Physics Alive

The universal design for learning (UDL) framework is an approach based on educational research that can guide the development of flexible learning environments that are supportive of and accessible to all learners. I’m speaking with Melissa Eblen-Zayas and Kristen Burson, authors on a recent paper describing their efforts to implement UDL and promote student mental health. They specifically focus on physics course modifications tha...

What if I told you that you could do velocity, acceleration, friction, rotations, impulse and momentum, pressure, sound, color, and magnetic field labs all with a single measurement device? And what if I told you that almost every student is walking into the classroom with their own device already in hand? Welcome to Physics with Phones curriculum. Each lesson details activities using built-in smartphone sensors to illustrate key p...

ISLE, the Investigative Science Learning Environment, is an intentional holistic learning environment for physics. It addresses two main goals: to help students learn physics by engaging them in the processes that mirror scientific practice and to improve their well-being while they are learning physics. Eugenia Etkina started this approach nearly 40 years ago and has been an ardent teacher educator in the years since. This intervi...

In this episode, I talk about DNA: a simple DNA diffraction and interference experiment using the spring from a pen, and the DNA, the structure of my introductory physics class during the spring '22 semester. 

Full show notes at:

www.physicsalive.com/dna

DNA Diffraction and Interference Lab and/or Demonstration

Figure 1: X-ray diffraction pattern of B-DNA labeled Photo 51 by Rosalind Franklin.

Figure 2: Interference patter...

Sara Seager is Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on discovering new exoplanets and characterizing their atmospheres. She hopes to find and identify another Earth and searches for signs of life. In this episode, Sara describes how we find planets around other stars and how we can possibly know how their atmospheres are composed.

Check out the full show not...

Jeff Young is an editor and reporter focused on technology issues and the future of education. He is currently the managing editor at EdSurge and the producer and host of the EdSurge Podcast, a weekly look at the future of learning. We talk about developments he’s seen throughout his career reporting on education, MOOCs and their place in education, the themes of the EdSurge podcast, and his take on the future of education. Check o...

In this episode, I summarize four articles from the Winter 2022 issues of The Physics Teacher: reflecting on a difficult year, group work equitability, lab activities on temperature and thermodynamics, and polarimetry measurements for food science. I also reflect on the purpose of this podcast, the many types of episodes you can expect to hear, and how I might better support you - the listener, the educator - to put new ideas into ...

Wouter Hoogkamer, Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the director of the UMass Integrative Locomotion Lab. He studies human locomotion, integrating neurophysiology, biomechanics and energetics. In today’s episode, learn about his research on running economy and breaking the two-hour marathon mark. Plus, we’ll take his expertise and distill it down to some experiments and concepts that we can use in ...

The Underrepresentation Curriculum is a flexible curriculum designed to help students critically examine scientific fields and take action for equity, inclusion and justice. I’m speaking with Angela Flynn and Moses Rifkin, two editors for the project who are also developing and using the curriculum in their classrooms. Learn all about the project, the resources you can access, and the community you can join.

Show notes at: www.ph...

Dr. Anne Leak, from High Point University, Dr. Brian Lane, from the University of North Florida, and yours truly reflect and muse on Day 2 of the 2022 American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Virtual Winter Meeting. The discussion includes the plenary talk by Matthew Greenhouse, physics for future careers, equity and diversity, teacher recruitment, making AAPT meetings and membership welcoming for all audiences, and our pers...

Dr. Brian Lane, from the University of North Florida, and I reflect and muse on Day 1 of the 2022 American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Virtual Winter Meeting. The discussion includes topics from the Meeting of the Members, the plenary talk by Fred Myers, hand-picked invited and contributed sessions from the first day, and our top picks for future sessions of AAPT meetings.

Further details are included in the show notes...

Jamie Vesenka is a Professor of Physics at the University of New England. He’s been using Modeling Instruction in the classroom and leading workshops for over 20 years and was an earlier pioneer in the physics for life sciences world, while also staying active in Atomic Force Microscopy research. We talk about the basics of Modeling Instruction, physics for life science, and his role as a teacher’s teacher.

Show notes: www.physic...

Whether you climb mountains or hike on local trails through the woods, trekking poles can benefit your knees, improve your balance, and give you the confidence to navigate the natural world. Lindy Smith, a personal trainer and associate of the pole manufacturing company LEKI, shares her knowledge, experience, and stories about biomechanics, pole anatomy, and the joys of walking. With physics at the forefront, we explore the world o...

POGIL is an acronym for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. It is a student-centered, group-learning instructional strategy and philosophy developed through research on how students learn best. Today we learn all about POGIL from Rick Moog, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College. He is the Executive Director of The POGIL Project and has implemented POGIL learning environments in his courses si...

Natasha Holmes, Assistant Professor at Cornell University, studies teaching and learning in physics and other STEM courses, especially the efficacy of hands-on laboratory courses. She asks: How do we know what labs are achieving? And, what teaching methods improve outcomes? Today, she’ll share what we should stop trying to do in lab and what we might try instead.

Show notes at: www.physicsalive.com/lab

Selected articles authore...

Today I’m speaking with Carl Wieman, 2001 Nobel Laureate, Professor of Physics and Professor of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, and recipient of the 2020 Yidan Prize, the world’s largest prize in education. He answers the question: How do people learn to make better decisions? “They practice them, and they get feedback on that practice, and they practice some more. If you practice something very intently, y...

This is part 2 of an interview with Louis Deslauriers, the Director of Science Teaching and Learning and Senior Preceptor in Physics at Harvard University. We discuss two recent publications from his research group. In the first, he finds that students can actually feel like they are learning more while passively listening to a polished lecture than engaging in active learning. We’ll talk about that finding and what that means. In ...