Events on Tuesday, March 11th, 2025
- Physics Education Innovation Seminar
- Physics Education Research Projects in the Department of Physics
- Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Place: B343 Sterling Hall and on Zoom
- Speaker: Ayshea Banes, Isaac Barnhill, and Mihir Manna, UW Madison, Department of Physics
- Abstract: This month we will get a glimpse of research projects in physics education that are being led by three students in the Department of Physics. These studies have the potential to improve physics and other courses at UW and elsewhere. Please join us in learning about them and providing helpful comments.
Ayshea Banes: My research explores ways to center Blackness within the physics classroom and how this may transform the Eurocentric pedagogy currently used to one that is culturally relevant and community-based. Another topic I researched (with Erika Marin-Spiotta, Dept. of Geography) was ways that anti-Blackness (more commonly known as white supremacy) appear within physics education and how by identifying its exclusionary mechanisms/assimilationist norms may lead to roads of Black liberation.
Isaac Barnhill: (working with Josh Weber and Peter Timbie)
This experiment aims to make a controlled comparison between two different styles of instructional physics lab activity: traditional labs which aim to reinforce content learned in the course lectures, and experimentation labs which aim to teach students the role of experimentation in science broadly, and physics in particular. The study will explore how students’ personal views on the nature and utility of experimentation are impacted by their lab curriculum and whether the new curriculum affects student exam scores.
Mihir Manna: (working with Ben Spike)
Our research is centered on supporting strategic problem-solving approaches by students in Physics 103. Specifically, we are writing new discussion problems that encourage students to choose their own high-level strategies, rather than following a traditional “fill in the blanks” structure that can limit student agency. We hope that these prompts will help students gain a better appreciation for the usefulness of physics principles, generalize such approaches to other contexts, and feel more self-confident in their problem-solving ability.
Zoom recording available. Please contact Josh Weber for access - Host: Josh Weber
- Wisconsin Quantum Institute
- Quantum Coffee Hour
- Time: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Place: Rm.5294, Chamberlin Hall
- Abstract: Please join us for the WQI Quantum Coffee today at 3PM in the Physics Faculty Lounge (Rm.5294 in Chamberlin Hall). This series, which takes place approximately every other Tuesday, aims to foster a casual and collaborative atmosphere where faculty, post-docs, students, and anyone with an interest in quantum information sciences can come together. There will be coffee and treats.