Have you ever stepped into the classroom and found yourself surrounded by…pre-health students? Many of them don’t necessarily want to take physics, but here they are, sent to you by their program’s requirements. What do you do? Well, you could do what my guest today did: ask the medical professionals what students should be learning in a physics class, then teach THAT. With a grassroots approach, Nancy Donaldson has built an impressive and thriving Physics of Medicine program at Rockhurst University, a small liberal arts college in Kansas City. In this episode, she shares her long, winding road to professorship, her natural passion for making physics relevant for her students, and her love of designing curriculum that puts students at the center of their sense-making.
Find out more about the Physics of Medicine (POM) major and minor at Rockhurst University.
Why should educators be interested in teaching physics courses that relate to the human body and medical imaging?
“Community Sourcing of Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences” and the Living Physics Portal (LPP).
Three of Nancys modules can be found on the LPP: physics of the respiratory system, physics of the cardiovascular system, and fiber optics in medicine.
Nancy Donaldson et. al. published an article in 2019 on the interdisciplinary venture that she and other members of the Rockhurst community took.
She learned some of her early constructivist ideas from Fred Goldberg’s work on constructing physics understanding.
I mentioned Rachel Scherr et. al. and the Energy Tracking Diagrams that were developed at Seattle Pacific University.
The Maple: Sweet Siren and Physics Phenom
Universal Design for Learning and Multiple Means of Engagement
Physics with Phones with David Rakestraw
The Physics Alive Road Journal
The Investigative Science Learning Environment with Eugenia Etkina
Diffraction of DNA and the DNA of my Physics Class
We’re Going on a Planet Hunt with Sara Seager
The Future of Education with Jeff Young
Podcast Reflections and Recent Articles from The Physics Teacher (Winter 2022)
The Physics Rundown on Running with Wouter Hoogkamer
The Underrepresentation Curriculum
2022 AAPT Winter Meeting retrospective - Day 2
2022 AAPT Winter Meeting retrospective - Day 1
Modeling Instruction, Teaching Teachers, and Fluid Physics with Jamie Vesenka
The Physics of Trekking Poles with Lindy Smith
The POGIL Project with Rick Moog
An Interview with the Host of Physics Alive
Labs: Stop Verifying and Start Investigating with Natasha Holmes
Teaching Expertise with Carl Wieman
Fluency Bias and Deliberate Practice with Louis Deslauriers
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast