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PS.D-SU-3.01 | Contributed | An Apparatus for the Lab of Uniform Circular Motion
Presenting Author: Jingbo Ye, Department of Physics/Southern Methodist University
Additional Author | Richard Guarino, Department of Physics/Southern Methodist University
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Uniform Circular Motion (UCM) is discussed in college physics. A lab that is commonly used to demonstrate the relationship between the centripetal force and the angular velocity usually involves a string. The string that connects the rotating object to a weight or a force sensor is turned 90 degrees by a pulley. This scheme has the problem that the string will twist and the pulley has friction. Utilizing the force and gyro sensors in a Pasco Force Sensor and with a custom rotor, we constructed a UCM lab with precision measurement results. A photogate is used to double check the angular velocity measured by the gyro sensor. This double measurement of the same quantity provides students with an example and training of calibration and cross-check in scientific work. We will present the design and performance of this lab, and share the lab manual with interested fellow lab instructors.
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PS.D-SU-3.02 | Contributed | Practices and Concepts in Physics Labs: Can We Do Both?
Presenting Author: Jason May, University of Utah
Additional Author | Lauren Barth-Cohen, University of Utah
Additional Author | Adrian Adams, University of Utah
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Many newly reformed introductory physics laboratory courses prioritize student engagement with scientific practices, in line with a significant body of PER research that suggests these courses often do not adequately enhance students’ conceptual knowledge. However, is it possible for introductory physics labs to focus on student engagement with scientific practices AND the generation of conceptual knowledge simultaneously? In this presentation, I discuss how our Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) lab instructional team refined existing evidence-based instructional strategies and curricular activities to elicit students’ simultaneous engagement in scientific practices and the generation and utilization of new conceptual knowledge during investigations. We show how these refinements resulted in students collaboratively generating conceptual mechanistic knowledge of complex biophysical systems and using this knowledge in open-ended experiments to build scientific models of related scientific phenomena. These examples provide evidence that physics lab courses can engage students with scientific practices and conceptual learning simultaneously.
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PS.D-SU-3.03 | Contributed | Measuring the Added Mass of a Falling Coffee Filter
Presenting Author: James Pantaleone, University of Alaska Anchorage
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The acceleration of a falling coffee filter released from rest is always much less than the free-fall acceleration of gravity, g. This is true even near the initial release, when the part of the drag force proportional to the velocity is negligible. This small acceleration occurs because there is a part of the drag force that is proportional to the acceleration. This part is called the added mass. The added mass is a large effect for falling coffee filters. Nesting the coffee filters does not change the added mass. The measured value of the added mass from the initial acceleration agrees with the theoretical value calculated for an ideal fluid. In experiments using a motion sensor or video analysis, it is easy to simultaneously measure both the added mass and the steady-state drag force.
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PS.D-SU-3.04 | Contributed | Student Perception of Engineering Design Activities in Introductory Physics Labs
Presenting Author: Jason Morphew, Purdue University
Additional Author | Amir Bralin, Purdue University
Additional Author | Thomas Chapman, Purdue University
Additional Author | Carina M. Rebello, Purdue University
Additional Author | N. Sanjay Rebello, Purdue University
Integration of engineering design activities in physics has been shown to be effective in improving student achievement, attitudes, and learning in K-12 settings. Prior research supports the idea that engineering design activities have the potential to bring value to a physics course and to facilitate transfer between engineering courses and physics. During the Spring 2021 semester we introduced an engineering design challenge, to design a simplified Martian lander, in the introductory physics labs midway through the semester. Using surveys, we examined student interest, metacognition, and transfer. Our preliminary results suggest that most students were able to make connections to other classes and their majors. Students also reported using metacognitive monitoring and control strategies during the design project. However, student perceptions of the workload limited student interest. Implications for implementation of engineering design activities will be discussed.
Supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation grant 2021389
We request AAPT organizers to schedule this talk in the same session and immediately AFTER the talk titled “Martian Lander: Integrating engineering design into undergraduate introductory physics” and immediately BEFORE the talk titled “Graduate TA Perceptions of Engineering Design in Introductory Physics Labs”
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PS.D-SU-3.05 | Contributed | Martian Lander: Integrating engineering design into undergraduate introductory physics
Presenting Author: Thomas Chapman, Purdue University
Additional Author | Amir Bralin, Purdue University
Additional Author | Jason W Morphew, Purdue University
Additional Author | Carina M Rebello, Purdue University
Additional Author | N. Sanjay Rebello, Purdue University
Problem-solving skills are critical in the 21st century workforce. For example, engineers and scientists often must solve complex, ill-defined problems. In contrast, many introductory undergraduate science courses focus on simple, well-defined problems. While engineering majors learn design practices in their first-year engineering courses, engineering design is not addressed in other science courses. Students may not see the relevance of science to the practices of engineering design. This project aims to develop, implement, and evaluate a strategy that integrates engineering design into the laboratory experiences in undergraduate introductory calculus-based physics. In this talk we describe how we designed a lesson that integrates principles of mechanics with engineering practices to design a Martian Lander. We will share our experiences from designing and implementing materials. Finally, we will discuss the implications for designing physics curricula that integrates the learning of physics with engineering design.
Mr. Thomas Chapman is sponsored by Dr. Carina M. Rebello.
This work supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation grant 2021389.
We request AAPT organizers to schedule this talk in the same session and immediately BEFORE the talk titled “Student Perception of Engineering Design Activities in Introductory Physics Labs”
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PS.D-SU-3.06 | Contributed | Graduate TA Perceptions of Engineering Design in Introductory Physics Labs
Presenting Author: Amir Bralin, Purdue University
Additional Author | Thomas Chapman, Purdue University
Additional Author | Jason W. Morphew, Purdue University
Additional Author | Carina M. Rebello, Purdue University
Additional Author | N. Sanjay S Rebello, Purdue University
Efficacy of any educational intervention is dependent upon the educators’ knowledge of pedagogy, goals, strategies, and students’ learning. After the implementation of a Martian Lander engineering design challenge in our introductory undergraduate course for future engineers, we conducted a focus group interview with the graduate TAs about their impressions of the implementation of the unit. None of the TAs had any prior experiences with engineering design. When asked about their perceptions of the value of the design challenge and its role in a physics class, TAs expressed a wide spectrum of views. However, there was overarching consensus that the ill-structured nature of the challenge left many students and some TAs unclear about their expectations for success. We will present the results of the focus group interview and describe our plans for changes in the engineering design challenge implementation in future semesters.
Mr. Amir Bralin is sponsored by Dr. Carina M. Rebello
This work is supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation grant 2021389.
We request AAPT organizers to schedule this talk in the same session and immediately AFTER the talk titled “Student Perception of Engineering Design Activities in Introductory Physics Labs”
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PS.D-SU-3.07 | Contributed | Analysis and simulation of the non-circular fringe in Michelson interference
Presenting Author: Xiaohong Zhao, Science School, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications,
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Michelson interference experiment is a basic experiment in college physics. In the experiment of equal inclination interference with point light source, occasionally, students observed the elliptical and hyperbolic curve interference fringes rather than circular fringes. The reason of this abnormal phenomenon was analyzed theoretically with the method of equivalent virtual point light source. When the two mirrors are not strictly perpendicular, the elliptical or hyperbolic curve interference fringes can be observed. The optical path of the two virtual points on the viewing screen was calculated whether the two mirrors were perpendicular to each other and the interference fringes were simulated. The theoretical analysis and simulation results are in agreement with the experimental phenomena. Finally, we proposed how to avoid abnormal phenomena.