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Fall Meeting at Bellarmine (San Jose) Nov 9/10!

Our next meeting will be at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose on November 9 and 10. We are pulling out all of the stops for this one! We’ve got two great invited speakers. In the morning we’ll have Carl Wieman, 2001 Nobel Prize winner, and the driving force behind the PhET simulations project.

In the afternoon we’ll feature Tracy Van Houten. She took a leave from NASA’sTracy Van Houten Jet Propulsion Laboratory to run for California’s 34th Congressional District, in an attempt to become the first woman engineer in Congress. She was showcased in this article from The Atlantic.  She spoke to us via Skype at a previous meeting, and we liked her so much we’re bringing her north.

To register, go to http://ncnaapt.org/event-registration?ee=43.  If your dues are current, you should have received an email giving you a free registration coupon code.  If not, then yearly dues are $20, which includes two meetings and a whole lot of food.  If you are interested, but have responsibilities around taking care of loved ones on Saturdays, we have mini-grants that help cover dependent care.  Read here for details: http://ncnaapt.org/archives/2948.  We will also have a lactation room available.

On Friday the 9th we will meet at Bellarmine for a pair of workshops.  Both PASCO and PocketLabs will run events at the Carney Science Center from 4:30 to 6:30.

Exploring the Capabilities of PASCO’s Wireless Smart Cart – The Smart Cart greatly simplifies many physics lab activities and opens up new possibilities with its integrated suite of wireless sensors. Its ability to connect to devices without interface hardware and to be used without dynamic tracks makes them a flexible and economical choice. Participants will be introduced to a variety of mechanics activities using the Smart Cart and have the opportunity to try them out.

An Introduction to PocketLab – Dr. Clifton Roozeboom, CEO of PocketLab, will show you how to get up and running on the PocketLab Web App on Chromebook, Mac, and Windows. Your students will spend less time struggling with measurement equipment and more time planning and carrying out scientific investigations with PocketLab. We will give away free lessons and materials for lessons on momentum and energy transfer, simple harmonic motion, and electromagnetism.

We will have no-host dining at Chili’s (NOT BJ’s as previously planned) at 7PM, and at 8:30 we will return to Bellarmine for a star party.  RSVP information will be sent to registered attendees on a regular basis.

Saturday’s Timeline – Main Meeting at the Sobrato Theater

8:00 Registration Opens/Poster Session
If you have a poster, bring it along. No abstract submission needed.

9:00 Panel Discussion on Homework
Summer Chrisman will moderate a panel featuring Frank Cascarano, Val Monticue and Scott Hildreth, exploring multiple approaches on homework.

10:00 Invited Speaker – Carl Wieman
“Using research on learning to teach physics better” – I will give an overview framework for research on learning and show how this framework can be used to guide the design and implementation of physics instruction.  This will include discussion of two specific topics my group has studied, how to use PhET simulations most effectively in teaching and the important role of structured student decision making.

11:15 Group Photo

11:30 Lunch (Tacos, of course)

1:00 Invited Speaker – Tracy Van Houten

2:15 Break

2:30 STEP UP 4 Women – Bree Barnett Dreyfuss
Bree will give an introduction to this new program, a collaboration between APS, AAPT, Florida International University, and Texas A&M. The goal is to help thousands of high school teachers inspire young women to pursue physics in college, in order to increase representation. Bree will describe the structure of the project, and how teachers can sign up to get materials to benefit their students, and how the teachers can assist the associated researchers.

3:00 Model Minority Myth – David Marasco
Asian-heritage students are often assumed to be doing well in STEM classes. David will look a harder at the stereotypes.

3:30 Share & Tell
Have a fun demo? Do you a new (or old) teaching gem that you want to share? We’ll give you five minutes.

How to get to Bellarmine?  Use the map link below, or go to our CarPool page.

Here’s a link to a campus map, which includes our locations and where to park: BCP_campus_map_2018

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