My first talk! Given at the STANYS 2011 Physics Breakfast on November 8th, 2011 in Rochester, New York
Links to resources mentioned in the talk:
- Feynman’s blackboard at his death
- Hake’s “Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses“
- Bowling Ball & Mallet exploration
- Whiteboarding
- Modeling Instruction
- Tug of war on Slip ‘N’ Slide video
- PhET Simulations
- Angry Birds in the Physics Classroom
- Instant feedback with orange pens
- Doxie scanner – educator’s price
- Worked Examples and Practice
- Standards-based Grading
- Active Grade and Blue Harvest online SBG gradebooks
- Blogs –> Check the side bar!
- Physics teachers on Twitter
- Global Physics Department
A huge thank you to Gene Gordon for inviting me to speak at the breakfast. It was great to share my passions and meet my virtual colleagues face-to-face!
I’d love any feedback you have, positive and negative. Thanks!
Action-Reaction 
Thank you for posting this! Now I don’t have to try and remember everything. Awesome talk, hope you do more of them!
Great insights and tips! This also reminded me of the versatility of the Vernier force plates… and that I actually own a pair and should use them haha… :o\ I particularly like the example of the impulse of the falling ball… I might somehow incorporate that into an egg drop or egg drop-like activity… and if I can also include a wiimote as an accelerometer in there somehow haha…
Hello,
I’m an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. The quote at the beginning of your presentation is very powerful. Like you said, it’s hard to learn the law of inertia by viewing a PowerPoint. If we create interactive lessons that keep the students engaged, however, the lessons will be much more effective. And the slide of the graph following the quote is proof of that.
Also, I think our class follows a similar “grading system.” We don’t get grades on every assignment. Rather, we are evaluated on how well we understood the assignment (usually determined by whether or not we wrote a quality blog post about it), what level of mastery we displayed on certain activities, and so on. We are critiqued not only by our professor, but also by our peers. I think I find this style of grading more encouraging and effective as well.
Thank you for posting this video. You offered many tips that I hope I can incorporate in my classroom in the future.
Great presentation, definitely worth watching!
Great talk Frank! It nicely sums up what I have been learning from your blog. Thanks!