published by the American Association of Physics Teachers

This collection provides resources from the New Faculty Workshop Reunion hosted by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), in conjunction with the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Physical Society (APS).   The reunion was attended by 50 faculty members who attended the New Faculty Workshops between 1996 and 2005.  Materials from presentations at the June 25-27, 2007 reunion can be viewed or downloaded through the links to the left.

• Download NFWR2007Intro.pdf - 17kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, AAPT

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 11, 2007

This file has previous versions.

This presentation covers the issues of diversity and their importance to the future of physics.

• Download NFWR07Yennello.pdf - 858kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Sherry Yennello.

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 11, 2007

Physics education research (PER) has developed a successful multi-decade track record of observational and engineering developments – descriptions of the kinds of difficulties students have in learning introductory physics and instructional environments that help improve their learning.  Recently, PER has begun to establish an understanding of the mental mechanisms responsible for some of these difficulties, based on recent developments in cognitive, neural, and behavioral science.  These insights are helping to broaden our focus to include intuition and skill development and they are beginning to provide a second generation of instructional reform.

• Download NFWR07Redish.pdf - 1074kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Edward Redish.

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 12, 2007

This file has previous versions.

Over the past dozen years Davidson College has produced some of the most widely used interactive curricular materials for the teaching of introductory and advanced physics courses.  These materials are based on Java applets called Physlets and the new Open Source Physics (OSP) programs and applications.  We will focus on three distinct areas: teaching introductory physics with Physlet-based materials, modeling in intermediate classical mechanics with Easy Java Simulations (EJS), and teaching advanced courses (quantum mechanics and general relativity) with OSP-based materials.  Participants are encouraged to bring laptops with a CD drive to the break out sessions for hands-on explorations of Physlets, EJS, and OSP.

• Download NFWR07Belloni.pdf - 714kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Mario Belloni and Wolfgang Christian

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 12, 2007

This presentation outlines the experiences of the Oregon State University physics department in their extensive re-design of the upper level undergraduate physics curriculum. It describes the resulting Paradigms in Physics curriculum, the systemic changes that occurred in adopting the curriculum, and some of the efforts that had to occur to make the changes.

• Download NFWR07Manogue.pdf - 186kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Corinne Manogue

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 12, 2007

"Six Ideas That Shaped Physics" represents a comprehensive reorganization of the introductory calculus-based physics course with these goals: (1) to better develop student's practical problem-solving skills, (2) to help them avoid identified misconceptions, (3) to support the instructor's use of active learning techniques, (4) to make room for contemporary physics, and (5) present even classical topics from a thoroughly modern perspective. This session will introduce some of the significant features that set "Six Ideas" apart from other course designs and demonstrate some of its active-learning tools.

• Download NFW07SixIdeas.pdf - 456kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Tom Moore

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified July 12, 2007

The goal of the contemporary physics enterprise is to explain a broad range of phenomena by using only a very small number of powerful fundamental principles. Matter & Interactions is a modern, calculus-based introductory physics curriculum for engineering and science students, which places a strong emphasis on making and using physical models, and on starting from fundamentals in analyzing physical systems. Computational modeling is an integral part of the course. An emphasis on microscopic models and on the atomic nature of matter makes possible the unification of topics that are traditionally taught as disconnected, and allows deeper exploration of the predictive power of fundamental principles. A collaborative project involving Purdue, Georgia Tech, and NC State is focused on institutionalizing this reform curriculum in large universities.  For additional information, see:

http://matterandinteractions.org.

• Download NFWR07MatterAndInteractions.pdf - 369kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a Copyright, Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood

Published July 10, 2007
Last Modified January 6, 2010

This file has previous versions.