August
Update
Alabama
Section of AAPT
We have the following reports for the AAPT
Summer Meeting in Edmonton, Canada
From Stan Jones, our Section
Representative:
Let
me add my two cents worth about the Edmonton meeting. I have been going
to almost every meeting since becoming section rep, and I found this to be one
of the most rewarding. Perhaps it is because I am starting to know more
people… except that I have found that people at AAPT meetings are among
the friendliest, most open people you will meet. It is always easy to get
into an interesting conversation at national AAPT meetings, and I encourage
everyone to go if you find it within reach (financially and
geographically). There is a winter meeting (February in Chicago this
year…brrr.) and a summer meeting every year.
At
this AAPT meeting, there were several very stimulating and entertaining
talks…one by Eric Mazur comes immediately to mind. He talked about the
strange way we represent the real world in many textbooks and urged us to try
to be more realistic in our representations in order to make better contact
with students and the general public. The talk by Michio Kaku, on the
physics of the impossible (the title of his latest book) was also quite
interesting, as he showed how we are getting closer to accomplishing some
things such as invisibility cloaks that once were thought impossible.
The
Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) which followed The APT meeting was
also full of good interactions. It focused on reaching atypical students:
non-science majors, minorities, inner-city youth, and elementary students.
From Chuck Hanke,
our 2008-09 President:
Summer
AAPT meeting in Edmonton, Alberta
The
Summer 2008 AAPT meeting was the first national AAPT meeting I have attended
and I enjoyed it very much. The University of Alberta where the conference was
held was celebrating its 100th anniversary. The campus was
beautiful, the temperatures pleasant and the flora and fauna were different
than Alabama in July. Since it gets to -35C during the winter there were
skywalks or tunnels connecting many of the campus buildings. Stan Hart and I
presented a poster on the Alabama Science in Motion program and talked to a
number of physics teachers and professors interested in our statewide program.
We met Dr Robert Bauman who many of you may remember from UAB. I went to the section presidents meeting and
found out many sections around the United States are small like Alabama with
yearly meetings while other sections are large with quarterly activities and
may be one of several sections that represent a single state. Also, there is
interest in international membership in AAPT from teachers in the Caribbean,
African, Central and South American countries. The sessions offered covered
many areas of concern to High School, Junior College and University Physics
teachers. I found the presentation of the Institute of Nanotechnology very
interesting and the Physics Demo show held on Tuesday evening to be very
entertaining. The demonstrations were a part of 4 or 5 themed skits which had
physics demonstrations as the tools for telling or supporting the actions in
the skit.
Everyone
is starting a new school year with eager physics students. Our networking can help new and seasoned
physics teachers. Pass along this
application to someone you know.
The
Alabama Science Teachers Association Conference is September 30th
and October 1st at the McWayne Center in Birmingham. Go to:
http://asta.auburn.edu/ to register and to learn more. We will have a “mini-meeting” of the Ala
Section of AAPT to introduce our alliance to more high school teachers. Contact Barbara Reynolds, bareynolds@troy.edu or Tommi Holsenbeck, eholsenbeck@alasu.edu, it you would
like to help.
Alabama
Section AAPT
Membership Application 2007-08
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Occupation: _ K-8 _HS Faculty _2-Yr Coll
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Tommi Holsenbeck