Session G3: Improve Training of Undergraduates in Experimental Physics

Investigating student learning in upper-division laboratory courses on analog electronics

There are many important learning goals associated with upper-division laboratory instruction; however, until recently, relatively little work has focused on assessing the impact of these laboratory-based courses on students. As part of an ongoing, in-depth investigation of student learning in upper-division laboratory courses on analog electronics, we have been examining the extent to which students enrolled in these courses develop a robust and functional understanding of both canonical electronics topics (e.g., diode, transistor, and op-amp circuits) and foundational circuits concepts (e.g., Kirchhoff’s laws and voltage division). This focus on conceptual understanding is motivated in part by a large body of research revealing significant student difficulties with simple dc circuits at the introductory level and by expectations that students finish electronics courses with a level of understanding suitable for building circuits for a variety of practical, real-world applications. We have also recently extended the scope of our investigation to include more laboratory-focused learning goals such as the development of (1) troubleshooting proficiency and (2) circuit chunking and design abilities. This talk will highlight findings from written questions and interview tasks that have been designed to probe student understanding in sufficient depth to identify conceptual and reasoning difficulties. Specific examples will be used to illustrate the ways in which this research may inform instruction in upper-division laboratory courses on analog electronics.   

Experimental AMO physics in undergraduate optics and lasers courses

This talk will describe experimental AMO research projects in undergraduate Lasers and Optics courses at Bethel University. The courses, which include a comprehensive lecture portion, are built on open-ended projects that have a novel aspect. Classes begin with four weeks of small student groups rotating between several standard laser and optics laboratory exercises. These may include, for example, alignment and characterization of a helium neon laser and measurements with a Michelson interferometer or a scanning Fabry-P\'{e}rot optical cavity. During the following seven weeks of the course, student groups (2-4 people) choose and pursue research questions in the lab. Their work culminates in a group manuscript and a twenty-minute presentation to the class. Projects in the spring, 2016 Optics course included experiments with ultracold lithium atoms in a magneto-optical trap, a prototype, portable, mode-locked erbium fiber laser, a home-built fiber laser frequency comb, double-slit imaging with single photons, and digital holographic tweezers (led by Nathan Lindquist). Projects in the spring, 2015 Lasers course included ultrafast optics with a mode-locked erbium fiber laser, quantum optics, surface plasmon lasers (led by Nathan Lindquist) and a low-cost, near-infrared spectrometer. Several of these projects are related to larger scale, funded research in the physics department. The format and experience in Lasers and Optics is representative of other upper-level courses at Bethel, including Fluid Mechanics and Computer Methods. A physics education research group from the University of Colorado evaluated the spring, 2015 Lasers and 2016 Optics courses. They focused on student experimental attitudes and measurements of student project ownership.   

Re-thinking intro physics labs: Teaching and assessing critical thinking

Taking a scientific approach to understanding and improving how we teach physics starts with figuring out what it is we are trying to measure and, therefore, what we are trying to teach. The goals of instructional lab courses have been highly debated for decades with not much research to back up either side. In this talk, I will describe new research into the efficacy of lab courses with different aims: from teaching conceptual physics to fostering critical thinking. I will demonstrate how new pedagogies are taking advantage of the unique affordances of labs to teach experimentation skills and critical thinking about data and models, without sacrificing learning traditional physics content.   

Students' views about the nature of experimental physics

The physics community explores and explains the physical world through a blend of theoretical and experimental studies. The future of physics as a discipline depends on training of students in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the field. However, while student learning within lecture courses has been the subject of extensive research, lab courses remain relatively under-studied. In particular, there is little, if any, data available that addresses the effectiveness of physics lab courses at encouraging students to recognize the nature and importance of experimental physics within the discipline as a whole. To address this gap, we present the first large-scale, national study ($N_{institutions}=71$ and $N_{students}=7167$) of undergraduate physics lab courses through analysis of students' responses to a research-validated assessment designed to investigate students' beliefs about the nature of experimental physics. We find that students often enter and leave physics lab courses with ideas about experimental physics that are inconsistent with the views of practicing experimental physicists, and this trend holds at both the introductory and upper-division levels. Despite this inconsistency, we find that both introductory and upper-division students are able to accurately predict the expert-like response even in cases where their personal views disagree. These finding have implications for the recruitment, retention, and adequate preparation of students in physics.   

Phys21:Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers

The \textit{Phys21: Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers }report was commissioned by the APS and the AAPT and prepared by the Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs (J-TUPP). It addresses the question: What skills and knowledge should the next generation of undergraduate physics majors possess to be well prepared for a diverse set of careers? J-TUPP members were particularly interested to understand better the needs of students who do not plan to pursue academic research careers. The major findings of the report and a summary of the guidelines that were developed for revising the undergraduate curriculum, addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students, providing professional skills development, and enhancing student engagement through high impact teaching practices will be presented.