J. Acacio de Barros

Teaching

Teaching

My teaching has crossed disciplinary boundaries for much of my career, from physics and mathematics to interdisciplinary inquiry and the philosophy of physics. This page records courses taught at San Francisco State University since 2007, together with earlier teaching in Brazil and at Stanford.

Current and recent teaching

San Francisco State University, 2007–present. Teaching in interdisciplinary inquiry, physical science, mathematics, and related areas, including courses for students preparing to teach in elementary and middle schools.

Course descriptions below are the ones I wrote for the previous version of this site. Catalog descriptions change; where the current SF State Bulletin differs, that is noted on the course.

  • SCI 140

    Concepts of Physics and Chemistry

    Fundamental concepts of physics and chemistry, from motion, forces, and energy on to atomic structure, molecules, bonding, and chemical reactions. Basic organic and biochemistry.

    A general education course. SCI 140 no longer appears under this number in the current SF State Bulletin.

  • MATH 165

    Concepts of the Number System

    Designed for prospective multiple subjects credential candidates. Understanding operations with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Problem solving strategies, numeration systems, and elementary number theory.

  • LS 209

    Physical Sciences for Elementary School Teachers

    Designed for prospective elementary/middle school (K–8) teachers. Understanding through inquiry the structure and property of matter and principles of motion and energy.

  • LS 310

    Physics for Future Elementary School Teachers

    Current title: Science and Culture for Future Elementary School Teachers

    Designed for prospective elementary/middle school (K–8) teachers. Understanding through inquiry-based instruction the principles of motion and energy. In compliance with Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core.

    The course has been renamed. The description above is the one I wrote for it under its earlier title; the SF State Bulletin now carries LS 310 under the current title.

Interdisciplinary courses

San Francisco State University. Courses in interdisciplinary inquiry — its theory, its methods, and its practice — taught alongside the science and mathematics courses above.

  • AMST/LS 200

    Self, Place, and Knowing

    Introduction to Liberal Studies, American Studies, the practice of interdisciplinary inquiry, and the culmination of the first-year experience sequence. Project-based focus on different ways of understanding oneself in relationship to the University, and San Francisco and the larger Bay Area. Emphasis on experiential learning through mapping (exploring, navigating, understanding, and cataloging).

  • LS 300

    Perspectives on Liberal Studies

    Basic preparation for interdisciplinary study. Draws on language arts, mathematics, science, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts to prepare students for advanced work in Liberal Studies and for careers requiring breadth and depth of knowledge.

    Now carried in the SF State Bulletin as LS 300GW.

  • HUM/LS 440

    Mind, Body, and Culture

    Interdisciplinary exploration of how our bodies, emotions, and internal biases affect our thinking and influence how we respond to the world. Investigation of how our worlds and cultures affect our bodies and minds.

  • LS 690

    Liberal Studies Senior Seminar

    Interdisciplinary theory, research and practice. Examination of key questions and complex problems from multiple perspectives through preparation of a substantial piece of work.

Physics and the mathematical sciences

Earlier teaching, in Brazil. These courses are a historical record: I taught them as a member of the Physics Department at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, and as a teaching assistant at CBPF. They are not part of my current teaching.

Federal University of Juiz de Fora — Physics Department, 1995–2011

  • Physics I

    Introductory Mechanics course with calculus as a prerequisite. Taught to freshmen students at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, majoring in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. I taught this course for 7 semesters.

  • Physics I (Keller)

    This is the same as the Physics I course above, but it was a joint project with Prof. Jose Luiz Matheus Valle and Prof. Luis Carlos Gomes to test the Keller method at Juiz de Fora. The Keller method is a self-taught self-paced method where students’ progress is closely followed by a TA under the direct supervision of the professors responsible for the course. I taught this course for 2 semesters.

  • Physics IV (Física IV)

    A one-semester course for sophomore students covering wave propagation in electromagnetic theory, optics, and modern physics. Usually taught to freshmen students majoring in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. I taught this course for one semester.

  • Experimental Physics I

    A one-semester course with experiments in mechanics that complement the lecture part of a one-semester course usually taught to freshmen students majoring in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. I taught this course for one semester.

  • Experimental Physics II

    A one-semester course with experiments in thermodynamics, waves and sound, that complement the lecture part of a one semester course usually taught to freshmen students majoring in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. I taught this course for one semester.

  • Experimental Physics III

    A one-semester course with experiments in Electricity and Magnetism that complement the theoretical part of a one-semester course usually taught to sophomore students majoring in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences. I taught this course for one semester.

  • Special Relativity

    A one semester introductory course in special relativity, with particular emphasis on its geometrical interpretation. This course was aimed at freshmen students and up, and followed Taylor & Wheeler’s Spacetime Physics.

  • Quantum Mechanics

    Two-semester required quantum-mechanics course taught to senior students majoring in Physics, at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. For this course we followed Park’s quantum mechanics textbook, but included extra material from Cohen-Tannoudji, Diu & Laloë, Schiff, and from Peres. I taught this course twice, over a period of four semesters.

  • Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

    This was a course aimed at senior or graduate students that already completed at least a semester of quantum mechanics. We covered topics like the measurement problem, decoherence, consistent histories, Bell’s inequalities and the GHZ theorem, contextuality vs. nonlocality, and quantum computation. Alternative interpretations to the Copenhagen interpretation were also discussed, as well as its advantages and problems.

  • Statistical Mechanics

    A one-semester course required for students majoring in Physics. This course is taught at the level of Reif, and covers the basics of statistical mechanics.

  • General Relativity and Cosmology

    A one-semester Gravitation course for senior students majoring in Physics. This was an introductory course in General Relativity, with a strong geometrical approach. During the semester, we made an effort to cover most of the interesting solutions to Einstein’s field equations, including the Schwarzschild solution, the Friedmann cosmological solution, and also gravitational wave solutions.

