Workshop 1: Friday, 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM, Moulton Hall Room 203B, 14 participants maximum
Presenter: Dr. George Rutherford, Illinois State University Physics Department
Title: Microcomputer-based Labs in Physics
Microcomputer-based Laboratories (MBLs) are an important part of the physics department's offerings in a new general education program at Illinois State. The lab activities utilize a Macintosh computer, a versatile interface and accompanying software from Pasco Scientific, various sensors and actuators, and several different pieces of more traditional equipment. This workshop will introduce some of the activities presently in use as well as some under development. These activities tentatively include examples from kinematics, mechanical wave motion, thermodynamics, and microwave optics. Special emphasis will be placed on the versatility and practical limitations of the interface, probes, and actuators.
Workshop 2: Friday, 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Moulton Hall Room 204, 24 participants maximum
Presenter: Jan Leonhardt, New Trier High School, Winnetka, IL. Assisted by Martha Leitz, Niles West High School, Skokie, IL (Both presenters are certified ISTA Physics Teacher Resource Agents.)
Title: Understanding Image Formation
This workshop has been a work in progress that started in 1979. Dewey Dykstra has taken the work of Bob Miller and Lillian McDermott and combined it with the constructivist approach to learning all about image formation. The material presented is a revision of Dewey's vision that I have used for five years in the high school setting with great success. I am excited by the fact that students "understand" and have not just simply memorized traditional optics lessons! Teaching the law of reflection, Snell's law, and ray diagrams does not mean students truly understand the dynamics of what is going on! This workshop helps you fill in the gaps.
Workshop 3: Friday, 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Moulton Hall Room 308, 12 participants maximum
Presenters: Vivian Hoette and Michelle Nichols, Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL
Title: Hands-On Universe!
Hands-On Universe (HOU) is a high school program that enables students to investigate the universe while applying tools and concepts from science, math, and technology. Using the Internet, HOU participants around the world request observations from an automated telescope, download images from a large image archive, and analyze them with the aid of user-friendly software. High school teachers implement HOU curriculum into astronomy, physics, Earth science, math and technology classrooms. From their schools, teachers and students have the opportunity to collaborate with scientists and peers in astronomical research projects, such as a supernova search. The HOU pedagogical approach meets many of the standards outlined by the National Research Council (NRC) and the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Presenters will introduce participants to the HOU project with one or more of the investigations that apply physics while exploring our solar system, galaxy, and universe.
Workshop 4: Friday, 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM, Moulton Hall Room 304, 12 participants maximum
Presenter: Dr. George Skadron, Illinois State University
Title: Physics Simulations
For decades, we have taught physics in the traditional lecture-lab format. This dual approach to physics teaching closely paralleled the dual theoretical-experimental approaches to physics research. The advent of computers has had a dramatic impact on both enterprises. Computational physics has emerge and now takes its place alongside theoretical and experimental physics as a mode of of investigating nature. Similarly, computer simulations are emerging as a third fruitful way to teach physics. In this workshop we will examine several computer simulations used at Illinois State University to promote inquiry-based, active learning in our introductory courses.
Workshop 5: Friday, 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM, Moulton Hall Room 203B, 30 participants maximum
Presenter: Dr. Alan Van Heuvelen, The Ohio State University
Title: Using Multimedia Interactively in Classrooms and Large-Room Meetings
For about 99.99 percent of the evolution of the human mind, our species hunted and gathered with a need to respond to motion. The use of symbolic language occurred in the infinitesimally short recent history. The computer provides many advantages to match the characteristics of our minds to the recent demands of our information age. In physics, simulations allow us to see a moving process and simultaneous representations of that process, thus providing imagery for the quantities and concepts of physics. The simulations allow us to observe the effect on a process when some parameter is changed. The simulations are easy to use and serve as a backdrop for conversation. Perhaps most important, multimedia can be used to make students active participants in their learning. In this session, we will demonstrate the interactive use of multimedia in a setting with one computer and a projection system-- a model for multimedia use in large lecture halls at colleges and in high school classrooms.
Planetarium Presentation: Friday, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Felmley Hall Planetarium, 90 participants maximum
Presenter: Carl J. Wenning, Planetarium Director
Title: Comets are Coming!
Who will ever forget the memories of Comet Hyakutake that crossed the spring evening skies of 1996? Now, a new and brighter comet, Comet Hale-Bopp, promises to generate even more impressive memories. Comet Hale-Bopp has been characterized as "the comet" of the latter half of the twentieth century. You certainly won't want to miss this comet. Learn how, when, and where to view this comet in "Comets are Coming!" This presentation was written by the history's most famous and successful comet hunter -- David Levy -- and produced by the Adler Planetarium of Chicago.
(For current information about the comet, visit the ISU Planetarium's Comet Hale-Bopp home page on the Wide World Web. Point your web browser at the following URL: http://www.phy.ilstu.edu/planet.html)
Showcase ISU: Saturday, 9:15 AM - 10:15 PM, ISU Physics Department, Moulton Hall
Presenters: The Faculty and Staff of the ISU Physics Department
Title: Showcase ISU
Abstract: not currently available
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