Using lab based projects for teaching & learning problem solving skills in large first year classes Manjula Sharma, John O'Byrne, Ian Cooper School of Physics

Abstract One of the skills that physics students are expected to develop is that of problem solving. In fact courses often have explicit aims of teaching students problem solving skills. Various strategies and approaches have been used to enhance the learning of problem solving skills. One successful strategy is the use of open-ended projects in the First Year Physics Laboratories. The projects have been done by approximately 800 students each year since In this poster we will describe the projects, their implementation and results of evaluation.

The projects The projects are run in second semester of first year in the physics laboratories. Students work in groups of six. The groups are formed in week 3. Each group submits an Initial Proposal in week 4. The Initial Proposals are checked to see if they are doable under the circumstances and returned to the group of students. Copies are kept for technical staff, tutors and the project coordinator.

Each group submits a Final Proposal in week 6. These are checked and returned in week 7. From weeks 2 to 6 the students are also doing laboratories on electricity and in week 7 they do a practice exam. The groups carry out the project work in weeks 9, 10, 11 and do a presentation in week 12. Each group hands in a report in week 13. The following schedule is printed on the inside cover of all mainstream student laboratory manuals.

The Initial Proposal The group needs to think about and write down a project title. The group provides a short description of the project such as the following.

The Final Proposal Students need to provide –A project title –A project summary –A list of equipment and resources and who is going to supply what –A one page description of the the project –A project timeline –What they hope to learn from the project –A list of references An example is shown below

An invitation To see more Initial Proposals, Final Proposals and Project Reports please come to the workshop on problem solving, from 2 to 5pm in lab 401, Fourth floor of Carslaw Building. We will discuss other similar strategies from engineering and veterinary science.

Implementation In the first few years a projects coordinator was appointed for one semester to organise and run the projects, assist technicians in gathering equipment and developing kits, and advice students and staff. A series of kits have now been produced for the popular projects In recent years the first year lab coordinator has the responsibility of organising and managing the projects.

Evaluations A survey was administered. The survey had open ended questions and 4 separate parts with statements that students had to rank. The four parts were Nature of Science, Physics concepts, Experiences, Skills The statements could be given ranks of strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. The results are shown below with the scales of agree, neutral and disagree. About 460 student responses were collected.

Nature of Science Doing a project has improved my skills of scientific reasoning {Agree 50%, Neutral 37%, Disagree 14%} As a result of doing a project, I have a better appreciation of what scientists do. {Agree 63%, Neutral 25%, Disagree 13%} As a result of doing a project, I have a better knowledge about the nature of science. {Agree 45%, Neutral 39%, Disagree 15%} As a result of doing a project, my attitude towards science has become more positive. {Agree 40%, Neutral 39%, Disagree 20%} While doing the project, I was forced to do more thinking about natural phenomena. {Agree 57%, Neutral 27%, Disagree 17%} I believe that scientific laws can be proven to be absolutely true.{Agree 31%, Neutral 37%, Disagree 32%}

Physics concepts As a result of doing a project, I have a deeper understanding of some physics principles {Agree 55%, Neutral 32%, Disagree 14%} As a result of doing a project, I have a better appreciation of what people with a physics background can do. {Agree 51%, Neutral 33%, Disagree 15%} As a result of doing a project, I am better equipped to learn physics knowledge and skills.{Agree 43%, Neutral 39%, Disagree 19%} Doing a project has changed my views of physics in a favourable way. {Agree 35%, Neutral 43%, Disagree 23%} Doing a project has helped me better appreciate the connection between the study of physics and the “real” world.{Agree 56%, Neutral 32%, Disagree 12%}

Experiences I learnt more from the project than from the formal physics experiments. {Agree 50%, Neutral 27%, Disagree 24%} The projects should be scrapped and replaced with formal experiments.{Agree 21%, Neutral 22%, Disagree 57%} The number of students working in each project team was satisfactory. {Agree 60%, Neutral 24%, Disagree 17%} I did more work while doing the project than for the formal experiments.{Agree 51%, Neutral 32%, Disagree 17%} The team received sufficient support from staff during the project.{Agree 61%, Neutral 27%, Disagree 12%} Projects provide an effective learning experience. {Agree 58%, Neutral 31%, Disagree 11%}

Skills As a result of doing the project, I am now better prepared for working as a team member.{Agree 60%, Neutral 26%, Disagree 14%} As a result of doing the project, I am better at self-directed study.{Agree 40%, Neutral 41%, Disagree 19%} Doing the project has made me a better problem solver.{Agree 37%, Neutral 46%, Disagree 17%} The project team members collectively had sufficient physics background to do the project successfully.{Agree 59%, Neutral 29%, Disagree 12%}

Conclusion Projects such as these do require more resources, especially in the first few years. 50 to 60% of students report desirable outcomes on the survey. 35 to 40% of students report that after doing the projects their attitude to science and physics has become more positive. Students do not recognise that projects foster problem solving skills.