PICUP Resource Feature Summary
- Type:
- PICUP Virtual Meeting
- Title:
- PICUP Spring 2022 Webinar Series: Quantum Mechanics and Data Science for HS Physics
- Presenters:
- Christopher Orban and W. Brian Lane
- Description:
- Our first webinar of the spring semester focused on some exciting new developments targeting the high school level.
Computation-Based Spins-First Quantum Mechanics for High School
Dr. Brian Lane, University of North Florida
Our students' careers will touch on quantum concepts in ways we might not anticipate, yet the learning of quantum mechanics largely remains separated from the high school physics experience where students first form expectations of how they might use physics throughout their lives. Two primary barriers to integrating quantum into the high school context are conceptual challenges and mathematical formalism. We outline how these barriers can be lowered by adopting a computationally integrated spins-first approach. We have begun introducing this approach to a cohort of high school physics and chemistry teachers with the goal of introducing a supplemental quantum unit in the teachers' classes at the end of the school year and tracking the adaptations required to deliver this experience to high school students. We present the structure of our professional development activities and report on the successes and challenges thus far.
New tools to integrate data science into your physics class
Dr. Chris Orban, Ohio State University
A feature of most tools to analyze motion in physics labs is automatic calculation of the velocity and acceleration of objects from position versus time data. This is convenient but it squanders an opportunity to let students learn how to analyze data and calculate these quantities themselves (for example with a spreadsheet). I will discuss tools and other content that we developed in the STEMcoding project with this goal in mind, including the STEMcoding Object Tracker - Video:
- Date:
- February 16, 2022
- DOI:
- 10.1119/PICUP.Webinar.2022-02-16
