Secretary, Northern California/ Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers

Mentor, Exploratorium's Leadership Institute and Alumnae of Teacher Institute

Conceptual Physics Strategies - NCNAAPT April 23rd, 2011 at the Exploratorium
Presented with Jon Brix

Jon and I discussed several strategies that we employ in our Conceptual Physics classrooms. There are several links to resources below:

• The full powerpoint is available here as a pdf and a summary as a doc.
• An example of a Guided Reading homework assignment is available here as well as several more on my calendar.
• Project examples are available here on my website.
• GUESS and equation triangle instructions available here.

Probably the most important piece of advice Jon and I have is that you must have patience when teaching Conceptual Physics to freshmen. Both with them as they are younger students that still need to be taught basic study skills most of the time; and with yourself as you must use several different teaching strategies. Conceptual Physics can be very rewarding but also requires a fair amount of prep in order to continuously assess their understanding and adjust plans as needed. Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we plan to continue to bring workshops and discussions about Conceptual Physics to NCNAAPT meetings.

Blinky Lights Lab Qualitative Analysis Fall 2010

I've often used "blinky lights" in my classroom which are actually Inova Microlights with LEDs. They have a "dim" function that is done by blinking off and on 100 times in a second. These activities were first introduced to me in the New Teacher Institute at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA.

The lab that I used this year involved students completing 8 different activities that we photographed and then uploaded. This year I ran two cameras so that I was able to download quickly. They were able to analyze their photos once they were posted here on my website from laptops. There were 20 questions about the photos that they qualitatively answered in complete sentences. If you worry about time, you can use stock photos or have them work on another activity until the photos are shared.

Using Facebook Fan Pages - NCNAAPT April 17th, 2010

Powerpoint from workshop is available here.

Exploratorium Field Trip worksheets - December 2009

There are two different versions (although they look alike) for students. I usually hand this out on the bus before we get there and collect it as we get on to the bus. That way, they don't have time to copy each other's answers onto the sheet. You do have to make sure that these exhibits are there when you go to visit as sometimes their location changes or they are removed so that new stuff goes in.

Version #1 2009 (pdf or doc) and Version #2 2009 (pdf or doc)

Excel Mini-Workshop - December 9th, 2009

Blank Field Trip Excel sheet - meant to help you budget and plan for expenses as well as manage the forms that come in.

Excel Tutorial - follow along to learn about Excel.

Exporting Zangle Data to Excel - so that you can analyze multiple assignments or multiple periods at once.

2D Test Analysis - An example of what can be done with test data from students.

AVHS Scence Equity Analysis - October 2009

As part of our Equity goals, I analyzed the ethnicity and score information for the students that took science for the 2008-2009 school year. This data, as I interpreted it, was discussed within the science department to help us firm up our Equity goals for this school year. It is available as a pdf here.

Saint Mary's Masters of Arts in Teaching Leadership - May 16th, 2009
Saint Mary's College of California

Full powerpoint available here as a pdf.

Additional resources available upon request, such as research notes, raw data, more graphs or full Action Research Project.