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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 28pt; color: rgb(192, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Spring 2018 Colloquium</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Department of Physics & Astronomy, TAMU-Commerce</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(192, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Feb 15, Thursday, 4-5 PM in Science Building 127</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;">(coffee and cookies will be served at 3:50 PM)</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: rgb(0, 176, 80); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Physics Education</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Embedding physics concepts in mathematical formalism</span><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Scott Franklin</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Rochester Institute of Technology
</span></p>
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<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/I7EkooKZb70Q3So6WgZ2JCiJTS2L7VqluTrKjB85-jMbt103zd6KRxU-7lSaHonUfS186NsXjJMj_-lY3OhAxjO0lk8zOF4NSVa5W9ZKrXxw8Ey3BR13_SW8x11irOMMU7oQh-m1" width="155" height="188" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad); width: 155px; height: 188px;" originalwidth="155" originalheight="188" rszimgcmd="100">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Scott Franklin is Professor of Physics at Rochester Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 and then held a National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education at Dickinson College from 1997-2000. This postdoctoral position introduced him to physics education research (PER), activity-based classrooms, and quantitative and qualitative
methodologies. He has conducted research in a variety of PER topics, including the negligible impact of matching learning environment to expressed learning style preferences, writing as a lens into student conceptual reasoning, how physicists embed physical
meaning in mathematical symbolism and, most recently, case-studies of large-scale institutional change. Dr. Franklin is Director of RIT’s CASTLE Center for Advancing STEM Teaching, Learning & Evaluation and also the Institute’s Learning Assistant and IMPRESS
programs. As Director, he has mentored students and faculty in developing Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) projects. With Dr. Eleanor Sayre, he has recently been formalizing these mentoring experiences, expanding the number of faculty that become
part of the growing DBER community. More information about Dr. Franklin can be found at
</span></p>
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<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__people.rit.edu_svfsps_&d=DwMF-g&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=hjwEO_XYlnwAQWUGeaCrW47w4mK-Al28-BKyRvaivBs&m=0EV6UCmw28PSA7C7h76W5FYtAHVywi1luv1vR1ypb_8&s=8ELybdD2HJAX7_0Wq0KFjpwj-vfdScGfveokOZyWW6Q&e=" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://people.rit.edu/svfsps/</span></a></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:4pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Abstract</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">To the physicist, the distinction between concept and mathematical formalism seems arbitrary. As one faculty colleague likes to say, "the concepts are the math and the math are the concepts.” in this
talk, I present two studies on how physicists embed conceptual meaning in complex mathematical formalism. The first study involves an analysis of faculty classroom discourse, which involves manipulating mathematical equations to illuminate physical principles.
Observations of an upper-level fluid mechanics and junior-level “Vibrations & Waves” courses are interpreted using the concept of symbolic forms, conceptual and contextual meanings that are embedded in equations. When an equation is manipulated (e.g. bringing
terms to one side or another), different forms are emphasized, changing the meaning of the equation. I'll argue that this framework can make explicit the faculty motivations for the moves, e.g. changing the context from a physics to a mathematical frame. The
second project studies how textbooks use the “=“ sign to imply causality, to define new physical quantities, and to assign numerical or variational values to symbols. These meanings are context-dependent, and can change within presented derivations. Both studies
unpack the rich meaning physicists associate with math, meaning that is often hidden from students.</span></p>
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