The Florida Section’s Annual Fall Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers was held in Gainesville at the New Physics Building on the campus of the University of Florida on October 19-20th, 2018.
The meeting began informally on Friday evening with a social gathering at MiDiCi Italian Pizzeria to welcome out of town guests. The Saturday sessions began with a continental breakfast and registration, where attendees collected free issues of The Physics Teacher, the 2018 HS Photo Calendar and Poster, lapel pins, pencils, and nourishing lip baum provided by the National office.
Shawn Weatherford and Robert DeSerio gave a workshop introducing the IOLab and how the device facilitates high resolution data acquisition for at home labs. High School and State College faculty were given an IOLab device to take home and enhance their teaching, thanks to support from a grant from the AAPT Frederick and Florence Bauder Endownment.
Following the hands-on workshop, two members gave contributed talks: Brenda Skoczelas presented a modeling activity for students investigating vehicle EPA mileage and curb weight, followed by former AAPT president Jim Nelson presenting the importance of distinguishing intervals vs quantities in teaching introductory physics.
Following a lunch break, two presenters, Brian Lee and Shawn Weatherford, shared thought-provoking demonstrations invoking discussion about the physics of electric fields, and the forces acting on a chain falling from a container. Finally, section president Adam LaMee presented a framework for engaging students thoughtfully in the presentation of demonstrations to encourage their pedagogical effectiveness as a tool for learning physics. The meeting adjourned Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
The Section held its annual business meeting during lunch, hearing reports the officers. Discussion proceeded on continuing section development and the challenges of building a community across a large geographical footprint. It was agreed that more frequent section meetings will add value to members. The section is excited to welcome AAPT to Orlando for the 2020 Winter Meeting, to be held January 18-21. Officers invited members to brainstorm session ideas to propose to AAPT committee chairs at the upcoming Houston winter meeting. The business meeting concluded with a free raffle of books on teaching physics provided by Pearson.
Respectfully submitted: Shawn A. Weatherford, University of Florida, Florida Section Representative.
Images from FL-AAPT Section Meeting, October 20, 2018.