MARTIN KIRBY
Martin Kirby earned his B.Sc. in physics and education at London University, taught physics in England for eight years, came to the US and taught for 33 years at Hart High School (2,300 students) near Los Angeles. Starting a couple of years ago, he now advises the new AP physics teachers in several districts. He has been an AP reader, table leader or question leader for over 27 years, a member of the AP Physics Exam Development Committee for eight years, a College Board consultant for 27 years, a presenter of one-week summer workshops for 25 years.
He’s written physics apps, helped in the development of textbooks and written their allied curricular materials.
Martin typically taught 4 AP Physics 1 classes and 1 AP Physics C (Mechanics and E+M). Like many other physics teachers, he had an average class size of 39, a budget of $800, and a windowless 1960s classroom built for 24 students: thus, he is familiar with 'real world' problems of real physics teachers. To relax he rides a bike, avoids work and plays violin.
Martin can be contacted at martin@kirbyx.com
He’s written physics apps, helped in the development of textbooks and written their allied curricular materials.
Martin typically taught 4 AP Physics 1 classes and 1 AP Physics C (Mechanics and E+M). Like many other physics teachers, he had an average class size of 39, a budget of $800, and a windowless 1960s classroom built for 24 students: thus, he is familiar with 'real world' problems of real physics teachers. To relax he rides a bike, avoids work and plays violin.
Martin can be contacted at martin@kirbyx.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In addition to the usual goals of a Summer Workshop in AP Physics, we’ll emphasize skills that, though not new to most AP Physics teachers, will be exercised more by the new course, such as an increased focus on inquiry-based learning, more writing (claim, evidence, reasoning, etc.), new styles of questions, and an expanded lab component. We’ll learn a lot from each other too; our different approaches, lessons learned, and how we’ll change for the future.
NOTE: There may be a requirement for those participants who choose to earn university credit for this APSI that they complete an extra assignment. For those who are participating in the AP Physics 1 and 2 APSI, the requirement will be the completion of extra homework.
In addition to the below, we will discuss and become familiar with the format of the AP Physics 1 and Physics 2 Curriculum Frameworks (released mid-2019), the new AP Physics 1 and Physics 2 Unit Guides (also released mid-2019) and the new AP Classroom Platform (opened August 2019).
Marin on the Bay AP Physics 1 Summer Institute:
Overview of AP Physics 1 Summer Institute:
Curriculum framework
AP Classroom website
Pacing and order of topics
Textbook selection
Student preparation
Teacher preparation, including the audit
Planning the instruction
Student expectations and selection
Tests, quizzes, homework, finals, AP review
Teaching
Instructional strategies
Physics education research
Approaches to problem solving
Technical writing for the student, and how to grade it.
How AP tests are developed and graded
Experiments and demonstrations
Inquiry Labs vs cookbook labs
Lab write-ups, and their grading
Technology and the lab
Designing a lab program
Student creativity and labs
AP Physics 1
Kinematics
Forces
Energy
Momentum
Rotational motion, dynamics, energy and momentum
Waves and sound
Simple steady state circuits
AP Physics 2
Fluids
Thermodynamics
Electric Force, Field, and Potential
Electric Circuits
Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction
Geometric and Physical Optics
Quantum, Atomic and Nuclear Physics.
In addition to the usual goals of a Summer Workshop in AP Physics, we’ll emphasize skills that, though not new to most AP Physics teachers, will be exercised more by the new course, such as an increased focus on inquiry-based learning, more writing (claim, evidence, reasoning, etc.), new styles of questions, and an expanded lab component. We’ll learn a lot from each other too; our different approaches, lessons learned, and how we’ll change for the future.
NOTE: There may be a requirement for those participants who choose to earn university credit for this APSI that they complete an extra assignment. For those who are participating in the AP Physics 1 and 2 APSI, the requirement will be the completion of extra homework.
In addition to the below, we will discuss and become familiar with the format of the AP Physics 1 and Physics 2 Curriculum Frameworks (released mid-2019), the new AP Physics 1 and Physics 2 Unit Guides (also released mid-2019) and the new AP Classroom Platform (opened August 2019).
Marin on the Bay AP Physics 1 Summer Institute:
Overview of AP Physics 1 Summer Institute:
Curriculum framework
AP Classroom website
Pacing and order of topics
Textbook selection
Student preparation
Teacher preparation, including the audit
Planning the instruction
Student expectations and selection
Tests, quizzes, homework, finals, AP review
Teaching
Instructional strategies
Physics education research
Approaches to problem solving
Technical writing for the student, and how to grade it.
How AP tests are developed and graded
Experiments and demonstrations
Inquiry Labs vs cookbook labs
Lab write-ups, and their grading
Technology and the lab
Designing a lab program
Student creativity and labs
AP Physics 1
Kinematics
Forces
Energy
Momentum
Rotational motion, dynamics, energy and momentum
Waves and sound
Simple steady state circuits
AP Physics 2
Fluids
Thermodynamics
Electric Force, Field, and Potential
Electric Circuits
Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction
Geometric and Physical Optics
Quantum, Atomic and Nuclear Physics.