29 March 2022

2022 Conceptual Physics Summer Institute: July 16-17, Registration open!

Announcing the 2022 CPSI!  This year, I'm only offering a single session, the weekend of July 16-17.  We'll take up to 40 people, but when we're full, we're full! :-)  

Update 14 July - I've sent all registered participants a welcome letter, website, and zoom link.  If you're registered and DIDN'T get this email, please contact me right away!  And you can still sign up if you'd like.  A few spots remain.

Folks, I'm already teaching several AP summer institutes - see the left-hand sidebar for details.  But what if you are looking for physics professional development that is NOT aimed at college-level physics?  I mean, I meet so many of you each year who teach on-level, honors, college-prep, Regents... to all ages, to all varieties of student.  And in my personal mission to spread physics knowledge to as wide an audience as possible, these sub-college courses represent a critical first point of contact with our discipline.  I focus as much energy on my conceptual course as on my AP course each year.  So I'd like to focus some of my summer professional development expertise on those who teach these first-level courses.

We've done this for two years now.  See the comments at the end of this flyer for participant reviews.  They all say, this institute was an amazing, friendly, and productive experience.

I'm offering a two-day institute on July 16-17, 2022.  It will be online, broadcasting via Zoom from my lab.  Skip past the institute description for fees and registration instructions.  The single session will be limited to the first 40 who sign up.  The daily agenda is included here at the bottom of the page.

Jacobs Physics
Conceptual Physics Institute Description
July 16-17, 2022

All levels of high school physics can be taught conceptually – where verbal and experimental reasoning is prioritized over mathematical problem solving.  While mathematics are used extensively, they are used as a tool to create predictions about the workings of the natural world.  Whether you teach “general”, “on-level”, “honors”, “Regents”, or “college-prep” physics, a conceptual approach can be adapted to most any introductory physics topic – and to most any state or district standards. 

In our institute, we will discuss, practice, and share methods of teaching common physics content in a conceptual style.  I will be broadcasting from my laboratory via zoom.  Time will be devoted to experimental methods that are especially useful at the sub-college level; to course planning on a year-long and a unit basis; and to best-practices physics pedagogy, which differs substantially from pedagogy in other disciplines.

Participants will be given a full-year’s set of classroom-ready materials, including fact sheets, in-class and laboratory activities, assessments, and planning documents.  More importantly, through their interactions with the instructor and with their colleagues, participants will develop skills and ideas for adapting these materials to their specific classroom environment.  Those attending will also earn a certificate indicating their participation in 15 hours of physics professional development.

 
How much does it cost:  $200 for the weekend.  The schedule of events is listed below.

How do I register?
(1) Click the "donate" button below (or in the left column of the blog).  It will take you to paypal.
(2) Enter $200.00 as the donation amount, either through paypal or credit card
(3) Click "Add special instructions to seller" or "Add a note"
(4) In the note, please include your name, preferred contact email, and institution
(5) Fill in payment info and click "donate now"
That's all - I'll be back to you within a day or two confirming your registration, and sending you links to the classroom-ready materials.

Cancelation issues: If you register then can't attend, contact me via email.  As long as I can replace your spot, I'll send a full refund; if I can't replace your spot, I'll refund all but $25.

Schedule: Each session will include both whole-group presentation/discussion, and breakout groups for activities.  In between sessions and during breaks, Greg will be available for informal conversation. 

Saturday 16 July (all times eastern time)
10:00               Introductions
                        What does “conceptual” mean – defining levels of physics
Different levels of physics: developing your program
                        Different levels of physics: developing your resources

11:30               Eight styles of physics laboratory activities
            Including the two best-adapted for conceptual physics
My first day activity – reflection experiment
My first group laboratory experiment – refraction

1:00-1:30    break

1:30                 Sequencing your course
Starting the year right: the most important physics teaching skill
Justifying answers with facts
Simple ray diagrams for optics in conceptual physics
Justifying answers with equations
In-class laboratory exercises: circuits

                       
3:00                 The daily “quiz”
Tests and quizzes, targeted to different levels
                        Other sorts of assessment
                        Preparing for the trimester/semester exam
                        Adapting a conceptual course to external standards
                        In-class laboratory exercises: motion graphs


Afternoon – asynchronous
                        Read through the shared files
                        Read through the Jacobs Physics blog
                        Adapt to your district or state standards
                        Bring questions and ideas for the social or for Sunday

7:30                 Optional Zoom social: Dinner, dessert, drinks, and conversation.  BYOB, obviously. 




