Physics
Instructor: Connie Wells
Connie Wells has a Master of Science Degree in Physics from The University of Kansas and is a Physics and A.P. Physics B and C teacher at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Missouri. An A.P. Physics teacher since 1991 , she has been active in test scoring and development for The College Board, serving on the AP Physics Test Development Committee from 1997-2001. From 1995 to 2006, she served in various roles as Reader, Table Leader and Question Leader for the A.P. Physics Reading. In November 2003, Connie was a Regional Winner of the 2003-04 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement Teaching sponsored by The College Board and The Siemens Foundation. She has presented teacher training institutes throughout the country and abroad—including Hawaii, Saipan, Barranquilla (Colombia), Bangkok, Skopje (Macedonia) and Shanghai. She is Vice-Chair of the Committee on Teacher Preparation for the American Association of Physics Teachers. Connie was appointed by The College Board to the AP Physics Redesign Commission in 2006 and is currently Co-Chair of the AP Physics Curriculum Development and Assessment Committee. You can email Connie at conwells@kcnet.com
2012 Session Outline
Tuesday, June 26
- Introduction and overview of Institute goals
- Review materials supplied for the institute
- AP course content and plan for preparation of individual course syllabi
- AP Redesign
- Exam Format
- AP Audit
- Laboratory Journal
- Demonstrations
- Lab: Constructions of Demonstrations for AP Physics (“make and take”)
- Group work on free response questions—B or C
- Work #1-3 free response from 2012 test [B or C] and be prepared with questions concerning related concepts. [All test copies will be provided.]
- Begin working on published 2009 Multiple Choice test (due Friday)
- Begin work on course syllabus (due Friday)
Morning:
- Solutions to free response problems #1-3 from 2012 B and C tests and related concepts
- Process of reading and scoring AP exams
- Assigning scores to free response homework (#1-3)
- Using the A.P. scale to assign an A.P. score and course grade
- Score sample student papers from 2012 exam
- Further discussion of multiple choice format and exam preparation
- Work with interface equipment to design a lab experiment for your classroom use
- Constructions of demonstrations for AP classes
- Lab: "Charging a Capacitor"
- Work remaining free response questions from 2012 test and be prepared to discuss related concepts
- Continue to work on the 2009 published Multiple Choice test (due Friday)
- Work on course syllabus (due Friday)
Morning:
- Grade remaining free response problems from the 2012 test and discuss concepts
- Use the A.P. scale to assign an A.P. score and course grade
- Score student samples of these problems
- Demonstrations
- Discussion of background concepts related to capacitors
- Group work on interactive laboratory design
- Graph charging and discharging curves using Excel
- Complete the 2009 published Multiple Choice test
- Work on course syllabus
Morning:
- Score latest published Multiple Choice Test, answer questions and discuss related concepts
- Discuss testing of laboratory skills on the exam
- Demonstrations and "Best Practices" by participants
- Lab: "Determination of Laser Wavelength" (as time allows)
- Demonstrations and "Best Practices" by participants
- Workshop evaluation
