2014 Summer Reading List

I have discovered a chronic problem in my life: Difficulty making time to read. During the fall and spring terms, I'm overrun with grading, advising, committee work, meetings, managing up, fits and spurts of research & writing---and oh yeah, that whole teaching thing forms the center of it all. Today I discovered that I had ~3 months worth of articles and journal TOCs piled up in my task list.

I'd like to think this problem is localized to the fall and spring terms, but the spring term ended a month ago. The problem is, if I view fall and spring as burdens and summer as reprieves, I won't make time for important things, like reading articles outside of my immediate needs.

So, I'm going to try something different: I'm going to blog about what I read this summer. Perhaps by turning my desire to read into a project, I'll actually schedule it instead of letting it fill in the gaps. Here are the 13 papers currently on my list, and a brief explanation of why I'm interested in them.

• The Advanced Lab: Hallmark of an Outstanding Undergraduate Program (Reichert, AJP 82 3, 2014). JU Physics currently has no advanced lab, and I'm looking to better incorporate research skills into our curriculum.
• Thermodynamics of bread baking: A two-state model (Zurcher, AJP 82 224, 2014). Mmm... whole wheat physics...
• A model for incorporating computation without changing the course: An example from middle-division classical mechanics (Caballero & Pollock, AJP 82 231, 2014). Computational physics from the department that brought us the CLASS? #SignMeUp.
• Advantages of using a logarithmic scale in pressure-volume diagrams for Carnot and other heat engine cycles (AJP Shieh & Kan, AJP 82 306, 2014). We don't use log scales enough in undergraduate physics & engineering education, and we don't show where the Carnot efficiency comes from clearly enough. 
• Matrix Mechanics of the infinite square well and the equivalence proofs of Schrodinger and von Neumann (Prentis & Ty, AJP 82 6 2014). I'm hoping to better develop students' understanding of the relationship between the two formulations of quantum mechanics. If I can do so with the first problem we solve, hooray!
• A guide to hunting periodic three-body orbits (Suvakov & Dmitrasinovi, AJP 82 609 2014). A promising computational physics application for my students to work through.
• Writing Science Fiction Stories to Motivate Analysis of Journal Articles (Kontur, http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1403/1403.2435.pdf). Sounds promising!
• How physics instruction impacts students' beliefs about learning physics (Madsen, McKagan, & Sayre, http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1403/1403.6522.pdf). This paper is a meta-analysis of many studies using the CLASS.
• Teaching and physics education research: Bridging the gap (Fraser et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 77, 2014). I'd like to learn more about encouraging faculty to adopt engaged learning practices.
• A Guided Inquiry on Hubble Plots and the Big Bang (Forringer, TPT 52 199, 2014). I'm hoping to use this in class, and in my discussions with YECists at church.
• The Confirmation of the Inverse Square Law Using Diffraction Gratings (Papacosta & Linscheid, TPT 52 243, 2014). I'll be teaching an intro-level optics course this fall, and currently don't do anything experimental with the inverse square law.
• Motivating Students to Do Homework (Kontur & Terry, TPT 52 295, 2014). Who doesn't have this problem?
• Teaching labs the Compass Way (Gandhi et al, http://arxiv.org/pdf/1404.6831v1.pdf). I'd like to learn how to make my labs into more authentic research experiences.

So, I have 11 weeks of summer left, so if I post my thoughts about 1-2 articles each week, I'll be through my entire list (just in time to start another...).