IOP Groups
Enhancing the experience of entrant physics students
A report of this meeting, including the slides used can be found here.
This meeting organised by the Higher Education Group of the Institute of Physics and the Physical Sciences Centre of the Higher Education Academy at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ
Date: May 14, 2008
Time: 10.45 – 16.00
This meeting aims to share ideas and experiences of staff who have been involved in interesting activities designed to improve the experience of students entering physics degree courses. Some entrants find the transition into university quite a challenge, both academically and socially: What am I meant to be doing? Who can give me support? Why are things so different from my previous experience? How do I “fit in”?
In some ways the meeting follows on from the February meeting on Engaging Physics Students. One of the things we all wish to do is to have our entrants fully engaged with their studies. Simon Bates from Edinburgh will tell us about the use of “clickers” in large lecture classes to allow communication and to get the students “doing” physics in lectures. Sarah Symons and Derek Raine will tell us of some of the achievements within the CETL that has seen problem-based-learning firmly embedded at Leicester and the experience passed on to others.
Ben Sauer of Imperial College will show us how his institution’s use of projects in the first year can make a major difference to the student experience. Alison Voice (Leeds) and Tracey Madden (Higher Education Academy Physical Sciences Centre) will discuss the use of PDP tools in getting our entrant students to take more responsibility for their own learning and planning for the future.
Not all students coming to university are now as well prepared with experimental and mathematical skills as they perhaps used to be. Tom Hase will give us one answer for addressing the former issue, and Duncan Lawson of the sigma CETL at Coventry will tell us of some of the materials and techniques that are available to help with the second.
A recent “Enhancement Theme” for the Scottish university system has been “The First Year Experience”. The project’s current leader will tell our meeting some of the conclusions coming from this study. The subsequent discussion session may help us see how some of the general ideas from this may integrate with some of the physics-specific examples described earlier in the meeting.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh’s building is located in the heart of Edinburgh, just five minutes walk from the main railway station (Edinburgh Waverley). Edinburgh airport is about half an hour away by bus, a little shorter by taxi. Travel suggestions are available on the RSE website.
The meeting is organised by Ifan Hughes (Durham) and Bruce Sinclair (St Andrews). Financial support from the Physical Sciences Centre of the Higher Education Academy allows the running of the meeting with no fee for eligible people registered to attend. Potential attendees are asked to register in advance through the Higher Education Academy website at www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci/events/detail/enhancing_phys_may_2008
Provisional Programme
10.30 Coffee & Registration
11.00 Welcome, Ifan Hughes and Bruce Sinclair
Chair of morning session:- Ifan Hughes
11.05 Simon Bates, Edinburgh University, "Interactive engagement in large group physics lectures using electronic voting systems" (www.ph.ed.ac.uk/elearning/projects/voting/)
11.30 Sarah Symons and Derek Raine, piCETL, University of Leicester, "Building Community through problem-based learning" (www.le.ac.uk/leap , www.open.ac.uk/picetl/ )
11.55 Dr Ben Sauer, Physics Department, Imperial College London, "First year physics projecs at Imperial College" - www3.imperial.ac.uk/physicsuglabs/firstyearlab/projects
12.20 Tom Hase, Warwick University, addressing the skills shortage in Experimental Physics.
12.45 Discussion
13.00 Lunch
Chair of afternoon session:- Bruce Sinclair
14.00 Alison Voice, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leeds and Tracey Madden, Higher Education Academy PPhysical Sciences Centre, "Embedding PDP and SKills in the 1st Year Physics Curriculum" - www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci/home/pedagogicthemes/pdp
14.30 Duncan Lawson, sigma, Coventry University, "Recent developments in mathematics support" -
15.00 Terry Mayes, Glasgow Caledonian University, "The First Year Experience - Outcomes of the Scottish Universities' Enhancement Theme" - www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/themes/FirstYear/
15.30 Discussion
14.40 Tea and informal discussions
16.10 End of meeting
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