We offered three different half day workshops at recent meetings of the AAPT:
The NSF-funded Vector Calculus Bridge Project seeks to "bridge the gap" between the way mathematicians on the one hand, and physicists on the other, do vector calculus. We believe the way to do this is to emphasize the geometry of vector calculus. We have developed a series of guided group activities to do just that. This workshop will teach participants how to use our materials, including discussions of the motivation behind their development. The workshop is primarily aimed at those interested in using the materials in a mathematical methods class or upper-division E & M. A CD with complete materials will be provided. Materials for a vector calculus class in a mathematics department will be included, but not discussed.
The Paradigms in Physics project at Oregon State University is a major upper-division physics curriculum reform effort. The junior year curriculum consists of nine courses taught in intensive three-week sessions. One of these courses is Quantum Measurment and Spin, in which we teach students about the fundamental postulates and concepts of quantum physics through their manifestation in Stern-Gerlach spin 1/2 experiments. Cross-platform JAVA software has been developed to perform Stern-Gerlach experiments. This workshop will present the course philosophy and materials, and will provide hands-on work with the software. A CD Rom with the course materials and software will be provided. The target audience is those wishing to adopt the course as a whole or wishing to incorporate the course ideas into an existing junior or senior level Quantum Mechanics class.
Energy and Entropy is a course in the upper-division Paradigms in Physics project with the objective of providing the student with a coherent, tangible--theory to lab--thermal physics experience by unifying quantum mechanics fundamentals with time-honored classic thermodynamic methodologies. The pedagogoical foundation is a maximum entropy postulate from which are inferrred unknowable (?) macroscopic state probabilities. Materials and laboratory experiences include computer simulations and a session using maximum entropy to derive the equation of state of an ideal elastomer, using it to make surprising predictions about elastomer behavior and do qualitative experiments to compare observed behavior with predictions. The materials are targeted for those interested in exploring an integrated, quantum-oriented approach to thermal physics using the course as presented in a junior- or senior-level physics curriculum, or as the basis for a one-quarter or semester thermal physics course. Course materials are provided on a cross-platform CD-ROM.
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