University of Delaware Fall Meeting of the Chesapeake Section AAPT Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach, VA George Watson Department of Physics and Astronomy Circuits for Everyone: A Problem-Based Learning Approach

SCEN103 at the University of Delaware Silicon, Circuits, and the Digital Revolution

Designed to promote scientific and computer literacy and awareness, SCEN103 gives students an opportunity to leverage their interests in everyday devices and high-tech objects into a study of fundamental science concepts. Live demonstrations, in-class group explorations of technology applications, and daily work with the Internet are essential elements of SCEN103. The course: SCEN103 in Spring 2000 was an Honors colloquium designed to introduce first-year students to some of the science behind high technology. link

Working in small groups, students also created websites devoted to science and technology topics. This year’s colloquium was designed as a pilot Pathways Course during the discussion of General Education Reform at UD. Much of the learning in Spring 2000 SCEN103 was done with problem-based learning. A key feature of the writing-intensive work for this colloquium was the student’s setup and development of a personal website. link

Broad Course Objectives: Explain the basic operation of electrical circuits, simple semiconductor devices, and integrated circuits. Analyze simple electrical circuits to assess their function and effectiveness. State and describe fundamental scientific principles underlying modern electronic devices. Identify the contributions of science and technology to everyday life. link

Communicate technical ideas orally and in writing. Evaluate the information content of Internet resources. Use graphical and other multimedia elements effectively in a webpage. Create an informative and organized website devoted to presenting a topic of technical interest from various perspectives. Access timely, relevant, and authoritative information for problem solving. Construct technical information into a logical framework for decision making. Establish a frame of mind where quantitative reasoning is embraced. Work effectively in a group to solve complex problems. link

Problem-Based Learning in SCEN103 SCEN103 relies heavily on PBL with students working collaboratively in groups to solve real-world problems. Students learn to apply simple scientific concepts, find and evaluate scientific and technical information, and communicate ideas about science and technology to others. Discussions led by the course instructor, plus supplementary lectures, help to give a context and conceptual framework to the problems. link

Why PBL in SCEN103? The rate of generation of new information in the scientific and technical sectors is truly staggering. Information becomes outdated rapidly and is updated constantly; much of what will be needed to know in the workplace following graduation has not been generated yet! Thus identifying when new information is needed, where to find it, how to analyze it, and how to communicate it effectively are essential skills to learn in college. An important result of PBL is that while problems are used to identify what to learn, the process of learning "how to learn" is also developed. This method of instruction has been chosen to help develop skills important for success both in the students’ undergraduate education and in their professional life following graduation. link

What is effective learning in SCEN103? Effective learning is much more than memorizing information to answer questions on examinations. Learning is a process that culminates in the ability: to ask the right questions and frame good problems, to acquire information and evaluate sources of information, to critically investigate and solve problems, to make choices among many alternatives, to explain concepts to others (both orally and in writing), and to generalize to new situations. Problem-Based Learning helps develop these abilities! link

Crossed Circuits PBL #1 Energy = power x time Two roommates argue about perceived use of electrical energy. Who should pay more towards the utility bill? link

"How long does it take you to dry your hair?“ came Chris's scream from the kitchen. "I'm trying to concentrate on my physics homework!" "Do you want the answer as a fraction of a year?“ came Pat's retort from the bathroom. "Then you can have fun looking up the conversion to minutes in the back of your textbook!" "You've been at it for at least 20 minutes. You know, you should have to pay extra toward the electric bill. I bet you spend an hour a day drying your hair. I think $5 extra each month would be about right." "You've gotta be kidding me. With you and your night light burning all night long, I bet you use much more electricity than me! What are you afraid of anyway?" "Yeah, but sometimes you fall asleep with your TV blaring. I bet that uses much more than my little night light." "Oh, please! That only happens once a month. Your Winnie-the-Pooh light is on every night! Besides, how about your incessant showering. You take at least twice as long in the shower as I do. That must cost much more than running my hair dryer. What do you do in there anyway?" Which roommate should pay a utility premium, Pat or Chris? How much extra?

Hairdryers: How much power? Lab #1 Power = current x voltage Students bring in their hairdryers and test all settings. A relationship is discovered among the three circuit quantities while checking the manufacturers’ claims. link

A San Francisco Treat PBL #2 Parallel circuits Household wiring Power ratings of appliances Electrical wiring plans are formulated for a building conversion using floorplans from a “This Old House” project. link

Electrical Energy Use in the World? Exercise #1 Globalization for Pathways Course objective Student groups use the CIA’s online World Fact Book to accumulate regional electrical energy use and investigate sources of discrepancies. link

PBL #3 Resistance and Ohm’s law Mark and Tim Allen rewire a toaster for more power by using hairdryer parts. More Power! link

Resistivity and Play-Doh Lab #2 Resistance of a cylinder (wire) Students roll out cylinders of various diameters and find a relationship among resistance and geometric factors. link

Spring Break Adventure PBL #4 Synthesis of cylinder resistance, Ohm’s law, and Electrical power Students investigate the circuit concepts behind the operation of two familiar battery testers. link

Batteries and Bulbs Lab #3 Series and parallel combinations Students work from the simplest possible circuit to the challenging circuit on the left and its companion on the right. link

Penetration rates of major consumer products in U.S. households Exercise #3 Historical aspects of electrical use link

Lights Out! PBL #5 Batteries and internal resistance Energy capacity Circuit design Students attempt to design a flashlight from a 6V lantern bulb and two AAA cells that will last for five hours. link

Problem-Based Learning at the University of Delaware Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education