August 2006
Physoc organized an invited/contributed session on "Physics and Society Education," presided over by John Roeder. The first invited talk by Carol Burch reported on a secondary school project that used an infrared camera for students to investigate heat loss in buildings, and to report on possible ways to save energy in buildings. The second talk by Roger Hinrichs reported on his experiences with a special 2-year pre-medical program for Middle Eastern students, with details of specific experimental projects. Al Bartlett presented a contributed talk that analyzed Gaussian curves P(t) for the production of a non-renewable resource such as coal, and the "Hubbert Peak" for the most probable future production path. This was followed by audience discussion of non-renewable resources.
Physoc also organized a crackerbarrel discussion session, reported on below.
The Committee on Science Education for the Public (CSEP), which is the official AAPT committee through which physoc organizes its sessions, organized another invited/contributed session that's of interest to physoc. It was titled "Energy and the Environment," and was presided over by CSEP chairperson Steve Shropshire. The first invited talk by Gordon Aubrecht II discussed America's energy future, especially the future of electrical energy production and consumption. Aubrecht strongly recommended that Americans practice better energy conservation habits. The second talk by John White discussed how to produce energy globally in light of expanding economies and such environmental problems as global warming, suggesting the use of alternative production methods including nuclear power. White discussed the need for education so that citizens can sort out these issues at the ballot box. The person scheduled for the single contributed talk didn't show up, leaving ample time for a vigorous exchange of views between audience members and the two speakers. This discussion extended well past the regular closing time for the session.
Another item of interest to physoc members was the presentation of the Millikan Award to Art Hobson, and Hobson's subsequent lecture titled "Physics For All." Hobson began his talk by pointing out that the award is recognition of the importance of physics-related societal issues within the physics education community. The talk stressed four points: We must broaden our focus from physics for scientists to physics for all; physics for all should be entirely conceptual, not technical; physics for all should be about today's physics rather than the physics of the 18th and 19th centuries; and physics for all should be connected to its social implications.
Disappointing news: There was only one socially-oriented workshop among the 41 workshops offered during the meeting, namely Art Hobson's Population Game workshop. It was attended by only 7 people, and Hobson plans not to offer it next year due to low attendance; he might offer a revamped version of it again in some later year. We need volunteers to present socially-oriented workshops, and we need to figure out how to make them popular with AAPT members. One problem might be that physics departments and public schools do not place a high priority on these topics and do not encourage their teachers to learn about them.
SUMMARY OF THE CSEP MEETING
CSEP chairperson Steve Shropshire chaired the meeting. Shropshire, as well as CSEP members John White, Jane Flood, Gordon McIntosh (who retired from CSEP this summer) and Brian Jones (and probably others) are all members of physoc. Furthermore, Shropshire invited all physoc members to consider volunteering to serve on CSEP. So physoc's views are well represented within CSEP. Art Hobson also attended the meeting as an observer.
This winter's meeting in Seattle, and next summer's meeting in Greensboro NC, were the main agenda items. In Seattle, physoc/CSEP is organizing, for the first time at a winter meeting, two sessions, namely an all-contributed session with Gordon McIntosh presiding, and a crackerbarrel session with Jane Flood presiding. You can learn more about these sessions in the "Call for Papers" for the Seattle meeting, in the Summer 2006 issue of AAPT's Announcer, pages 167-168. The deadline for contributed papers is September 7. YOU are invited to contribute a paper to our contributed session, and to join in the crackerbarrel discussion!
CSEP is very receptive to sponsoring workshops and sessions having societal connections. They are looking for suggestions and volunteers to conduct workshops at the Greensboro meeting on societal topics such as energy and the environment. Right now, nobody has offered to conduct such a workshop. If anybody out there has a suggestion, or wants to volunteer, contact Shropshire shropshi@athena.physics.isu.edu.
In Greensboro, John Roeder will organize physoc's usual Physics and Society Education invited/contributed session, and Jane Flood will organize physoc's usual crackerbarrel session. CSEP plans to also sponsor an invited/poster session (invited talks followed by a poster session within the same room) on energy and the environment. CSEP will also sponsor an invited/contributed session on scientific reasoning, organized by Gordon McIntosh.
SUMMARY OF CRACKERBARREL SESSION IN SYRACUSE
About 20 attended. Jane Flood was the presider and discussion leader. Flood presented calls for papers and crackerbarrel descriptions from past AAPT Announcers in order to solicit suggestions for future announcements. We discussed the goals and viability of these physoc sessions. Attendees felt the topics listed in calls for papers and crackerbarrel descriptions were broad enough to welcome a wide range of contributions. The group concluded that crackerbarrels should be focused on discussing societal topics and ways to insert them into classes, rather than on business matters such as organizing future sessions. There was a suggestion, generally agreed to, that our crackerbarrel session in Greensboro should consist of a panel of people who would briefly (maximum of 5 minutes each) present suggestions for societal topics and for inserting them into courses, to be followed by an extended group discussion involving the audience and the panel. Flood, Shropshire, McIntosh and Roeder will work to coordinate activities so that the crackerbarrel can extend discussions started at other physoc sessions. Flood will contact AAPT vice president Lila Adair to request a separate time for a physoc business meeting in Greensboro so business is not conducted during the crackerbarrel. Many attendees saw a need for more practical and hands-on opportunities for learning how to incorporate societal issues into classes. Flood will ask the physoc email list for volunteers to help present a physoc workshop in Greensboro.
Peter Lindenfeld discussed physoc's website, pointing out that he gets very little feedback about the website and needs to hear suggestions from physoc members. Please do check out the physoc website, http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lindenf/pse/, and send Lindenfeld your comments and suggestions at lindenf@physics.rutgers.edu.
JOIN OUR CRACKERBARREL SESSION IN GREENSBORO!
As mentioned above, our crackerbarrels will henceforth focus on the practicalities of actually presenting physics-related societal topics in physics courses, and dispense with such bureaucratic issues as planning for the next meeting. The planned announcement for the crackerbarrel in Greensboro will read as follows:
Are you looking for ways to incorporate societal issues into a physics course? Join your colleagues to share questions and ideas in an informal discussion about how to accomplish this. A small number of people will make brief presentations on their successful activities, then the session will open for all to share and discuss. Information about presenters will be posted through the physoc listserv prior to the meeting.
SEATTLE MEETING, 5-10 JANUARY 2007
As stated above, there will be an all-contributed session and a crackerbarrel session organized by physoc. Please do contribute a paper to our contributed session. We need more ideas and discussion about physics-related societal topics, and inserting such topics into courses! The deadline for abstracts is September 7. Also, come to the crackerbarrel. Physoc intends to organize this and future crackerbarrels entirely around societal topics and inserting them into courses. Business items such as planning for coming meetings will henceforth be relegated to a separate physoc business meeting that will be listed in the meeting program.
PHYSOC MAILING LIST
We have lots of interesting discussion on this list. There are now 200 people on the list. 15 were added during the SLC meeting. MANY members are removed from the list every year simply because they change their address and don't tell us. If your email address changes, PLEASE INFORM US by emailing ahobson@uark.edu.
The physoc list is for all of us. Use it for anything you want to share with the group: alert us to publications or talks, alert us to relevant news, send a copy of your own article or letter to the editor, ask the group for information, etc. Our email discussions make a difference! Do spread the word about this list to others who might be interested in physics & society education! If you know anybody who wants to join this list, ask them to email ahobson@uark.edu.