Barbara S. Andereck

Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Ohio Wesleyan University


Professional Background

Research Interests

Phase transitions in liquid crystal systems, especially the nematic to smectic A transition

Recent Publications

Teaching Interests

I teach a full range of physics and astronomy courses. Among the more non-traditional courses that I have taught are Cosmology, Elementary Physics (for pre-service teachers), and Time. "Time" is a freshman honors tutorial where we explore the measurement of time, time as a fourth dimension, the arrow of time, possibilities of time travel, and psychological and sociological implications of time.

Education Workshops

In past summers I have conducted or participated in teacher workshops related to teaching physics in high school or earlier. Summer 1997 I was one of the presenters for the Project Primary workshop for K-3 teachers. If you would like to see some of the ideas that I presented related to Shadows , check out some of the worksheets I developed.

Summer 1999 the workshop for grades 4 and 5 was MIST .  For this workshop I wrote activities related to collisions, a magnifier, a pendulum clock, and superball races. Feel free to check out these activities.

Summer 2000 the elementary teachers developed their own activities as part of the workshop.

Summer 2001 the workshop focused on activities that would help high school teachers develop skills needed for meeting the Ohio Graduation Requirements.  The physics activities can be found on the Education Workshop web site.


Contact me if you have any questions or comments.