I explore some of the historical circumstances of Galileo and the Copernican Revolution in order to nuance how the actual practice of science differs from the Scientific Method as we discuss it in the textbooks, relying heavily on Thomas Kuhn’s fascinating book The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsAfter spending a few years teaching multilingual inclusion sections of Integrated Chemistry/Physics, I discuss strategies I use to support students who are learning the English language.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsI discuss the basic analog telephone circuit and some of the old analog switching mechanisms at the telephone office. I also talk about the practice of ‘phone phreaking,’ the precursor to modern computer hacking, in which (mostly) high school and college kids learned how to manipulate the phone system in ways it was never intended to work.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsI have been having students use the free online graphing calculator Desmos (www.desmos.com). It can perform linear and curve fits much more precisely than can be done by hand, but it is much friendlier to new users than Excel.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsEnergy is Made Up: Interesting Conceptual Discussions around Energy and its Definition. I discuss how energy is nothing more than a helpful ‘bookkeeping method’ for multi-object systems. This leads to interesting discussions, especially for students who have already taken chemistry.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsHolograms: The Boundary Between Geometric & Wave Optics. We will use the geometric definitions of conic sections to explore the properties of concave, convex, and hyperbolic mirrors and then use this to demonstrate how holography takes advantage of wave interference in order to construct what is essentially a geometric phenomenon.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsIn this talk, I share some strategies and my experience integrating these strategies without giving up my prized physics instruction time.
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsConservation of Intellectual Momentum: Staying connected to the field of physics even if your job doesn’t make you. My four years of studying physics in undergrad had opened my mind to a way of thinking I had grown to love and didn’t want to give up. Would teaching provide the same intellectual stimulation I had enjoyed in college?
(Read more...) Talks & PublicationsTalk given at the Spring Meeting of the Indiana Section of AAPT in April, 2016.