Physics, practically speaking
The first thing you notice when you walk into one of the new physics practical rooms is the hum.
It isn’t because some newfangled machine is running in the background. It is the sound of students working and learning together, as President David Naylor discovered when he toured the facility recently with physics department chair Michael Luke, undergraduate associate chair Stephen Morris, senior lecturer David Harrison and course co-ordinator Kausik Das.
Physics education research shows that students learn best by interacting with their peers and the three new practical rooms -- each designed with this in mind -- are reshaping the way physics is being taught at U of T.
Until two years ago, first-year physics courses, PHY 131 and PHY 132, were taught in a style better suited to another time. Students attended lectures, tutorials and laboratories in the typical sit-listen-write style of teaching.
Today, it’s all about student engagement.
Students still attend lectures, but they are encouraged to discuss topics among themselves and respond to questions using clickers and their conventional tutorials and laboratories have been replaced physics practicals.
“The general idea is like a workshop,” said Luke. “We’ve gotten rid of tutorials and the labs and now students have a two-hour practical session every week.”
Each of the new spaces has nine work tables called pods that bring students together in groups of four. The pods have the apparatus students require to perform experiments, including a computer with a wall-mounted monitor; whiteboard or tempered glass for working out equations; and a webcam.
“The biggest problem with the old system was that the two things [lectures and tutorials] just diverged and students were doing experiments they didn’t understand and weren’t related to the lecture material,” said Morris. Now, students attend weekly practicals and do activities that are tightly connected to the lecture.
Practical sessions are facilitated by two teaching assistants. The department pairs inexperienced assistants with more experienced ones and forbids them to give mini-lectures.
“Teaching assistants are instructed not to lecture but walk around and talk to the students,” said Luke.
In 2008, Harrison led a successful pilot study of this initiative with a random group of 70 volunteer students. He reported that students who participated in the study showed a grade improvement of up to half a letter grade versus those who did not participate in the study. Luke said students enjoyed the new space so much faculty and staff found they had to kick them out of the room when the session was over.
Student feedback also indicated the experience was exciting and highly rewarding. “The pilot was a great experience. I attribute a lot of my physics understanding to the physics practicals,” wrote one student.
As the president toured the new space he reminisced about his time as a physics undergraduate at U of T. When he stopped to talk to students about their studies and the new practicals one could just detect a hint of envy.
With 1,000 students enrolled in PHY 131 and 132, the rooms are operating constantly. However, the department has plans to build two more rooms to accommodate students from other physics courses.
Provided by University of Toronto
