Past RET Programs
2006 RET Program
David Brown: My RET experience this summer involved working in the field of biophysics under the direction of Vincent Noireaux, in the department of Physics at the University of Minnesota. This project centered around using the firefly Luciferase assay to measure the regeneration of ATP from ADP. The larger goal of this project is to create a source point of regeneration of ATP and look at the actin polymerization dynamics induced from the source. Typically, an enzyme that regenerates ATP from ADP with a phosphate donor, would be coupled to latex beads from 0.5 to 10 micrometers diameter. These beads would be placed between microscope coverglass with all the nutrients required and the dynamics of polymerization of actin filaments would be visualized by fluorescence microscopy (actin labeled with a fluorophore). One of the preliminary experiments is to measure and quantify the regeneration of ATP. For that we used the assay based on the luminescence of the firefly Luciferase.
My goal was to look at and measure ATP, proteins and enzymes in various reactions. ATP, in a reaction, powered firefly-lucerferase (f-luc). I conducted several experiments in connection with this to help understand the relationship with ATP and f-luc by measuring luminosity. ATP is the chemical that would drive actin filament assembly. Initially, the experiments were done on plate reader. Measurements were not reproducible and very noisy. We decided to build our own luminometer with a photo multiplier tube as the detector and the software LabView as the interface for data acquisition. My project ended here with the setup of this quite simple but sensitive homemade luminometer.
This RET experience has provided me with many important tools for my classroom. It keeps me connected and current in the world of experimental research. Using a luminometer and its related information is new to me. Keeping up to date is important as I relate what research science is to my students. Having real experiences and examples in my teaching relays a much better and accurate picture to students. My excitement and enthusiasm is picked up by the students and they often get that as well. This excitement has a direct relationship with the positive experiences I have had with the RET program. Lab work is a very important component of my class. Most of my students go to a 4 year college after they graduate. It is important that they get a feel for lab experiences that they will have in the future of their lives -- especially since many of them will go into science related programs. Having a RET experience helps me maintain standards and practices in my lab that are consistent with lab work they will get in post-secondary education.
Overall, this experience has been very positive and I look forward to relaying it to both students and colleagues.
Amy Hendrickson: (Eveleth-Gilbert High School) worked at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Under the supervision of lab manager Bill Miller, she learned how the lab team troubleshoots the MINOS neutrino detector and helped with general lab duties and maintenance. She also gave daily outreach tours to groups visiting the lab, helping the general public to better understand the research being done there.
Sarah Horns: This summer I had the pleasure of participating in the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I worked most directly with Dan Cronin-Hennessy on the NOυA project. The goal of this project is to research and develop a neutrino detector which will eventually be built in northern Minnesota. My part in this project was to develop a way of measuring whether or not the optical fibers in the cells of the detector are damaged before they are connected to the electronics. Besides this lab work, I was also able to have meaningful, weekly discussions with several teacher colleagues, graduate students and professors regarding physics education and pedagogy. Whether it was in the lab or in discussions, I experienced much this summer which will influence my teaching in the future.
One of the main reasons I wanted to participate in RET was to gain new knowledge about the research being carried out in physics departments at the university level. It has been six years since I have been inside a physics lab at a university, and I was certain that the equipment and focuses of study had evolved a great deal. I discovered that research at the university is extremely diverse, from theoretical research on gravitons and banes to high-energy particle physics. Some of the research used only computer simulations, while other research groups were using high powered electron-microscopes. My research focused on discovering weaknesses and flaws in the optical fiber that was to be used in the NOυA detector.
I began my summer by preparing samples for our group to test. This involved wrapping thirty meters of fiber into a cylinder that could be easily managed with in our testing equipment. Shorter fiber lengths had been tested earlier, with some fluctuations noted. The hope was that our longer samples would generate more consistent results due to length normalizing. We began testing the thirty meter fibers with an APD, or avalanche photo diode. We used LEDs to send a signal through the fiber and looked at the output on a voltmeter. Once the DC tests were completed, we began our AC tests. This new set-up required a pulse signal as a trigger and to power the LEDs. Because the APD could not integrate the signal quickly enough, we switch to a phototube. Phototubes tend to be extremely sensitive to any light and need a large amount of time to stabilize before it can take consistent readings - something that took us a few days to figure out.
