Modern Physics Laboratory for Instrumentation Program

当今物理学毕业生的弱点之一，开始他们的职业生涯与学士学位，是缺乏适当的研究和沟通技能和经验与现代科学设备。识别这个弱点，这个项目的重点是在我们的物理学学士学位课程中整合探究式学习，重点是仪器仪表。 在这个程序中，学生需要采取涉及在教师实验室的研究经验的高级仪器仪表课程。 该计划填补了入门物理实验室教授的低水平技能与仪器仪表课程所需的更高级研究技能之间的差距。 对文献的回顾表明，以探究为基础的实验室方法可以为学生提供学习必要的研究技能的机会。 多个NSF资助的项目开发了光谱学，现代物理学和材料科学实验室，是该项目适应和实施工作的基础。这些项目的元素被纳入一个学期的课程，学生在三个广泛的兴趣领域工作：1）干涉，2）光谱学，和3）材料科学。 这个现代物理实验室将物理概念的理论掌握与使用现代科学设备和使用探究方法解决研究问题所需的技能的实际掌握相结合。 具体来说，在对技术，相关文献和可用设备进行指导性介绍后，学生负责开发自己的研究问题。这需要研究文献，并为这三个项目编写简要建议。每个项目的时间安排允许学生灵活地根据即将到来的结果改变他们提出的程序。在每个项目结束时，学生提交书面报告，并在学期结束时，他们选择一个项目的研讨会介绍。 这门课程的效果通过几种机制进行评估：学生调查、对学生课程作业的分析、对雇主的调查，以评估课程的长期效果。

One of the weaknesses of present day physics graduates, beginning their professional career with a bachelor's degree, is a lack of appropriate research and communication skills and experience with modern scientific equipment. Identifying this weakness, this project focuses on integrating inquiry-based learning in our bachelor degree program in physics with an emphasis on Instrumentation. In this program, the students are required to take an upper-level instrumentation course involving a research experience in faculty laboratories. The program fills the gap between the low-level skills taught in the introductory physics labs and the more advanced research skills needed in the Instrumentation Course. A review of the literature makes apparent that inquiry-based approach to the laboratories can provide the students the opportunity to learn necessary research skills. Multiple NSF-funded projects that have developed laboratories in spectroscopy, modern physics, and material science are the basis of the adaptation and implementation efforts in this project. Elements of these projects are incorporated into a single semester course where the students work in three broad areas of interest: 1)interference, 2) spectroscopy, and 3) materials science. This modern physics lab combines theoretical mastery of physical concepts with practical mastery of the skills necessary to work with modern scientific equipment and solve research problems using an inquiry approach. Specifically, after a guided introduction to the techniques, relevant literature, and available equipment, the students are responsible for developing their own research problems concerning the topic. This requires researching the literature and writing brief proposals for the three projects. The time scheduled for each project allows the students flexibility to change their proposed procedures dependent on the incoming results. At the end of each project the students submit written reports, and at the end of the semester they select one project for a seminar presentation. The effectiveness of this course is evaluated through several mechanisms: student surveys, analysis of the students' coursework, surveys of employers to evaluate the long-term effect of the course.