam McDermott (UConn), Creating Neuro-inclusive Pedagogy – Preliminary Results from a Literature Review Erin Scanlon (UConn), Engaging Students and Faculty in Meaningful Partnerships: Designing a Professional Development Workshop to Address Ableism in Physics Andria C. Schwortz (QCC), Michael Frey (QCC, co-presenting), Raymond Johnson (QCC), Jason E. Ybarra (WVU), Developing and Piloting an Open Source Astronomy Lab Manual
2:00 - 2:30	Invited Speaker:  Sean Robinson (MIT): Understanding the Role of Physics Labs in the Curriculum	I will describe the role played by lab courses within physics education, drawing on the MIT Physics advanced laboratory program for examples of both good practice and of commonly occurring difficulties. I will argue that laboratory instruction is especially well suited for focusing on the goals of professional development of the student as a skilled scientist and the humanistic development of the student as a scientific thinker.
2:30 - 2:45	Questions/Break
2:45 - 3:45	Contributed Talk Session: Physics Labs and Demos	Rudra Aryal (Franklin Pierce University), Simulations and hands-on experiences in General Physics labs    Izabela Stroe (WPI), Modeling Neuronal Circuits in Alzheimer's Disease Using RC Circuits in Physics  Education Elizabeth Cavicchi (MIT), The Behr Free Fall Apparatus Inspires Explorations in Learning and Teaching Christopher Miller (MIT), Three Example Approaches to Thematic Demo Shows
4:00 - 5:00	MIT Museum	Free admission and guided tour led by Julia Sable (MIT). Informal post-meeting shared experience.
5:00 -	Lamplighter Brewing Co.	Informal post-meeting gathering

MIT (see QR code sent via email for door access)

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Parking:      Street and lot parking around campus available on Saturdays

MIT’s parking suggestions

Closest T Stop: Kendall Square (Directions from T to Building 26)

Time: 9:00 AM - 3:45 PM, with two optional informal activities after 3:45pm

Theme: Physics Labs and Demos

Invited Speakers: 

Daniel Davis (Harvard), Sean Robinson (MIT), Joshua Wolfe (MIT)

Abstracts

Frey et al: Comparison of Lecture and Active Learning 

Lecture has grown to be a very widespread form of teaching in the postsecondary classroom. It is used by many professors and instructors of a wide range of subjects, as many find it to be a useful medium for teaching concepts and lessons. However, it is also well-known that it is the least-effective method of teaching in terms of student learning. Professors may view that labs in physics and other science courses are more hands-on and impactful, but they tend to lean away from this in favor of a lecture-based approach. To examine whether this hypothesis may be the case, as well as how these professors may compare to those who do not use lecture, postsecondary physics faculty primarily from the United States (N=8) were interviewed using video conferencing (Zoom) with automated transcripts, and then further analyzing these transcripts by coding for themes or patterns in their ways of teaching their classrooms. Coding for themes confirmed 10 expected a priori factors gleaned from the literature (such as class size and space limitations, professional training, tradition, and student and learning considerations), and also determined ad hoc factors (such as interactive lecture, technology, and peer support). The presence of these factors in preventing instructors from switching from lecture to a more active learning paradigm, indicates that education researchers need to address these reasons and motivations, as well as how concerns can be alleviated to influence change of the pedagogies utilized.

Perry: Astronomy Lab Research with Authentic Data and Js9

Js9, is a web-based image display environment, with archival satellite data that allows students to perform astronomical analysis remotely using their browser.  Energy spectra, light curves and much more can be explored, using data from thousands of deep sky objects, spanning the observed electromagnetic spectrum, from infrared to gamma rays.  Since this system is platform independent, it is especially useful in the classroom, as well as in distance learning environments. Activities can be used alone or to introduce students to the tools to then do independent research. 

Vita Bialiauskaya: Geomagnetic Fields, Magnetite, and Neural Behavior: A Physics-Based Approach

The physics of magnetoreception remains largely unexplored, with increasing evidence linking geomagnetic fluctuations and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) to neural activity. This study sets up the experimental procedure to investigate the interaction between geomagnetic fields and biological systems by exposing C. elegans to Earth-strength magnetic field variations within a controlled Helmholtz coil setup. Four experimental conditions (control, magnetic field exposure, magnetite bath, and combined exposure), allow for the analysis of locomotion dynamics, directional bias, and clustering. Real-time tracking and computational modeling quantify these effects, testing whether geomagnetic interactions induce neurodegenerative-like behaviors through biophysical mechanisms. By integrating geomagnetism with neurobiology, this research provides a framework to explore fundamental questions in field-matter interactions, biological magnetosensitivity, and potential implications for human neurological health.

Shawn Reeves: Building and Programming Photo-gate Timers

Teachers and/or students can build their own systems of photo-gate timers for kinematics. We program microcontrollers either to time the entry of an object in an array of photo-gates, or the entry and exit of objects of known length to determine local speed. We build our own photo-gates from infrared LEDs, photodiodes, resistors, and transistors. We use micro-controller boards with built-in displays, or ones that act as USB keyboards to enter the data automatically in spreadsheets. A whole system costs less than $40 US in parts. We, EnergyTeachers.org, seek teachers as partners in developing the curriculum further.

Jason Hyatt: Discussion: Pre-Lab Exercise Best Practices?

