2016 AAPT Award Citations at the Winter Meeting, New Orleans, LA

Established in 1936, the Oersted Medal recognizes those who have had an outstanding, widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics.

John W. Belcher has been named as the 2016 recipient of the Hans Christian Oersted Medal in recognition of his outstanding, widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics through his tireless work with TEAL (Technology Enabled Active learning) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

Belcher graduated summa cum laude from Rice University in 1965 with a double major in math and physics. He then went to Caltech for graduate school. His Doctoral thesis, under the direction of Professor Leverett Davis, Jr. involved analysis of magnetic field data from Mariner 5, a 1967 mission to Venus, and also theoretical work on the acceleration of the solar wind.

Belcher joined the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1971 to work with Professors Herbert Bridge and Alan Lazarus, who had the plasma probe on board Mariner 5. Just after he arrived, the MIT Space Plasma Group wrote a proposal for the Voyager mission to Jupiter and Saturn. After reaching these two planets, as well as Uranus and Neptune, Voyager is still going strong, with an expected demise in 2031. In its most recent incarnation, it is referred to as the Voyager Interstellar Mission.

In 2004, MIT awarded Belcher the Class of ‘22 Professorship, designed to honor “a tenured faculty member with a record of excellence in education, with respect to both curriculum development and classroom teaching.” He was the Associate Chair of the MIT Faculty in AY 2013–14. He is an MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow.

The Oersted Medal recognizes Belcher's efforts to introduce an active learning format into the mainstream physics introductory courses at MIT. Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) is a teaching format that merges lectures, simulations, and hands-on desktop experiments to create a rich collaborative learning experience. As a result of the TEAL project, MIT has replaced its mainstream two-semester freshman physics sequence (the largest subjects at MIT) with studio-mode classes, where students work collaboratively on laboratory work in a computer-rich environment. The TEAL group has also developed an extensive suite of simulation and visualization software for electromagnetism, which is being distributed across the world through MIT OpenCourseWare.

His subsequent developmental work with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has enabled educators to expand their outreach beyond the classroom, making the content available to many more students.

Established in 1941, the Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to physics and their communication to physics educators.

Derek Muller has been selected to receive the 2016 Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award. Muller is recognized with the award for outstanding contributions to physics and effectively communicating those contributions to physics educators. Muller, a physics educator and science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality is best known for creating the YouTube channel Veritasium, which has received over 200 million views on YouTube.

Regarding his selection for this award Muller said, “I am honored to be recognized by the AAPT and delighted to have the opportunity to speak to the talented and dedicated physics educators at the Winter Meeting.”

A native of Australia, raised in Canada, he graduated with a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Queen's University in Ontario. Then he attended the University of Sydney where he completed his Ph.D. in Physics Education Research in 2008 with a thesis, “Designing Effective Multimedia for Physics Education.” He began putting his research into practice with his Veritasium YouTube channel in 2011. This quickly led to joining the team of Catalyst, Australia's premiere science TV program. He has also been featured on the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and he recently presented a two-part documentary on PBS entitled Uranium: Twisting the Dragon's Tail.

Muller is guided by the great quote by Richard Feynman, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” His goal is to help people across the world not fool themselves when it comes to science and how it pertains to their lives.

The Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT members recognized AAPT members for their exceptional contributions to the association at the national, section, or local levels.

Marina Milner-Bolotin, assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, is recognized for her outstanding service as a section representative and as a member of the AAPT Board of Directors. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine. Her M.A. and Ph.D. in Science Education were earned at The University of Texas at Austin. Her service to AAPT includes section representative of the Ontario and British Columbia Sections, Vice Chair and Chair of the Section Representatives, Publications Committee member, and Board of Directors member. She served on the organizing committee for several national meetings and has made numerous invited and contributed presentations at AAPT meetings.

Michael Faleski, a professor of Physics at Delta College, joined AAPT in 1998. He earned his B.S. in physics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His M.S. and Ph.D. in physics were from Syracuse University, where he also received a certificate for completing the Future Professoriate Program. He has been working with the PhysicsBowl for 15 years, originally serving on the committee and becoming the academic coordinator in 2008. One of the challenges he faces is crafting a test that challenges the very top students while not discouraging the majority of students. Each year, over 7,000 students take this 40-question, 45-minute timed, multiple-choice test, and Faleski is responsible for scoring the tests and publishing results in just a few weeks. In addition to all of these regular duties, he has worked hard to expand the PhysicsBowl in a variety of ways.

Karl C. Mamola, physics professor emeritus at Appalachian State University, is being recognized for his distinguished service to AAPT in a wide range of leadership roles at the section and national levels. He served as editor of The Physics Teacher from 2000–2013. Throughout his career, Mamola has touched a multitude of lives, as a physics teacher, a prolific author, a presenter at national and local meetings, as editor of the “Apparatus for Teaching Physics” column in The Physics Teacher, and as editor of The Physics Teacher, AAPT's signature publication. He consistently produced an extraordinary publication with content accessible to and usable by physics teachers at all levels. Regarding his selection to receive this honor Mamola said, “AAPT has played a major role in my professional life for more than 50 years. I am pleased and honored to receive the Association's Homer L. Dodge Distinguished Service Citation.”

Gay Stewart, Eberly Professor of STEM Education and director of the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in STEM Education is recognized for her outstanding service as a member of the AAPT Board of Directors, serving in the presidential chain from 2011–2015. Stewart has served as AAPT liaison to the APS Forum on Education (FEd) Executive Committee, and as chair of the FEd Executive Committee. She was a member of the PhysTEC Leadership Council, PKAL Faculty for the 21st Century, the NRC-BOSE k-12 Science Education Frameworks focus group, the APS Committee on Education, and chair of the AP Physics Redesign Commission and Curriculum Development and Assessment Committee. She is a friend of the AAPT Teacher Preparation Committee, chair of the College Board AP Physics Test Development Committee, and a member of the APS Board of Directors and Council of Representatives.

David Weaver, a member of AAPT since 1992, recently retired from teaching at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (C-GCC) in Chandler, AZ, where he served as a division chair, occupational program designer and director, occupational dean, faculty senate president, member and chair of the C-GCC Instructional Technology committee, chair and co-chair of district-wide instructional technology initiatives, curriculum design facilitator, staff development coordinator, and district-wide chair of the physics instructional council. He received Emeritus distinction from C-GCC and is currently teaching at Estrella Mountain Community College as a sabbatical replacement. His contributions to AAPT include service at both the national and the local level. Nationally, he has served on the Committee on Physics in Two-Year Colleges as a member and also as chair, member of the Programs Committee, Secretary of the Section Representatives and as Co-Chair of the AAPT Ad Hoc Committee on Alternative Access. Locally, David served as president, vice president, two-year college representative, and section representative of the Arizona section of the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is known as a leader in the two-year college community. Tom O'Kuma noted that David “has been involved in every major two-year college initiative of AAPT.” He was active in the TYC21 (Two-Year College for the Twenty-First Century) and the SPIN-UP/TYC project.

Steve Iona

Past President, AAPT