There are several things I will take from actually being in the lab. First, I gained a better understanding of the hardware in a high-energy physics lab. From pulsars to digital oscilloscopes, discriminators to APDs, there was a lot of equipment specifics that I needed to learn. Although I don’t claim to be an expert in any of these, I know have a much firmer grasp of how to integrate all of these pieces of equipment. Second, I learned the importance of the reproducibility of results. If the techniques that we were working on were to be used at the real detector site, they better work very well under a variety of situations. Finally, I learned how important communication is when there is a large number of people working on a project. The NOυA project involves many researchers from many colleges and universities. Each of these teams is working on one piece of the very large puzzle. At the U of M, we had a meeting once a week were each group discussed the successes (and failures) of the previous week. This is important, especially when the results of one group can drastically affect the goals of another group. The entire project team also has regular meetings for the same reasons. This focus on communication is one of the biggest ideas that I will take back to my classroom. It’s a great idea to have each of my student "teams" to work on one piece of a lab "puzzle" and then share their results with the whole class in order to see the whole picture. For example, in a Newton/'s Law lab, some groups could have a change of mass while other groups could have a change of force. When they come together, they can look at how their results affected the acceleration. This team work would be a great way to get the idea of F = ma across.
One of the best experiences of my summer was the once weekly meeting with Professor Heller, a couple of graduated students in physics education and my fellow RET teachers. Through these meetings, I was really able to see how I can improve my methods as a physics teacher.
To begin with, I was very interested to learn what was the biggest stumbling block for incoming freshman in terms of their physics classes. I have had several former students who have entered the U of M with intentions of becoming physics majors, yet within a year they had changed majors. I wanted to know what I could do to help them be successful in their college level physics classes. My best guess at their problems was either mathematic difficulties or reading/writing problems. Professor Heller explained that both of these stumbling blocks were easily overcome. He said that the most important thing students needed to be successful in these classes was problem solving skills. He then explained that U of M had been focusing on this issue for some time and had found some things that work. You can imagine that I was very captivated by this new information.
Professor Heller first explained that they used the Force Concept Inventory to diagnose the student’s knowledge, and, more importantly, their misconceptions. He then showed us the template that is used at the U of M to help students organize the information that they receive in a problem. This template is one page, front and back, and focuses on dissecting the problem and applying the right physics principles, not just formula memorization. I am going to slightly modify this template and use it in my class next year. In fact, I’m going to change my entire focus next year to problem solving. I now understand that if students are able to improve this skill, they will be more successful in all of their classes.
I also gained a new idea from one of my teacher colleagues in our weekly discussion; this idea is called “boardroom” meetings. With this method, all student groups will be asked to summarize their lab findings on a white board at the end of a laboratory exercise. The next day, each group will present their board at a “boardroom” meeting. Hopefully, the students will see a similarity between their findings and will also begin to put together the big picture behind lab. I really think this is a novel way to improve communication and presentation skills, a major part of any scientific research.
This summer was truly a meaningful learning experience for me, which has inspired me to return to my classroom this fall and implement all of the new things that I have learned. I am very grateful for the opportunity to spend my summer working in this program and I hope that more science teachers will have the same opportunity I had in the following years.
David Parent: Throughout the course of my research experience at the University of Minnesota, I have examined topics relating to the field of Physics Education Research. In particular, the topics on which I have focused most extensively are the traits of expert problem solvers, effective methods of problem solving instruction, utilizing intentionally formed and managed cooperative problem solving groups, the value and effectiveness of context rich problems, and the refinement of a problem solving assessment rubric. The significance of these areas of research is tremendous in that it has implications on how physics is taught at all levels. Expert problem solvers from varied fields have been examined and it has been observed that key traits emerge that differentiate the expert from the novice. Knowing what these traits are, can they be taught to students and can the students incorporate them into their own problem solving? Does working in intentionally formed and managed groups produce greater conceptual understanding? If so, do all students in the group benefit? Are standard textbook problems formatted for the greatest learning potential? How can problem solving ability be assessed and tracked?
These are questions that bear tremendous importance in the field of physics education and the education community as a whole. The answers to these questions will shape the future of physics education. In fact, the migration from research to practice is already taking place personally. Throughout the next school year, I will be incorporating these various aspects of physics education into my classroom. I am eager to see the effect of implementing an explicit problem solving strategy, the intentional arrangement and structuring of cooperative groups, incorporating context rich problems, and utilizing a rubric for the assessment of problem solving skills.