Sunday 17 July
10:00               Building and creating experiments with whatever you’ve got
                        Developing your own in-class lab exercises
                        Using or substituting inexpensive equipment
                        In-class laboratory exercises: direction of force and motion

11:30               Methods to speed your grading
                        In-class laboratory exercises: forces in 2-d
                        In-class laboratory exercises: motion in 2-d
                       
1:00-1:30    break

1:30                 The final third of the year – once skills are built
                        How I teach impulse/momentum
                        Energy bar charts at the conceptual level      
                        Laboratory exercises with harmonic motion
                       

3:00                 Sharing: Any Other Demos
Online simulations:
                                    The Physics Classroom
The Physics Aviary
                                    Vernier’s Pivot Interactives
                        Ending the year: the Physics Fight

19 comments:

  1. Hi Mr. Jacobs,

    In one of your review videos from last 2 years, you had a Pasco rotating platform and used a Vernier photogate to get the angular velocity. I am trying to reproduce the experiment but my photogate doesn't give me an option to set it to angular velocity, i only see linear velocity. Help please. Thank you.

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  2. Hi! You're right, the photogate only gives linear velocity. You can convert to angular velocity using w=v/r, with r the distance from the center where the photogate sits. Either program the labquest/phone to do that conversion, or you can do it manually. But the *shape* of the graph still can be interpreted as angular velocity!

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  3. Hi, do you still have room for this event?

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  4. Yes! I will post when we're almost full, and again when we're full. Please sign up!

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  5. Please hold 3 spots for teachers from Vanden High School (Travis Unified). We are working on getting payment for you. Marilyn Lewis (Darcel Tucker is the one arranging payment)

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  6. Spots held! Looking forward to seeing you all!

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  7. Greg,
    I am "following" your blog but do not get any notifications when something new is posted. How do I receive emails of new blog posts?
    Thanks,
    Chris

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  8. Hi, Chris! Well, that's an interesting question to which I do not know the answer. Anyone out there know how to get email notification of new blog posts? I've been off Twitter since the Muskover, so even that won't necessarily be a great notifier...

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  9. Hi Greg, I took this course last summer and it changed my approach to teaching conceptual physics. I was wondering if there would be a benefit to taking the course again? Thanks in advance. Susan

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  10. Hi, Susan! On one hand, it's the same course again. I don't really have much *new* that you haven't seen. But, I've heard from numerous folks who have done my AP institutes multiple times, and they've found tremendous benefit in seeing the same things now that they've had a year or two of context! So, your call. In AP, I always suggest seeing another consultant for the diversity of perspectives. As far as I know, I'm the only one doing conceptual physics like this, so... :-)

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  11. Hi Greg, I am not sure how close to full you are but I would love to attend. I need to fill out the paper work to request funds at my school. If that does not work, I will fund it myself but it might take a few days.

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  12. We have plenty of space as of today. You should be fine! I'll post here when I'm getting close to full.

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  13. Good morning. Are there still openings? We have a new teacher who is interested

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  14. 12 spots remaining as of June 30. Go ahead and sign up! We'd love to have your new teacher join us!

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  15. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  16. Thank you so much for the great session this weekend. So many exciting things to think about! I love how supportive you are of everyone and eager you are to help. You are truly a teacher's teacher.

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  17. Greg - Any idea on if or when you will offer this workshop in the future? I attended last summer, and it really helped to re-energize my teaching after the pandemic. I would love to attend again in the future, hopefully this time with a colleague. Thanks again for a great workshop.

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  18. Hi, Michelle! Not sure yet. If there's sufficient interest, I'd be willing to run this again in 2023. Please contact me by email... we can talk about what dates might work, and whether we can find enough folks to attend this summer!

    If you reading this might be interested, please post a comment or contact me via email. I'll make a decision by early June as to whether to run!

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