Workshop Details - Fall 2002 meeting of ISAAPT

This workshop will be held from 9:00 am to noon on Friday, Oct. 18
and from 1:00 to 4:00 pm on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Workshop W1. “PTRA Rural Institute - Microcomputer Labs: LabPro and LoggerPro”, Bernard Ricca, DePaul University School of Education - Barat Campus, Tom Holbrook, University High School, Illinois State University and Carl J. Wenning (facilitator), Physics Department, Illinois State University, Normal, IL.

The mission of the AAPT's Rural Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA) Project is to improve the teaching and learning of physics and physical science in precollegiate education for all teachers and students in the rural United States. This PTRA Rural Institute will give practicing teachers an opportunity to improve themselves professionally. At this workshop teachers will grow in the knowledge and skill associated with teaching physics and physical science. The knowledge and skills include, but are not limited to, leadership, classroom organization, physics content, teaching techniques, trends in science education and equity issues.

External funding for the PTRA program is provided by the National Science Foundation and the Campaign for Physics. The subject for this fall's Institute is Microcomputer Labs: LabPro and LoggerPro. Participants will learn how to use the desktop computer to conduct physics and physical science lab activities using a variety of probes, as well as other hardware and software from Vernier Software & Technology.

Participants in the workshop will receive a $60 stipend (for attending both sessions) and a reimbursement for travel expenses ($5 cap for this meeting). Twenty-four (24) participants maximum. Admission to this workshop is restricted to high school teachers of physics and physical science working in rural school districts. Admission to this workshop is by pre-approval only.

To apply for this workshop, send an e-mail request to Carl Wenning (wenning@phy.ilstu.edu) including name, home and school mailing addresses, home and school phone numbers, years of teaching experience, and grades and subjects taught. Application deadline Monday, October 14. Also, when you fill out the online registration form, please specify that you intend to attend this workshop. In a day or two the workshop reservation Web page will indicate if you have been approved.

This workshop will be held from 10:00 am to noon on Friday, Oct. 18

Workshop W2. “A Web-based Prep Course for Calculus Physics”, Gary Gladding, Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.

The participants in this workshop will learn about Physics 100, a preparatory course for the introductory calculus-based sequence at UIUC. Dr. Gladding and two students will present what is done in this course. Workshop participants can check it out on the Web while the workshop leaders are present to answer questions and have discussions.