2005 RET Program
The RET Program was not held in 2005.
2004 RET Program
Summary of Research and Teaching Development ActivitiesHere are some brief descriptions of the activities (both in initiation to research and in curriculum development) undertaken by high-school physics teachers participating in the RET program in the summer of 2004.
David Brown (Prior Lake High School) worked with Prof. J. Kakalios, constructing (and collecting data with) an apparatus to measure the electrical conductance of amorphous semiconductors under vacuum conditions and over a wide range of temperatures (from 77 to 450 K).
Roxanne Kuerschner (Waconia High School), supervised by Prof. T. J. Jones (Astronomy), worked on the analysis of infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope using the Mira Pro 7 astronomical image processing software.
Carl Sandness (Hibbing High School), was in residence at the Soudan Underground Laboratory working as an interpreter guiding the public through daily tours of the MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) and CDMS II (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) experiments, collecting outreach materials into a useful package given in advance to school tours and developing lesson plans and labs for teachers to introduce high school students to particle physics.
Erik Sivertson (Milaca High School) worked with Prof. J. Eckert (visiting from Harvey Mudd College) to automate the system used to produce the magnetic multilayer thin film structures studied by the research group headed by Prof. Dan Dahlberg. This involved interfacing the system to a PC and developing a software enabling users to simply type in the parameters for each film, allowing for computer control of part of the process and prompting the user for any step not yet automated.
2003 RET Program
Summary of Research and Teaching Development ActivitiesHere are some brief descriptions of the activities (both in initiation to research and in curriculum development) undertaken by high-school physics teachers participating in the RET program in the summer of 2003.
Kimberly Carlson (Minnetonka High School) and Bonnie Hill (Osseo High School) collaborated with Prof. Heller and others within the Physics Education group in developing a rubric to judge student laboratory reports along the different axes typically used in evaluating technical writing. Using an extensive computerized database of student lab reports, this work was reported at the national meeting of the AAPT in January 2004.
Michael Maas (Eden Prairie High School) worked with Prof. T. J. Jones (Astronomy) on the design of a CCD camera-based optical imaging polarimeter for the Mt. Lemmon Observatory 60-inch telescope, first using professional optical design software (Zemax) and later supervising (as well as participating in) the fabrication, assembly and testing of the final product. This experience allowed the development of a teaching unit for high school astronomy using a CCD camera with a small telescope.
Michael Nordstrand (Pine City High School), in residence at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota, worked with Prof. Peterson on the final checkout and repair of electronic systems and diagnostic equipment for the MINOS long-baseline neutrino oscillation search experiment. He also contributed to the laboratory’s outreach mission by guiding tours of the facility for the general public, as well as preparing an introductory PowerPoint presentation of particle physics, appropriate for high school students.
Shane Wood (Irondale High School) worked with Prof. Rusack on an electronics test set-up for components of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector, itself under construction at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) as an adjunct to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) scheduled for completion in 2007. In addition, using materials from a variety of sources, he began the development of an introductory curriculum on particles and the universe for high school students.
2002 RET program
Summary of Research and Teaching Development ActivitiesHere are some brief descriptions of the activities (both in initiation to research and in curriculum development) undertaken by high school physics teachers participating in the RET program in the Summer of 2002.
Jon Anderson (Centennial High School) worked with Prof. E. Peterson in the High Energy Physics Group. He assisted in development and testing of equipment for the detector fabrication facility, as well as other aspects of the project. He will be involved as part of a team of physicists, educators and Minnesota State Parks personnel who are developing a display facility to explain the MINOS project to the general public at the Soudan Mine State Park.
David Brown (Blaine High School) worked with Prof. J. Broadhurst to set up and repair an electron microscope for biophysics experiments. He will incorporate his experience directly into his classroom teaching.
Clark Erickson (Eden Prairie High School) worked with Prof. P. Heller in the Physics Education group on the development of a new 8th / 9th grade Physical Sciences curriculum project supported by NSF. Based on his experiences this summer he will incorporate his entire school (6 physical science teachers) in the initial classroom testing and modification process this year.