Physics 1 (PHYS.1240)
About the Workshop
Particular focus in this Institute will include developing course material for the AP® Physics 1 course with a focus on preparing students to present good responses to the new question types.
Changing question types (both multiple-choice and free response) with the emphasis on conceptual understanding in addition to mathematical manipulation will be addressed, including methods of helping students develop cogent and logical answers to non-mathematical questions. Time will be addressed to the structure of the course and to developing Audit and curriculum sequences appropriate for each individual school situation, as well as a general introduction to the AP® Physics exam, exam scoring, and historical exam resources.
Focus in the laboratory section will also be on the opportunity to examine and develop lab experiences for students that cover the range of scientific inquiry experiences from Confirmation through Structured Inquiry and Guided Inquiry with some pointers leading to Open Inquiry. A variety of data-taking implements will be examined ranging from pre-existing (using smartphone videos, stopwatch, and meter stick) to dedicated purpose (a variety of computer based data collection devices.) Participants will be encouraged to share demonstrations and labs that they have found to be especially successful.
Participants will be encouraged to discover any weak topics in their own understanding and will be given ample opportunity to remediate any difficulties and to prepare presentations so their students will not be disadvantaged.
Register for the 2017 Physics 1 workshop online.
About the Instructors
Gardner Friedlander
Gardner taught at the University School of Milwaukee for 33 years ending in 2014, including starting the AP® Physics C course there and teaching it for 25 years. A frequent contributor to the AP® Physics Electronic Discussion Group and AP® Physics Teacher Community since each one’s inception, he was an AP® Reader for all except a few years between 1998 and 2013 and a frequent AP® Workshop and Summer Institute leader. He was a member of the AP® Physics Redesign Commission (the one that proposed the Physics 1 and Physics 2 courses) and subsequent committees. He finished a four-year membership on the AP® Physics C Development Committee in 2011. Outside of College Board*, he helps Paul Lulai in maintaining the Pretty! Good Physics and Secure-PGP physics sharing wikis. Gardner enjoys white-water canoeing, playing bridge, and spending time with his family (wife Karen and children David and Elizabeth.)
Eric Koser
Eric has been teaching Physics and AP® Physics for 22 years in Minnesota. He has facilitated the Physics Summer Teaching Institute together with Carleton Faculty for the past 16 years. Eric has taught AP® Physics B since 1998, and now AP Physics 1. He enjoys engaging students in learning physics through projects, questioning, and creative uses of technology in physics. In addition to being a physics teacher and an instructional coach at Mankato West High School, Eric is a regular workshop presenter in Minnesota as a presenter in programs including MnSTEP, Phys4All, and now SEPCI. Eric is also the Conference Manager for the Minnesota Conference on Science Education, MnSTA's annual conference for science educators in Minnesota, and has served as MnSTA's webmaster since 1998.