Educator Information

"Demo Kit in a Box" : workshops presented at AAPT Summer Conferences

The motivation for having a demo kit in a box is two-fold.

1. Having some easy portable demos that can be shown quickly when a student asks a question. We call these Timely Instructional Demos (TIDs). Hence you want to have a lot of potential demos in your demo box.
2. Moving the demos into student hands. Inexpensive easy demos makes this move feasible. Students learn by doing.

The Demo Kit in a Box workshops are focused on providing simple, low-cost demonstrations to enhance the lecture environment and promote pedagogies of engagement. The demos are appropriate for K-12 as well as university learning environments. Affordable materials are used to enable the possibility to have students each do the demo as a hands-on activity. Educators appreciate the exploration and inquiry potential inherent in having readily accessible demos available. Each workshop consists of both demonstrating the demo and discussing the physics concept(s). Participants construct and then practice each demo. We then have a group discussion focused on the physics concepts and pedagogical approaches. We typically have a few larger (more expensive) demos that we let participants try so they have a familiarity with what else they might want to purchase and know how to use the apparatus. A key component of our workshop is having each participant build and have success running each demo. Participants leaving with complete demos, experience and knowledge are more likely to employ them in their classroom environments