NCNAAPT

Our Spring conference will be April 12-13, 2024 at Sierra College in Rocklin. Registration is at https://ncnaapt.org/event-registration/?ee=54. Annual dues are $20, which covers two meetings, food included. If you dues are current from our fall meeting, you will get an email with a coupon code for registration to this meeting.

Our keynote speaker will be Dan Burns, who has spent decades improving physics education in Northern California and beyond. His career has spanned rocket engineering at Lockheed-Martin, high school physics teaching, and work at PASCO. He currently heads the PTSOS program that helps new (and not-so-new) physics teachers.

We’ll have a no-host dining option at 6 on Friday night, followed by some astronomy at Sierra College. On Saturday we have the following draft schedule:

8-9 Registration/Poster Session

9-9:15 Welcome

9:15-10:15 Community-Based Breakout Groups (e.g. AP, Physics First, TYC)

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30-11:45  Keynote – Dan Burns

11:45-12:45 Lunch 

12:45 -1:00 Business Meeting

1:00-2:00  Open Discussion on Post-Pandemic Working Conditions (and stuff that was broken before the pandemic)

2:15-3:15 Topic-Based Breakout Groups (e.g. Labs, DEI, Clubs)

3:15-4:15 Show & Tell

There is support available for people who need to have their dependent-care subsidized. Visit https://ncnaapt.org/dependent-care-grants/ for more details.

The address for Contra Costa College is:

2600 Mission Bell Road
San Pablo, CA 94806

You can find them on Google Maps at: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xwygS98RVa94iiq67

Typically we hold the bulk of our meetings in GE-225. A campus map can be found at: https://www.contracosta.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Map-CCC-8.5-x-11_Current-2-2023.pdf

Our fall meeting will be at Contra Costa College on November 3/4. Registration is closed. You will still be able to pay at the door, but prior registration makes our food ordering go more smoothly.

A Google Maps link to their location is: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xwygS98RVa94iiq67

On the night of Friday the 3rd we’ll gather for an optional social event at CCC’s planetarium for pizza. For our main event on Saturday we are happy to announce that we’ll have Clausell Mathis from Michigan State University and Tom Noddy (The Bubble Guy) as our invited speakers. In addition we’ll have share & tell, a poster session, opportunities for networking and more.

We will meet in GE-225 for Saturday’s events. A campus map can be found at: https://www.contracosta.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Map-CCC-8.5-x-11_Current-2-2023.pdf

Tentative Schedule:

8-9 Registration/Poster Session

9-9:15 Welcome

9:15-10:15 Community-Based Breakout Groups

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30-11:45 Keynote #1: Clausell Mathis “Culture-Based Approaches to Physics Instruction”

11:45-1:00 Lunch & Network

1:00-2:15  Keynote #2: Tom Noddy

2:25-3:25 Topic-Based Breakout Groups

3:30-4:30 Share & Tell

There are also subsidy opportunities for those who need help with dependent care in order to join us: https://ncnaapt.org/dependent-care-grants/

More information on Dr. Mathis’s talk:

Physics faculty and secondary teachers have a variety of methods at their disposal to embrace a culturally based approach to teaching. In this context, we want to spotlight the endeavors of professional learning communities composed of physics instructors. These educators have made deliberate efforts to infuse culture-based pedagogical elements into their classrooms, focusing on three key areas: (1) cultivating a strong physics teacher identity, (2) designing effective curricula, and (3) assessing the impact of curriculum materials on students’ comprehension of physics concepts. 

The outcomes of this study reveal that these instructors exhibit notable signs of employing culturally relevant pedagogy. They exhibit a willingness to tackle sensitive subjects, consistently motivate students to strive for academic excellence, and adapt their curricula to incorporate students’ strengths. Despite these positive aspects, instructors still grapple with certain challenges. These challenges include encouraging students to adopt a critical stance towards physics knowledge and effectively managing students’ ability to take charge of their own learning process. The implications of the research findings are significant for physics instructors aiming to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching methodologies.