Apparatus @Home
This session is seeking presentations that describe apparatus and experiments that students can construct at home. This can be with materials commonly found at home, or inexpensive products that can be bought locally. These constructions can be in service of demonstrating a principle or as part of a lab experiment that the student conducts and gathers data. Apparatus that leverages smartphone technology are also welcomed.

Astronomy Education Research
The CSSA Committee is soliciting education research papers describing systematic studies focusing on understanding the underlying mechanisms guiding how students and educators engage in the learning of space science, planetary science, and astronomy, at all levels

Biophysics in the 21st Century Curriculum
In this session, curricular changes that incorporate Biophysics at both the introductory and advanced undergraduate level will be presented. In the past decade there has been a movement towards intentional curricular design for life science students, through Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences (IPLS) courses and specific laboratory activities designed to highlight the intersection of Biology and Physics. In addition, the interdisciplinary nature of Biophysics is exciting to both Biology and Physics students at the advanced undergraduate level, leading to the creation of new Biophysics and Special Topics courses.

Building a Bridge from Intro to the Major
How do you help prepare students to move from the introductory physics course into the major? Do you have strategies to help retain students in the major: a mathematical methods course, peer mentors, a laboratory course, etc. Have you revised your course sequence and/or requirements to try to address these issues? Have you made changes within a sophomore level course for this purpose. Share what you have learned so we can all do a better job recruiting and retaining students who express an interest in majoring in physics.

Chaotic Laboratories and Apparatus
Principles of classical chaos tend to be uncommon in a high school or undergraduate student lab course. It is challenging to find examples that are accessible to student’s level of preparation and also have them provide enough data of sufficient quality in the time available. The objective of this session is to discuss and explore student lab experiments and apparatus that exhibit classical chaos. The labs can be for first year or beyond and can be mechanical or electrical in nature, or simulations. We are are also interested in examples suitable for lecture demonstrations.

Creating Connections: Using Museums and Community Groups to Teach Physics and STEAM
Do you have a great relationship with a museum or local community group?  Are you part of a group that presents programs for schools and/or community members?  Share what you are doing, help others begin these programs, infuse excitement into your community!

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Introductory Astronomy
Introductory astronomy courses have the ability to appeal to a wide audience. But do they? What efforts do we make to recruit students from diverse backgrounds to our courses? Once they enroll, how to we ensure they feel safe, included, and that they belong? What do we do to encourage students from traditionally underrepresented groups to continue learning astronomy, whether formally or informally? This session will explore ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion in introductory astronomy. We look forward to seeing your ideas.

Get the Facts Out: Changing the Conversation Around Physics Teacher Recruitment
For this session we seek talks that describe strategies and activities that faculty have used at their institution to recruit students to their teacher preparation program. Specifically, we encourage examples of how institutions are using any of the Get the Facts Out resources or information to promote physics teaching as a career and how they have adapted to the switch to virtual or hybrid interactions with students on campus.

Inclusive Science Communication
Communicating science to the public remains challenging. However, it is becoming increasingly critical to be able to communicate not only the results of science but the limits and promise of our disciplines. But how do you address diverse populations in an inclusive way? Papers are invited on various aspects of inclusive science  communication.

Incorporating Apps & Open Source Materials for Laboratories and as part of Course Materials
General physics instruction allows for a variety of experimental exploration.  Today, there are a variety of smartphone applications that allow for experiments to be performed anywhere.  This session will explore how individuals have incorporated the use of publicly available smartphone applications and open source materials to enhance physics classroom instruction.

Integrating Computation into Lab at all Levels
This invited/contributed session will highlight efforts at integrating computation into laboratories from the introductory course to advanced labs.  Examples of such efforts would include developing student skills of data analysis, visual representation of data (graphing), modeling, and introducing students to new computational tools.

Lobby Physics and the Art of Demonstrations
Lobbies of office buildings, colleges, schools, and museums are an excellent place to set up exhibits, show interactive science experiments, and increase student and public engagement with physics. We want to hear from you about your own experience with “lobby physics” and your ideas on how to engage people in lobby settings.

Physics and the Arts
Physics and the arts are very interconnected.  There's a lot of physics behind the arts -- light and color, sound and waves, and many other connections.  There are many courses out there that bridge these topics like Physics of Music. The arts can also be used to communicate about issues and phenomena in physics and STEM in general.  This session is an opportunity for you to share what you have done to bridge physics and the arts. And what better place to do this than New Orleans!

Physics in Unexpected Places
We want to hear about your experiences taking physics beyond the confines of your campus or classroom. Share with us the highs and lows of taking physics to the wherever people are found outside an educational setting. This could include bringing physics to cultural festivals, prisons, science fiction conventions, or anywhere else you go to share your love of physics!

Physics of the Body and Sports
Undergraduate interdisciplinary physics courses, such as Physics of the Body and Physics of Sports, have become a trend nationally in recent years. They especially attract the interest of students in related majors and benefit their future studies and careers. Please share your successful stories of implementing tools and strategies for teaching related subjects. You are also welcome to present research in the pedagogical aspects of Physics of the Body and Physics of Sports.

Physics of Resilience
Communities and economies are increasingly vulnerable to a variety of disruptions of both natural and human origin. These disruptions include hurricanes, wildfires, floods, pandemics, and even solar storms. The vulnerabilities also include cyber-attacks, the failure of aging infrastructure, and violence resulting from social unrest. The vulnerabilities affect human well-being across many sectors of the economy: housing, food, water supply, medical care, energy distribution, transportation, manufacturing, and day-to-day commerce and social gatherings. How can physics, with its extraordinary instrumentation and modeling capabilities, help prepare society to be more resilient to disruptions? How can physics help ensure that such preparedness is equitable and attentive to people who are in special need of protection during crises? How can students and community members become involved in creating physics-enhanced resilience? Contributed talks are enthusiastically solicited that begin to answer these important questions.

Phys21: Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers
The "Phys21: Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers" report from 2016 presented statistics on careers of physics undergraduates and made curricular recommendations to support student preparation for these careers. This invited/contributed session aims to showcase departmental efforts to implement these recommendations and the measured outcomes of these changes. We also hope to provide industry perspective on the search for appropriate skillsets among job candidates.

Short Course Experiences: The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Share your experience with short term, compressed, accelerated, etc. physics, astronomy, or physical science courses. What are the unique challenges? What are the advantages or disadvantages? Are these courses a good fit for you and/or your students? Share your experiences with a presentation in this contributed session.

SPS Undergraduate Oral Talks
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) invites undergraduate students to present research work or outreach efforts.

Supporting Physics Teaching with a Planetarium
We welcome contributed talks for this session. Presenters will be using a portable planetarium (Digitalis) and it's projector. Length: 15 minutes, about "Using a Planetarium to Teach Physics and/or Astronomy Concepts".

21st Century Physics in the Classroom
The 21st century continues to be an exciting time in physics, yet students in introductory physics courses often encounter only discoveries made before the mid-20th century. During this session, participants will learn how to engage their students in activities that open up to them the world of today’s physics research.