Schedule and Oral Presentation Abstracts

Saturday, March 19

7:30 am	Continental Breakfast & Registration (Science Building, Foyer)
8:00 am	Opening Remarks & Welcome (Science Building, Room S153) John Varriano, Meeting Host Johnny Holmes, CBU School of Sciences Dean
8:15 am	Partnering to Enhance Inquiry-Based Physics Teaching and Learning Luria Stubblefield, Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) at Livingston, LA, Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge, LA (SUBR), the San Francisco Exploratorium, and the Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (LGU) are collaborating to create an exemplary educational and informational resource to promote scientific learning and understanding in Louisiana. The LIGO Science Education Center (SEC) partners together are implementing initiatives and programs which achieve the following goals: (1) to communicate LIGO-related science concepts (gravity, waves, resonance, interference, and light) to the public; (2) to strengthen pre-service and in-service science teaching; (3) to reach a broad audience of students in Louisiana and the surrounding region; and (4) to create a national model for ways in which universities, systemic programs, school districts, and informal learning environments can work together to support inquiry-based science teaching and learning.
8:30 am	TI-Robot Terry King, Ravenwood High School, Brentwood, TN Nashville State Community College, Nashville, TN Simple and inexpensive robots attach to TI graphing calculators and can be programmed in minutes. Several ideas for problem-solving activities will be presented.
8:45 am	Research-Based Physics Instruction at The University of Memphis M. Shah Jahan,University of Memphis, Memphis, TN Physics program at the University of Memphis is designed to provide research experience for students starting at undergraduate level. In addition to the required courses such as experimental techniques, PHYS 3610 and PHYS 3611, physics/engineering majors may also take a research course, Physics Research for Undergraduates (PHYS 4900), and conduct independent research with faculty. As a result, research students get opportunity to participate in Research Forum at the University, National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) as well as in national and international professional organizations. They also publish their work as co-authors. Research experience at the undergraduate level plays very important role in making career choice. Some choose lucrative job market and join industries or medical institutions, and others are attracted to graduate program at prestigious institutions. We find that the research-based physics program benefits both students and faculty.
9:00 am	Development of a Non-Mathematical Astronomy Minor at APSU Spencer Buckner, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN As of fall 2004, Austin Peay State University has a new Astronomy Minor. The minor was developed in stages with new courses introduced through the administrative approval process on three separate occasions. The first step was the introduction of two introductory level astronomy courses, Planetary Astronomy and Stellar Astronomy, which both met the universities academic core requirements. Step two was the introduction of two upper-level lecture based astronomy courses: History of Astronomy and Cosmology. The final step was the addition of two observationally based astronomy courses: Observational Astronomy and Astrophotography. The final two courses required the acquisition of equipment which was done over the four years that the minor was being developed. All courses were developed for non-science majors with a low level of math knowledge. The first student to complete the minor graduated in December 2004.
9:15 am	Newton's First Law Kathy Daniel, Oakland High School, Murfreesboro, TN Is Newton's First Law just another concept to memorize? Demos are cool, but why should we have all the fun? Let the students bring the first law to life themselves. A collection of challenging and fun minilabs will be presented.
9:30 am	Break and Viewing of Student Posters (Science Building, Room S155)
10:00 am	Overview of Cognitive Science Research on Physics Misconceptions Don Franceschetti, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN Physics students at all levels often have difficulty learning physics because of the misconceptions they bring with them to the classroom. The nature of these misconceptions and their often tenacious hold on students' physical thinking have drawn the attention of cognitive psychologists, who have put forth several theories about the nature of misconceptions in physics. In particular, the question of the coherence of student misconceptions is currently being argued by a number of investigators. This talk will provide an introduction to the debate as it now stands, with illustrations drawn from a college students understanding and misunderstandings about gravity.
10:15 am	Tumor Treatment with High-Energy Photon Beams: A Real-World Application of Modern Physics Vic Montemayor, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN The treatment of cancer with high-energy particle or photon beams is rather well known, but many students don't realize the extent to which Modern Physics plays a fundamental role in the treatment plan. This brief presentation will introduce this application of Modern Physics to the treatment of tumors with photon beams by means of a discussion of the variation of energy deposition (or dose) with depth in tissue, and to how this leads to the fundamentals of treatment planning for some cancer patients.
10:30 am	Teaching Science to Non-science Students in the First Year Program (FYP) at Sewanee Ben Szapiro, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN I will report on our experience in teaching two courses for freshman students enrolled in the FYP at Sewanee: Physics 111 "How Things Work" (team taught in fall 2003), and Physics 120 "The Science of Music" (taught in fall 2004). These courses were created specifically for this program, they satisfy a non-lab science requirement, are writing intensive, and follow a seminar style (limited to14 students), active learning model. Both courses include a personal project as a capstone experience: in the case of "How Things Work" each student picked a technology to study and present to the class, while in the case of "The Science of Music", each student had to build an original instrument, present it to the class and perform with it. I will present the syllabi and examples of co-curricular activities and student projects, as well as student evaluations summaries.
10:45 am	Open Channel Flow and the Bernoulli Equation Arthur Carpenter, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN Applications of the Bernoulli Equation to real life examples are often misunderstood in popular texts. This is particularly the case when one examines the flow of a liquid exposed to atmospheric pressure on the surface of the liquid.
11:00 am	Some Demonstrations with the Van de Graaff Generator Mac Smith-Williams, Christian Brothers High School, Memphis, TN The Van de Graaff generator is used to illustrate a number of practical aspects and applications of the electric field and the electric potential and to generate a healthy respect for sources of high potential.
11:15	Break
11:30	Business Meeting
11:45 am	Closing Remarks
Noon	Lunch

Student Poster Titles