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Amplifying Practical Knowledge in Physics

Amplifying Practical Knowledge in Physics. Randall Tagg (Univ. Colorado Denver partnered with Aurora Public Schools). A backwards-design approach. starting with desired end results. What do we wish for our students as a long-term outcome?. To lead happy, fulfilling lives.

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Amplifying Practical Knowledge in Physics

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  1. Amplifying Practical Knowledge in Physics • Randall Tagg (Univ. Colorado Denver partnered with Aurora Public Schools)

  2. A backwards-design approach • starting with desired end results.

  3. What do we wish for our students as a long-term outcome? To lead happy, fulfilling lives... ... by creating value for themselves, for employers, and for society. Enlightenment thinkers, 1700's Makiguchi, 1930

  4. How do physicists create value? What they do... • Discover new knowledge. • Invent new technologies. • Apply concepts & methods to solve problems. • Teach, synthesize & enrich people's perspectives.

  5. How they do it ...(chacun a son gout) • Explore & tinker. • Focus and specialize. • Gather and synthesize. • Foster contributions from others.

  6. What knowledge do they need? • Episteme Fundamental concepts, their relationships, and methods to manipulate them. • Techne Practical skills designing, building & doing. • Metis "Street smarts" about what is worth doing and about how to get it done. • "Lab lore" Tacit knowledge of tricks of the trade.

  7. A parallel-curriculum model for laboratory learning

  8. Research & Experiential Learning ...the ultimate validation. • HS student & undergraduate research: explore things that are "daring", with the potential to open up new directions and evolve into advanced research. • Entrepreneurship: develop new technologies and pursue marketability. • Service learning: help small businesses and early-stage inventors with technical issues. • Clinics: work in teams to solve problems for industrial clients. • Coops & internships: work on-site with regional employers.

  9. A claim and a question ...based on experience with students at many levels. • A common and often overriding factor in student success with making genuine contributions in research or innovation is an ability to merge good conceptual foundations with a variety of practical abilities. • So why don't we purposefully develop a broad base of practical knowledge that is deeply connected to physics?

  10. Example: controlling a chaotic pendulum(John Starrett - Apker Award Finalist) • Undergraduate research published in PRL in March 1995 • Led to NSF and ONR grants • John eventually did Ph.D. in math and now is a tenured professor at New Mexico Tech. • What practical elements are present? • What were the conceptual links?

  11. Example: motor / guitar string dynamics • Initially developed to illustrate resonance to 9th grade students in "Active Physics" curriculum • Discovered frequency locking interaction between motor with magnet on rotor and the driven string • Became a research project involving middle school science teachers. • First paper accepted in The Physics Teacher.

  12. A How-Things-Work Course A Useful Preliminary - Take Stuff Apart & Analyze 11. Document scanner 12. CD Player 13. Breadmaker 14. Hard disk drive 15. ** Optics & Sensors ** Student's own topic x 3 . . . . Bathroom scale Sports balls Kitchen timer Printer ** Motors & Mechanisms ** Analog weather station Microwave oven (SAFETY issue: HV capacitor) Game controller with joystick Clock radio ** Electronics & Digital Technology **

  13. Innovators' Base Camp General Ideas to Support Technical Development • Idea Origins • Seeing actively and deeply • Finding needs & opportunities • Creativity, problem solving and idea generation • Idea evaluation • Idea Development • Sources of technical information • External resources and distributed innovation • Quantitative thinking and estimation • Sketching, illustration and technical drawing • Idea Delivery • Project management • Documentation • Intellectual property • Dissemination

  14. Technical Learning Modules "On Demand" • A set of technical topics available for students to learn "on demand" • Each topic has two versions: • An 8-hour quick immersion leading to an open-ended project. • A 40-50 hour deeper dive exploring various common problems or "design patterns" in a given technology

  15. At what level should the technology be presented? • Possibilities: • Toy / schoolroom grade Cheap, versatile, sometimes clever; very limited precision and durability • "Maker" / hacker / "McGyver" grade Ingenious, gets the job done, uses available materials, temporary solution, easily reconfigured. can be both elegant and sophisticated • Professional grade High cost, longer lead time to obtain, highly engineered, precise, durable • Choice? All three if possible, respectively serving the needs of early prototyping, immediate solutions , and long-term design. Students should experience all three levels.

  16. Common Structure for Each Module • Safety • Visual examples • Essential ideas • Launching project • Assets and supplies • Special methods and tools • Sneaky issues • Design patterns • Sources of supply • Computer resources • Useful data • References and web sites

  17. Practical Design Modules Foundations • Starting Essentials • 1. Safety and hazardous materials • 2. Common tools • 3. Early prototyping

  18. Practical Design Modules General Technical Choices • Materials and manufacturing • 4. Materials • 5. Basic manufacturing • 6. Advanced manufacturing • Structures and infrastructure • 7. Structural systems • 8. Device environments and materials handling • 9. Buildings and infrastructure • Energy and measurement • 10. Energy systems • 11. Measurement and standards • 12. Standards

  19. Practical Design Modules Mechanics • Mechanical systems • 13. Mechanisms • 14. Actuators • 15. Vehicles • Mechanical dynamics • 16. Vibration and chaos • 17. Rotating systems • 18. Sound and ultrasound • Thermal and fluid systems • 19. Heating and cooling • 20. Fluid handling • 21. Low and high pressure

  20. Practical Design Modules Electronics • Analog electronics • 22. Electronic components and measurements • 23. Analog signals • 24. Active devices • Digital technology • 25. Digital electronics • 26. Microcontrollers • 27. Human interfaces • RF systems • 19. Radio electronics • 20. RF telemetry and control • 21. Microwave systems

  21. Practical Design Modules Computers, control & advanced instrumentation • Computers • 31. Computer-aided experiments • 32. Data storage • 33. Networked systems • Control and automation • 34. Servo control • 35. Automation • 36. Robotics • Advanced instrumentation • 37. Digital signal processing • 38. Advanced measurement and detection • 39. High-throughput measurement

  22. Practical Design Modules Optics, fields, and particles • Optics • 40. Optical systems • 41. Optoelectronics and lasers • 42. Imaging • Fields and particles • 43. Magnetic fields and superconductors • 44. High voltage, discharges and plasmas • 45. Particle sources, beams, and detectors • Nuclear technology • 46. Radiation sources, detectors, and nuclear electronics

  23. Practical Design Modules Micro- and Nanotechnology • Microtechnology • 47. Microscopy and micromanipulation • 48. Microfabrication and thin films • 49. Microdevices • Nanotechnology • 50. Scanned probes • 51. Nanoparticles • 52. Nanostructures

  24. Infrastructure • Example projects in a box ("design patterns") Example: pipe flow and turbulence transition • Technical resource bays Example: standing inventory of passive electronic components clustered around work-tables with measurement instrumentation • "Innovation Hyperlab" A commons in which many technical resources are assembled for shared access.

  25. Mode of delivery • Web-based server of instructional material • Format optimized for viewing on tablet devices "at-the-bench", including video • Enriched as far as possible by open-source computer tools • Local support by expert mentors & certified peers (i.e. fellow students who "know the ropes")

  26. Other Areas to Add? • Chemical Instrumentation & Chemical Engineering • Biotechnology & Biomedical Applications

  27. WANTED Colleagues who want to join the fun in identifying and developing modules to provide practical knowledge "on demand". randall.tagg@ucdenver.edu

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