AAPT Winter Meeting PICUP Workshop

Schedule

8:00-8:15     Introductions

Please sign in: https://forms.gle/z2JbNcJHLkuLaoJt7

8:15-8:30     Review of PICUP site and available resources

8:30-9:00     Computation Learning Goals

What are the skills we are expecting students to gain from computation integration either over the entire major, or at a given course.  

EP3 Guide to Computational Skills

AAPT Recommendations for Computational Physics in the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum

Computing in Physics Courses at Michigan State University

The Difficulties Associated with Integrating Computation into Undergraduate Physics

9:00-9:45    Spreadsheets in Introductory Physics

9:45-10:00  BREAK

10:00-10:45  Glowscript/VPython

10:45-11:15  The Role of AI in Computational Physics

11:15-11:45  Practical Implementation of Computational Activities in Physics Courses

11:45-12:00  Wrap Up

Spreadsheets

This series of videos shows how to make use of some basic spreadsheet functionality to build computational models, and includes a review of the simple Euler Method for solving a first order differential equation in the context of solving Newton's 2nd Law. The series culminates with an implementation of a model of a Falling Sphere without air resistance. Any spreadsheet program can be used to follow along, and work through the content in these videos.

Building a Control Panel - Excel/LibreOffice

Building a Control Panel - Google Sheets

Basic Iterative Calculations and Building a Kinematic Problem Solver - Excel/LibreOffice

Basic Iterative Calculations and Building a Kinematic Problem Solver - Google Sheets

Review of Simple Euler Method

Falling Sphere without Air Resistance

VPython

Intro to VPython - Part 1

Intro to VPython - Part 2

Intro to VPython - Part 3

Intro to VPython - Part 4