AP Physics

This five-day workshop will focus on some of the central themes in the AP Physics course. The AP Physics Committee has been creating significantly different tests over the last several years and this institute will focus directly on some of those changes, such as:

• Lab based physics, teaching and learning physics through the laboratory.
• The application of physics to new and fresh problems, getting the students (and ourselves) out of memorizing typical problems.
• Challenging your students with advanced problem solving experiences.
• More significance being placed on the calculus in problem solving in AP Physics C and more significance being placed on understanding the calculus concepts in Physics C. i.e. Gauss's Law problems, Faraday's Law problems, etc.
• The breadth of the AP Physics B curriculum and the recent changes to the curriculum.
• Test taking strategies for your students.

The institute will have four main components throughout the week. Approximately a quarter of our time will be centered around problem solving skills, approaches to problem solving, and advanced problem solving techniques. We will also spend time on lab-centered approaches to teaching physics. We will spend a good amount of time on the actual recent tests and published multiple-choice sections. And lastly, we will spend some time on the sharing of ideas and best practices among all of the participants; ideas for great demos, good lab experiences, how best to deal with homework, grading of homework, and other high school issues that AP Physics teachers face.

Some of the other "high school teaching" topics that will be addressed are:

• Ideas for the new AP teacher.
• Ideas for getting the most out of homework.
• "Modeling" and "White boarding" in physics.
• "Hi Tech" labs vs. "No Tech" labs.
• Graphical analysis and lab skills in high school.
• Getting the most of your brightest students and getting more out of your weaker students.

Each participant will receive a CD full of "goodies" including past exams, rubrics, and solutions. The co-presenters of the Institute are David Jones and Alexander Dickison. Jones is an AP Physics Teacher from Dade County with more than 18 years experience in AP Physics. He has been an AP Reader for nine years and a consultant for the College Board. Dickison is a college physics teacher with 36 years of experience. He has been an AP Reader and Table Leader. He currently has more than 20 years of experience with the AP Institute.

Did you know?

SCC's Heathrow facility is conveniently located in the heart of the I-4 high tech corridor.