2025 Harvard PoLS-T HS Physics Educator Talk Series
Prof. Chris Orban
Ohio State University / STEMcoding project
Saturday, May 31, 11am – 12pm EDT
Talk: “How to integrate computer science and data science into high school physics without losing your mind”
Synopsis: Ever wondered how to integrate a little bit of coding or data science into a high school physics class without overwhelming your students or taking up lots of class time? In this session I will provide an overview of “STEMcoding” exercises where students construct PhET-like games like asteroids and angry birds in a way that greatly aligns with traditional science standards. I will also discuss the STEMcoding object tracker which is a free tool that produces a spreadsheet file of object positions from video data. Much of what I will discuss is explained in more depth on the STEMcoding YouTube channel.
Bio: Chris Orban is a computational physicist and education researcher at Ohio State University. In 2017, he co-founded the STEMcoding project. He has also served on many committees with the Ohio Department of Education including efforts to modernize high school math with computer science skills.
Resources: STEMcoding YouTube channel.