  • Physics of the Brain

    A one-semester course aimed at senior students interested in biophysics and physics of the brain. In this course we started with detailed analysis of the physico-chemical processes that lead to a membrane potential in a cell. After that, we described the models for the action potential in neurons. From the behavior of individual neurons, we showed neural network models that could model associative memory. At the end of the course, we discussed measurements of macroscopic collective behavior of neurons, like EEG and MEG. This course was taught jointly with Professor José Paulo R. F. de Mendonça.

  • Research on Physics Education

    A one-semester course aimed at senior students from our physics teaching certification program. We covered basic topics in physics education, with particular emphasis to misconceptions in physics and evaluation, as well as active engagement methods in physics education and how to implement them in a classroom.

  • Advanced Analytical Mechanics

    One-semester Advanced Analytical Mechanics course taught to physics graduate students at the UFJF/UFMG joint program. The students had prior contact with analytical mechanics, and this course had a strong emphasis on the Hamilton and Hamilton-Jacobi formalisms, in particular its relationship with wave theory. I taught this course for one semester.

  • Quantum Optics

    One semester Quantum Optics course for physics graduate students at the UFJF/UFMG joint graduate program. We were mainly interested in the properties of the quantized Electromagnetic Field that are considered purely quantum mechanical properties, as for example squeezed states or quantum mechanical correlations for entangled states. This course was taught jointly with Prof. J. P. R. F. de Mendonca.

My CV lists three further Juiz de Fora courses for which I never wrote a description: Introductory Electricity and Magnetism (calculus-based), Classical Mechanics, and Advanced Quantum Mechanics (graduate level). They are named here rather than described, since no description of them survives.

Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF), 1990

  • Analytical Mechanics — teaching assistant

    I was a TA for an analytical mechanics course taught by Dr. Nelson Pinto Neto and Dr. Bartolomeu D. B. Figueiredo at the Brazilian Center for Physics Research (CBPF). This course was required for students belonging to the Masters in Science program at CBPF.

Stanford University

Earlier teaching, 1993–2011. Course development and distance tutoring for Stanford’s EPGY program, alongside visiting appointments at IMSSS and CSLI.

  • AP Mechanics

    This is the AP Physics: Mechanics course that I helped develop at the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University. This is a distance-learning computer-based course aimed at gifted students who do not have access to this course at their school. I was responsible for writing the computer lessons and, at the software’s initial stage of development, I was responsible for giving supplemental lectures to students. I was also responsible for tutoring the students remotely. I tutored and developed the course over a period of two years.

  • AP Electricity & Magnetism

    An AP: Electricity & Magnetism course that I helped develop at EPGY. My work was similar to what I did with the AP Mechanics course at EPGY, described above. I tutored and developed this course over a period of one year.

  • Philosophy of Physics: Probability and Relativity

    A graduate-level course, taught or co-taught at Stanford. It is named in my CV; no description of it survives, and none is supplied here.

Teaching materials and resources

An archive rather than a set of current course materials. The work below documents earlier physics-education research carried out at Juiz de Fora and the Stanford EPGY course development. It is retained as part of the historical teaching record rather than as a statement of my current research program. The full bibliography is on the Publications page.

  1. 2010

    Augsburg, T., & de Barros, J. A. Integrating different modes of inquiry for pre-service teachers. In Rangacharyulu, C. & Haven, E. (eds.), Proceedings of the First Interdisciplinary CHESS Interactions Conference. World Scientific, Singapore.

  2. 2008

    de Barros, J. A., Remold, J., & dos Santos, G. S. F. Inquiry in Cultural Context: Interactive Engagement among Brazilian Students. Presented at the AAPT Summer Conference, Edmonton, Canada.

  3. 2005

    de Barros, J. A. Utilizando métodos de Engajamento Interativo em um Curso de Mecânica Clássica. Anais do XVI Simpósio Nacional de Ensino de Física, Niterói, RJ.

  4. 2005

    Remold, J., de Barros, J. A., & dos Santos, G. S. F. Communities of Practice in Brazil: An Ethnographic Study of Changes to University Physics Instruction. Preprint, UFJF.

  5. 2004

    de Barros, J. A., Remold, J., da Silva, G. S. F., & Tagliati, J. R. Engajamento interativo no curso de Física I da UFJF. Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física, 26, 63–69.

  6. 2004

    de Barros, J. A., Remold, J., Vidal, F. V., & Barbosa, N. A. Desempenho Conceitual de Alunos do Método de Engajamento Interativo do Curso de Física I da UFJF. Anais do IX Encontro de Pesquisa em Ensino de Física, Jaboticatubas, MG, Brazil.

  7. 2003

    de Barros, J. A., Remold, J., Tagliati, J. R., da Silva, G. S. F., & Matheus-Valle, J. L. A Aplicação de uma Nova Metodologia de Ensino de Física Usando Aprendizado Colaborativo. Coletânea da VI Escola de Verão para Professores de Prática de Ensino de Biologia, Física e Química e Áreas Afins. Editora da UFF, Niterói, RJ, Brazil.

  8. 1995

    Ravaglia, R., de Barros, J. A., & Suppes, P. Computer-Based Advanced Placement for Physics for Gifted Students. Computers in Physics, 9, 380–386.

    The published account of the Stanford EPGY courses described above.

Course catalog

The previous site linked each SF State course to a catalog page. Two of those links pointed at the retired tilde-user bulletin scheme and no longer resolve; the rest all pointed at the same departmental index rather than at individual courses. They have not been carried over. Current descriptions are best read at their source: the SF State Bulletin.