Bulletin of the American Physical Society
14th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of the APS
Volume 57, Number 7
Thursday–Saturday, October 18–20, 2012; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Session C5: Physics Education: Special Session on Upper-year Lab Instruction |
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Chair: Joss Ives, University of the Fraser Valley Room: SFU Harbour Centre 1600 Canfor Policy Room |
Friday, October 19, 2012 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
C5.00001: Physics 433: Undergraduate laboratory in Biological Physics at Simon Fraser University Invited Speaker: Nancy Forde In this talk, I will describe our senior undergraduate lab course in Biological Physics at Simon Fraser University. Unique in Canada, this course combines modules that teach the students basic molecular and cell biology and leading-edge biophysical techniques with independent student projects. I'll outline the structure and components of the course, provide an overview of each experimental module, and describe student interest and feedback. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 19, 2012 2:06PM - 2:36PM |
C5.00002: Developing an Advanced Lab course from scratch Invited Speaker: Rudi Michalak A few years ago the Alpha group in APS organized faculty with interests in advanced lab courses in physics. At the University of Wyoming, we re-launched an advanced lab course after doing more than 15 years without one. Our majors had to take an electronic course in the Electrical Engineering department to get familiar with any kind of electronic equipment. Now we are in the fourth teaching session of the advanced Modern Physics lab and we will expand the course into a two-term course beginning spring 2013. Forty-five majors have gone through our labs, We developed an oral exam tradition, which is now beginning to lend our department upper level outcome assessment credibility for campus wide assessment. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 19, 2012 2:36PM - 3:06PM |
C5.00003: An advanced laboratory course that emphasizes communication Invited Speaker: Georg Rieger I will introduce a fourth-year laboratory course that has a strong focus on communication skills. The course is meant to give students a preview of how experimental physics is performed in an academic or industrial research lab. The design is such that the course approximates the experience of a graduate student in a research group, which I regard as an ideal learning environment. I will contrast this with the learning experience in a typical first- or second-year lab. Results from a small survey are also presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 19, 2012 3:06PM - 3:26PM |
C5.00004: BREAK |
Friday, October 19, 2012 3:26PM - 3:50PM |
C5.00005: DISCUSSION |
Friday, October 19, 2012 3:50PM - 4:20PM |
C5.00006: Invention activities as preparation for learning laboratory data handling skills Invited Speaker: James Day Undergraduate physics laboratories are often driven by a mix of goals, and usually enough of them to cause cognitive overload for the student. Our recent findings align well with studies indicating that students often exit a physics lab without having properly learned how to handle real data. The value of having students explore the underlying structure of a problem before being able to solve it has been shown as an effective way to ready students for learning. Borrowing on findings from the fields of education and cognitive psychology, we use ``invention activities'' to precede direct instruction and bolster learning. In this talk I will show some of what we have learned about students' data handling skills, explain how an invention activity works, and share some observations of successful transfer. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 19, 2012 4:20PM - 4:50PM |
C5.00007: Teaching Plasmonics, Scanning Probe Microscopy and Other Useful Experiments at the Upper Level Invited Speaker: Erik Sanchez It is important to teach students concepts and experimental skills relating to modern research being performed today. Experiments that help educate students about the latest research helps them get jobs and into the doors at many great academic institutions. PSU's Advanced Experimental Class for physics undergraduates offers many novel experiments to help the students accomplish this task. Labs involving Plasmonics, thin film deposition, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and more will be discussed. In addition, a new NSF funded project involving the building of a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) SPM will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 19, 2012 4:50PM - 5:14PM |
C5.00008: DISCUSSION |
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