Physics Summer Institute 2024

The Physics Summer Institute 2024 offered by World's Phinest Physics has come and gone.  But because it was virtual, everything has been recorded, and new participants can still register for and participate in the course!  All participants can progress through the course at their own pace; the course is fully virtual and asynchronous.

The focus is on "Second Semester Topics", which are the topics covered by AP Physics 2, AP Physics C:Electricity and Magnetism, OnRamps Physics II, and other such courses that include thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, waves and optics, and modern physics.

The live sessions were June 24 through 28 through Zoom.  Anyone who wishes to participate now will be given access to the videos recorded and a forum where they can interact and ask questions.  All participants will have access to videos, forums, and course materials until June 1, 2026.  We are accepting new registrations and giving access to new participants even now that the live sessions have taken place.  We will accept registrations from anyone in the world.

We sent participants a "lab kit" in the mail containing materials the participant can use to try the hands-on activities that were demonstrated during the summer institute.  As of this writing, materials for new lab kits are still available, but if we get new participants, that may change.  More information can be found at the end of the session agenda linked above.  The lab kit itself is an over $250 value for AP Physics C:Emag participants and over $300 value for AP Physics 2 participants.  If you want a lab kit as part of your registration, consider registering ASAP!

Participants either register as "AP Physics 2" teachers, "AP Physics C:Electricity and Magnetism" teachers, or as teachers of "both".  Participants need not actually teach any of these courses to register and participate in the summer institute.  The summer institute is aligned with the new curriculum frameworks for these two courses which go into effect starting in the 2024-2025 school year.  For those who are not aware, here is a brief breakdown of each of these courses:

• AP Physics 2 is an algebra-based course that covers Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism, Waves and Optics, and Atomic and Nuclear Physics.

• AP Physics C:Electricity and Magnetism is a calculus-based course for Electricity and Magnetism only, but including Gauss's Law, the transient behavior of capacitors, Biot-Savart and Ampere's Laws, and inductance which AP Physics 2 does not cover.

The course registration fees and certificate hours are as follows:

• AP Physics 2 Only:  Registration Fee $599, Completion Certificate 30 PD Clock-Hours

• AP Physics C:Emag Only:  Registration Fee $499, Completion Certificate 30 PD Clock-Hours

• Both Courses:  Registration Fee $699, Completion Certificate 40 PD Clock-Hours

If you wish to participate, but must pay out of your own pocket, please ask about discounts.  However, we will move Heaven and Earth to get your school or district to pay your registration fee, if at all possible.

To earn the full completion certificate, participants must:

• Attend each live broadcast OR view the video of each broadcast afterward.

• Complete 10 hours of asynchronous work where they try a five (not all) of the hands-on activities themselves (not necessarily with students) and evaluate how they might or might not use the activities with students.

Partial completion certificates will be issued upon request.

Note:  No WPP course, seminar, workshop, or institute is not endorsed by College Board, Educational Testing Service, OnRamps, The University of Texas, the National Math and Science Initiative, International Baccalaureate or any other organization named on this website.

 These virtual, asynchronous sessions are facilitated by John Frensley.  John Frensley's qualifications include:

• Teaching high school physics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2 (and the old AP Physics B), AP Physics C:Mechanics, and AP Physics C:Electricity and Magnetism since 2005.

• Teaching at Title I high schools and helping economically disadvantaged students be successful at physics.

• Presenting weekend, evening, and week-long professional developments since 2013.

• Presenting on behalf of the College Board, the National Math and Science Initiative, Applied Practice, Arkansas AIMS, A-Plus Alabama, and Mass-Insight.

• Participating in the AP Physics reading since 2016, including in leadership roles.

• Writing items for the AP Physics exams and for AP Classroom.

• Writing about half of the scenarios in the AP Physics 1 Student Workbook

• Wrote all 140 "Sample Instructional Activities" in the four AP Physics CED documents (those effective Fall 2019)

• Writing the AP Edition of the Cutnell & Johnson Physics text for John Wiley and Sons Publishing

• Formulating physics representations and pedagogical structures you may already be familiar with, including:

  • The ABCD acronym for scientific argumentation

  • The SQuARED acronym for writing experimental procedures

  • Newton's Third Law Four-Squares

  • The Energy Transfer Cross

  • Momentum and Impulse Square Charts

John is excited to work with teachers to help them improve, and also to learn neat things from them.  John's primary goals for his session this summer are:

• To help participant teachers become more effective in the classroom

• To help participant teachers become more efficient in carrying out their instruction

• To help participant teachers become more marketable as they advance in their careers.

Note:  No WPP course, seminar, workshop, or institute is not endorsed by College Board, Educational Testing Service, OnRamps, The University of Texas, the National Math and Science Initiative, International Baccalaureate or any other organization named on this website.