The Spring 2009 KAPT (Kentucky Association of Physics Teachers) Meeting was held at Bellarmine University (in Louisville) on Saturday, March 7, 2009. Bellarmine University was  honored to host the Spring 2009 KAPT Meeting. The Local Organizing Committee did a great job in putting together both an exciting and an impressive program.

Registration and a light breakfast began at 8:30 am.  Talks started at around 9:30 am with a presentation given by our invited plenary speaker, Dr. Neeti Parashar from Purdue University - Calumet.  Each talk was about 12 minutes long.  The talks ranged from  innovative teaching techniques, demonstrations to faculty/student research projects, including an workshop session.  Dr. Richard Gelderman (AAPT Section Rep. for Kentucky) was the meeting Moderator.

All the presentations exceptionally informative. Over 20 talks and demonstrations in a wide range of topics in physics and astronomy were presented at this year’s Spring 2009 KAPT Meeting.  At this year's meeting there was a Morning and an Afternoon session, as well as a Parallel Workshop session for physics teachers.  

Over 50 people attended the enriching Spring 2009 KAPT Meeting. In fact it was the most diverse of all the KAPT meetings held so far.  At this year's meeting, talks were given by students and faculty from the following KY institutions and high schools - Bellarmine University & duPont Manual High School (3), Western Kentucky University (3), Campbellsville University & Lebanon Middle School (1), Centre College (6), Morehead State University (3), Alice Lloyd College (1), Murray State University (1),  Simon Kenton High School (1), and Warren Central High School (1).    

On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee, I would like to thank everyone who gave talks and joined us at the Spring 2009 KAPT Meeting.  We hope the meeting was enjoyable and that you made new friends at the meeting.                                                               

You can download the 2009 KAPT membership form by clicking here.  Dues are $5.00 per year or $75.00 for a lifetime membership.

You can download the AAPT Affiliate membership form by clicking here.  Dues are $36.00 for affiliate membership.

If you are not a KAPT member, find out more about KAPT and please consider joining us!

KAPT MISSION STATEMENT

The objectives of the Association shall be to advance the teaching of physics, to further the role of physics in our culture, and to enhance effective communication among those concerned with the teaching of physics at all levels.

KAPT OFFICERS

Dr. Akhtar Mahmood (Bellarmine University) – KAPT President (amahmood@bellarmine.edu)

Mr. Kenny D. Lee (Warren Central High School) – KAPT Vice-President (kenny.lee1@warren.kyschools.us)

Dr. Arthur K. Pallone (Murray State University) – KAPT Secretary/Treasurer (art.pallone@murraystate.edu)

Dr. Richard Gelderman (Western Kentucky University) – AAPT Section Representative (gelderman@wku.edu)

For Contact Information of the KAPT Officers Click HERE.

SPRING 2009 KAPT MEETING LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Dr. Akhtar Mahmood (KAPT President & Meeting Chair)

Dr. Syed Ahmad (Physics Faculty)

Ms. Jocelyn Cook (Assistant Director of Special Events)

Ben Draper (Physics Club Treasurer)

Ian Tracey (Physics Club VP)

Yan Chen (Physics Club President)

Tiffany Graznow (Student) 

MEETING SPONSORS

Bellarmine University

KAPT (Kentucky Association of Physics Teachers)

AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers)

Bellarmine University Physics Club

Campus Bookstore (Follett Higher Education Group)

Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau

USEFUL WEB LINKS

OFFICIAL KAPT WEBSITE: http://physics.wku.edu/kapt/

SPRING 2009 KAPT MEETING WEBSITE: http://www.bellarmine.edu/faculty/KAPT/kapt09.htm

OFFICIAL AAPT WEBSITE: http://www.aapt.org/

BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY PHYSICS WEBSITE: http://www.bellarmine.edu/cas/physics/

MEETING LOCATION: Bellarmine University

MEETING ROOM: Miles Hall (Building #11 on the campus map), Room m145. 

CAMPUS MAP & DIRECTIONS: Click Here. You can download the campus map by clicking here.

TO DOWNLOAD THE MEETING AGENDA. CLICK HERE!

INVITED SPEAKER: Dr. Neeti Parashar (Associate Professor of Physics), Purdue University - Calumet.  The title of her talk is "Search for the Higgs Boson at the CMS Experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC)".  Her research work is being funded by NSF.