Physics Alive

A special message of thanks to students.

In 2020, Joe Redish retired from a 50-year career as a physics professor at the University of Maryland. During that time he was actively involved in the subject of physics education, from the use of computers, to cognitive modeling of student thinking, to the role of student expectations and epistemologies in their learning, and his more recent focused on the development of a new introductory physics course for life science students. Joe has so much passion and enthusiasm for education, and he is a storyteller extraordinaire. After a long and productive career, he still speaks of the exciting things he is learning with a glisten in his eye and wonder in his words. He bubbles with eager authenticity. And I’m just tickled pink to be talking with him.

For a full set of show notes, go to www.physicsalive.com/joe

Links discussed in the episode

M.U.P.P.E.T. project

• The M.U.P.P.E.T. Utilities

CUPLE project – Comprehensive Unified Physics Learning Environment

• CUPLE homepage

What is the psychology that you need in order to teach introductory physics? This is one of his most cited papers.

• Article: Implications of cognitive studies for teaching physics
  

Survey of student attitudes and beliefs about university physics

• MPEX – Maryland Physics Expectation Survey

Students have the wrong idea of what they are supposed to be learning in class and what they have to do to learn it. Joe calls this a "problematic epistemological frame." 

• Article: Knowledge Activation and Organization in Physics Problem Solving  and also available on UMD site

Papers in the Living Physics Portal.

• Find "Using Math in Physics" in the Living Physics Portal

American Public Media audio documentary:

• Don’t Lecture Me

NEXUS – National Experiment in Undergraduate Science Education.

• NEXUS Physics

To teach a physics class for life science majors, you need to learn a lot of biology. 

• Learning Each Other’s Ropes

“In STEM education, most of the work we do is service courses, we teach each others' students. And we never talk to each other. We really need to open this channel of communication.”

I present a kinesthetic model of the human circulatory system. This model connects the physical principles of Poiseuille’s Law and mass conservation to blood flow throughout the human body. Students grapple with conflicting principles, see the limitations of the Bernoulli principle, and ultimately gain a deeper understanding of the physics behind critical components of anatomy and physiology. Physics teachers collaborate with biology colleagues and learn from them how to create truly authentic biology-based physics curricula. 

Building a kinesthetic model of the human circulatory system:

• Overview of the Activity

First article presenting this model, from 2015:

• A kinesthetic circulatory system model for teaching fluid dynamics

A draft copy of my article that was accepted for publication in the journal The Physics Teacher:

• Teach Poiseuille First

Interview with Dr. Jonathan Lindner, Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University:

• Interview with Dr. Lindner

Access many more resources for teaching introductory physics for the life sciences at the Living Physics Portal:

• Living Physics Portal

For many physics educators, PhET’s are an essential teaching technology both in and out of the classroom. In this episode, I speak with Ariel Paul, the Director of Development for the PhET interactive simulation project. Ariel discusses the ins and outs of PhET development, how the team goes from an idea to a complete simulation in your web browser. We also talk about the educational goals a simulation is designed to meet and about research-backed ways to use PhET’s in the classroom.

Check out PhET interactive simulations here!

• PhET website

PhET stands for Physics Education Technology.  Some popular sims:

• Circuit Construction Kit

“The real power of PhET simulations is their flexibility.”

The importance of implicit scaffolding, a design framework that reduces the amount of explicit instruction needed to facilitate learning. 

• Article: Guiding Without Feeling Guided: Implicit Scaffolding Through Interactive Simulation Design
  

“Science is deeply satisfying and there’s a huge difference between something being fun and satisfying. There is a deep sense of satisfaction when you wrestle with an idea and understand it. So that’s our goal, I want science to be deeply engaging and deeply satisfying.”

What are some of the best ways to use PhET simulations in class?

• “We trust and respect the professionalism of teachers. Teachers know their classroom, so we want to make a tool that you can use any way that you want.” He does suggest that the sims should not be used in a cookbook approach where you describe every action you want the students to do.

Other related simulations and tools:

• Molecular workbench

What next step would you encourage users to try to increase the pedagogical value of the sims?

• How can you make it the most scientific experience for the students? Can you make a challenge prompt, can you invite open play, can you use the simulation as an explanatory tool?

If no rules about content and grading existed, what would you do? I truly believe that we can do anything. The possibilities are endless. In this episode, I acknowledge the COVID-19 world crisis and the stress that both teachers and students are under. Even under normal circumstances, teachers are chronically stressed and often experience burnout. The rules of education are stifling and lead to exhaustion. But what if we are playing by rules that don’t exist? I pose that the content we cover, the assignments we grade, and the lectures we deliver on stage are products of our own belief system, which is shaped by stagnant tradition. What if we see through those beliefs into a classroom, a world, where anything is possible? I challenge listeners to reconsider where they spend their time and effort, and I suggest small steps for making big changes right now.