What are the best practices for designing introductory physics pre-labs to enhance student preparedness and engagement? Pre-lab activities are essential for introducing core concepts, familiarizing students with lab procedures, and improving in-lab efficiency. Written assignments can promote critical thinking and conceptual understanding but may burden students if not well-integrated. iClicker response questions offer a quick and interactive way to assess understanding and identify misconceptions in real-time. Online quizzes provide scalable and immediate feedback, but risk encouraging surface learning without thoughtful design. Let’s  discuss these methods in terms of learning outcomes, student feedback, and instructor workload.

Liam McDermott: Creating Neuro-inclusive Pedagogy – Preliminary Results from a Literature Review

Research indicates that neurodivergent people learn and perform STEM topics – particularly physics – in non-normative ways. However, the particular ways that neurodivergent students do STEM remains understudied. As a starting point to a larger study into the ways neurodivergent students do physics, our team has conducted a systematic literature review of neurodivergent STEM undergraduate learning and performance. We present the preliminary findings of this literature review of dissertations, theses, peer-reviewed journal articles, and conference proceedings, focusing on the representation of neurodivergent students, thematic analysis of the literature, and potential implications for pedagogical praxis. Importantly, we solicit comments from the audience for ways in which we can use this research to benefit physics educators. 

Erin Scanlon: Engaging Students and Faculty in Meaningful Partnerships: Designing a Professional Development Workshop to Address Ableism in Physics

Ableism is endemic in the cultures of physics. To help address this, we are creating a dual-stranded professional development workshop. One strand of the workshop is targeted at physics instructors and supporting them to enact inclusive and anti-ableist practices within the classroom environment. The second strand is focused on supporting disabled physics students to learn about and prepare for the physics workforce. In this talk, we will present the theoretical underpinnings of the workshop, our design of the workshop, and our future plans. 

Andria C. Schwortz et al.: Developing and Piloting an Open Source Astronomy Lab Manual

Introductory astronomy courses taught either at the college level (Astro 100/101) or high school serve as a “gateway” into science for many students.  As a result, many textbooks, workbooks, and online HW systems have been published or developed.  Unfortunately there is a lack of professionally published astronomy lab manuals, with the result that those colleges which include a lab component generally use internal departmental lab manuals, and K-12 teachers are left to flounder.  In this project, Schwortz, Johnson, and Ybarra developed 22 labs spanning the full introductory curriculum, skills, and tools, all in a single file with unified appearance.  This presentation will also include some student work, and remarks by one of the students who piloted the lab manual (Frey).

The manual is homed at OER Commons, http://bit.ly/OER-Astronomy-Lab-Manual , with links to two formats: Google Doc (which instructors can copy and edit) and PDF. 

Rudra Aryal: Simulations and hands-on experiences in General Physics labs  

A general physics lab designed for both science and non-science students focused on the topic "Observation of Faraday's Laws of Physics." As an observation lab, this was integrated conceptual questions, freely available physics simulations, and hands-on demonstrations. This comprehensive approach enhances comprehension and engagement during laboratory classes. Based on students' reflections after the lab, it was noted that simulations offer an interactive way for students to visualize concepts, build a foundational understanding, and stimulate curiosity about the underlying physics theory.

Izabela Stroe: Modeling Neuronal Circuits in Alzheimer's Disease Using RC Circuits in Physics Education

Alzheimer’s disease has been studied using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a model organism with a simple and well-mapped nervous system, to investigate the mechanisms underlying neuronal dysfunction. This activity designed for introductory physics classes leverage RC circuits to simulate neuronal networks in C. elegans, allowing students to explore both normal neuronal communication and impairments resembling Alzheimer's disease. Using resistors and capacitors, students model synaptic behavior and observe changes in circuit performance. The setup uses capacitors to represent signal delay and LEDs to simulate motor neuron activation, emphasizing the parallels between biological and electrical systems. Students construct the circuits, calculate time constants (τ=R⋅C), and analyze how alterations in resistance mimic neuronal disruptions. Group discussions deepen understanding by connecting the physics concepts of RC circuits to real-world biological challenges, such as Alzheimer’s-related synaptic dysfunction. This interdisciplinary activity enhances comprehension of both physics and neuroscience while fostering critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills.

Elizabeth Cavicchi: The Behr Free Fall Apparatus Inspires Explorations in Learning and Teaching

In this NES AAPT conference starring Physics Lab apparatus and Demos, I share how the Behr Free Fall apparatus facilitated my exploratory teaching and learning as a student in 1994, giving rise to surprising experiments and profound realizations that inspire my teaching today. Teachers of then-new “Explorations in College Algebra” class asked me for a physics application of the parabola; I suggested Free Fall. They arranged for the algebra class to perform the Free Fall lab in the physics department.  When I observed that session, I noticed that only the physics lab instructor manipulated the Behr free fall apparatus. The next term, one of those students, Halle, met me weekly and proposed that we investigate that same free fall apparatus. Our activities immediately diverged from the assigned lab: we operated the apparatus ourselves, trialing and discovering ways of using it that emerged from her questions and confusions! Whereas the original physics lab took half a second, the Behr Free Fall apparatus engaged us for weeks, deepening our understanding of time, exploration, teaching and learning.

Christopher Miller: Three Example Approaches to Thematic Demo Shows

A summary of three demo-filled one-to-two hour lectures delivered in one day as part of Splash, a student-organized learning weekend for grades seven through twelve - featuring a look at design around a central theme and class logistics: first, a class on the experimental history of atomic theory which I've modified annually to focus more on the nature of science; then, a minimalistic (equation-free) look at principles of magnetism given for the second year in a row; and, finally, a new class on the topic of the vacuum told as a chronological history of orders of magnitude achieved by different devices on display.