This is a problem,
We provide a specific calculator to the students in an exam and don't let them bring in any electronics of their own.
It works well as we inform the students very early on exactly which calculator they will be provided with so they can either buy one to use throughout their course (Very cheap as non-graphing) or borrow one from the department.
Everyone seems happy with this and I have never heard any complaints.
This may be partly because it is a department wide policy and as such all courses are examined in this way so it is expected by the students.
I know exactly what you mean.
If your typing technique isn't ideal all it takes is a fortnight of poor posture, chair and equipment and all of a sudden you can be off work for a year. These days a year without adequate ability to use a PC is terrible.
All I can say is thank you Microsoft for putting voice recognition into Vista.
Thanks for the response,
Good suggestions, They have already done a few interferometers. I might consider another interferometer such as the Twyman-Green.
Wow, excellent set of ideas.
The Lunar range finder was an idea I had pondered as well. Unfortunately due to having a flight path overhead is a little impractical. Which is a great shame.
The spectroscope has come up a number of times and I think there is a good solid project in that with either an astro or chemistry measurement.
The doppler radar and the ultrasonic tape measure have been done before so I will have to see what others have submitted.
Thank you for the extensive list.
It gives much to think about
I really like the Ruben Tube idea. My office mates thought it was good as well. Even though the science is quite basic standing waves are a fundamental concept they will meet many times.
Dear SlashDotters,
Firstly may I thank you for taking your time to respond in such numbers. Some of your suggestions and comments I shall attempt to respond to directly but due to the sheer volume this is an impossibility due to the paper I must submit by the end of the day (for the progress of science and all).
There have been a number of excellent project proposals, far more than I could hope to run, but I'm sure this advice will become helpful to my colleagues as well.
Firstly may I clarify that these are university students, not school students. The definition of these things seems to go slightly awry when converting between us British and our esteemed American colleagues.
Secondly, thank you very much to those of you who have spent the time to suggest changes in teaching practices. Advice on focusing on core ideas instead of flashy gimmicks is something which I agree with entirely. There is no point in getting the student to do something which looks cool but they cannot contemplate or understand what is going on. This said I feel there is no reason why these two things cannot be coupled together giving both that fundamental understanding and the experience of a project which may inspire them away from banking and into a life of science.
Thirdly I thank those of you that have pointed me to online resources for ideas, I havenâ(TM)t had a chance to run through them yet, but will get round to them in the full course of time.
Fourthly regrettably some of the projects suggested I have disregarded as they have either already been covered or will be covered the following years (Such as measurement of G, The Hall effect and resonant modes in sand on a plate to name a few). Others I have been forced to resign to the drawer of ideas other demonstrators will be putting forward, some of them have been doing the same thing for years, such as the Theremin, the autonomous robots or building an ECG. And others I have not yet excluded, such as the bubble fusion idea (sonoluminescence). Actually I believe we may have a full experimental kit for a sonoluminescence experiment, but I will have to investigate.
Finally I will thank those of you who have suggested projects that I may well run, and the inspiration for project connections that I have gleaned from some of your responses. I am currently considering a number of them including looking at solar cells and methods for improving light capture onto a the small area. Or looking at the possibility of building a spectrometer, calibrating it and then using it for calculations on either extra-solar red shifts or from a physical chemistry side (chemiluminescene â" energy transition and catalysts for example).
Anyway, I better return to work now and think further on this later.
With great thanks,
Peter
p.s. Those who made me smile get a special thank-you. Submarine avoidance may become a field of further investment.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a problem, We provide a specific calculator to the students in an exam and don't let them bring in any electronics of their own. It works well as we inform the students very early on exactly which calculator they will be provided with so they can either buy one to use throughout their course (Very cheap as non-graphing) or borrow one from the department. Everyone seems happy with this and I have never heard any complaints. This may be partly because it is a department wide policy and as such all courses are examined in this way so it is expected by the students.
I know exactly what you mean. If your typing technique isn't ideal all it takes is a fortnight of poor posture, chair and equipment and all of a sudden you can be off work for a year. These days a year without adequate ability to use a PC is terrible. All I can say is thank you Microsoft for putting voice recognition into Vista.
:D
I believe one of these was made in 2003. It was certianly impressive. I had completely forgotten about it. Thank you
Yeah I like this idea, one was made a few years back and was very impressive to see.
I agree, Will have a chat with some solid state guys.
A fusor was built a few years back and was a truly excellent site. Unfortunately the plasma physicists down the corridor will probably suggest this.
Thanks for the response, Good suggestions, They have already done a few interferometers. I might consider another interferometer such as the Twyman-Green.
This would be fun, we're slightly limited on testing space (well without going to the local park that is)
Wow, excellent set of ideas. The Lunar range finder was an idea I had pondered as well. Unfortunately due to having a flight path overhead is a little impractical. Which is a great shame. The spectroscope has come up a number of times and I think there is a good solid project in that with either an astro or chemistry measurement. The doppler radar and the ultrasonic tape measure have been done before so I will have to see what others have submitted. Thank you for the extensive list. It gives much to think about
I really like the Ruben Tube idea. My office mates thought it was good as well. Even though the science is quite basic standing waves are a fundamental concept they will meet many times.
I nearly attempted doing this myself last summer, although I'm not sure how keen the technicians would be.
Dear SlashDotters, Firstly may I thank you for taking your time to respond in such numbers. Some of your suggestions and comments I shall attempt to respond to directly but due to the sheer volume this is an impossibility due to the paper I must submit by the end of the day (for the progress of science and all). There have been a number of excellent project proposals, far more than I could hope to run, but I'm sure this advice will become helpful to my colleagues as well. Firstly may I clarify that these are university students, not school students. The definition of these things seems to go slightly awry when converting between us British and our esteemed American colleagues. Secondly, thank you very much to those of you who have spent the time to suggest changes in teaching practices. Advice on focusing on core ideas instead of flashy gimmicks is something which I agree with entirely. There is no point in getting the student to do something which looks cool but they cannot contemplate or understand what is going on. This said I feel there is no reason why these two things cannot be coupled together giving both that fundamental understanding and the experience of a project which may inspire them away from banking and into a life of science. Thirdly I thank those of you that have pointed me to online resources for ideas, I havenâ(TM)t had a chance to run through them yet, but will get round to them in the full course of time. Fourthly regrettably some of the projects suggested I have disregarded as they have either already been covered or will be covered the following years (Such as measurement of G, The Hall effect and resonant modes in sand on a plate to name a few). Others I have been forced to resign to the drawer of ideas other demonstrators will be putting forward, some of them have been doing the same thing for years, such as the Theremin, the autonomous robots or building an ECG. And others I have not yet excluded, such as the bubble fusion idea (sonoluminescence). Actually I believe we may have a full experimental kit for a sonoluminescence experiment, but I will have to investigate. Finally I will thank those of you who have suggested projects that I may well run, and the inspiration for project connections that I have gleaned from some of your responses. I am currently considering a number of them including looking at solar cells and methods for improving light capture onto a the small area. Or looking at the possibility of building a spectrometer, calibrating it and then using it for calculations on either extra-solar red shifts or from a physical chemistry side (chemiluminescene â" energy transition and catalysts for example). Anyway, I better return to work now and think further on this later. With great thanks, Peter p.s. Those who made me smile get a special thank-you. Submarine avoidance may become a field of further investment.