Have you ever stepped into the classroom and found yourself surrounded by…pre-health students? Many of them don’t necessarily want to take physics, but here they are, sent to you by their program’s requirements. What do you do? Well, you could do what my guest today did: ask the medical professionals what students should be learning in a physics class, then teach THAT. With a grassroots approach, Nancy Donaldson has built an impressive and thriving Physics of Medicine program at Rockhurst University, a small liberal arts college in Kansas City. In this episode, she shares her long, winding road to professorship, her natural passion for making physics relevant for her students, and her love of designing curriculum that puts students at the center of their sense-making.

Find out more about the Physics of Medicine (POM) major and minor at Rockhurst University.

• Physics of Medicine program requirements

Why should educators be interested in teaching physics courses that relate to the human body and medical imaging?

• “I need to learn about what these [students] are interested in. I knew nothing about medicine or physical therapy. But I wanted to make the learning more relevant for my class.”

• “I’m a strong believer that if we don’t teach introductory physics to life science students in a way that helps them find its relevance, I mean, these are academically strong students and they should not be taking something just to check a box.”

“Community Sourcing of Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences” and the Living Physics Portal (LPP).

• Living Physics Portal

Three of Nancys modules can be found on the LPP: physics of the respiratory system, physics of the cardiovascular system, and fiber optics in medicine. 

Nancy Donaldson et. al. published an article in 2019 on the interdisciplinary venture that she and other members of the Rockhurst community took.

• Article: “Development of an interdisciplinary conceptual conservation of energy theme for use in undergraduate physics, chemistry, and biology courses.” 

She learned some of her early constructivist ideas from Fred Goldberg’s work on constructing physics understanding.

• Fred Goldberg

I mentioned Rachel Scherr et. al. and the Energy Tracking Diagrams that were developed at Seattle Pacific University.

• Article: Representing energy. II. Energy tracking representations

What if I told you there is a place where you can discover new teaching methods, access scores of validated assessments, find videos to train your TA’s and LA’s, and even read a guide for how to move a lab course online. And what if I told you it is absolutely free and open access. Don’t believe me? Well it’s true! It’s called PhysPort, and today I’m speaking with Sam McKagan, the director and mastermind behind this website. She shares how it got started and what you can find on the site, as well as current projects that she is involved with, including the Living Physics Portal, a completely open source community for sharing curricular materials to teach physics to life science students.

Quantum mechanics PhET simulations:

• PhET Quantum simulations

Sam created a place for all things Physics Education Research (PER): PhysPort!

• PhysPort

Another great resource is Compadre.

• Compadre

If you go onto the PhysPort website, a great place to start is the “Expert Recommendations.”

• Expert Recommendations

Multiple resources available for teaching online, especially valuable during the current global pandemic. For example:

• Article: I suddenly have to move my lab course online!  What should I do?

Also find resources about equity in physics are available.

• Article: What racial, gender, and sexual orientation bias still exists in physics and what can I do about it?

Looking for validated, research-based assessments to help test students’ conceptual understanding of topics? 

• Assessment

Recent publication by Sam et. al. is:

• Article: Best Practices for Administering Attitudes and Beliefs Surveys in Physics

An under-utilized component of PhysPort is a Periscope Collection, a collection of video lessons to use with TA’s and LA’s in a training course.

• Periscope

And finally, a newer project, The Living Physics Portal. An open source website where faculty can share curricular resources dedicated to physics for life science majors.

• The Living Physics Portal

Question for Sam: If you could endorse one piece of PER, what would it be?  There’s a paper that came out in 2020 that she’s really excited about: “Demographics of physics education research” by Stephen Kanim and Ximena C. Cid. 

• Article: Demographics of PER

Published on Sept. 23, 2020, just a few weeks after my interview with Sam, was another article she co-authored:

• Article:PhysPort Use and Growth: Supporting Physics Teaching with Research-based Resources Since 2011 

In the beginning, we stood and lectured to our students, filling the chalkboard with brilliant mathematics, dazzling from our stage. Then, education research showed that there are many, many better ways to facilitate learning. In this inaugural episode, your host, Brad Moser, shares his current perspectives within his ongoing journey through physics education, why he's decided to start a podcast, and what big ideas the show will encompass.