Organizers: Proffs. Gabriella Maria de Luca & Fabio Iocco

Colloquia

Becoming a physicist in a laboratory course

by Micol Alemani

Europe/Rome
Aula Caianiello (Dipartimento di Fisica "Ettore Pancini")

Aula Caianiello

Dipartimento di Fisica "Ettore Pancini"

Description

Micol Alemani,
University of Potsdam (Germany).

As society and industries become more complex, the demand for critical, creative thinkers with problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills is rising. Universities educate science PhD students with these abilities, but the question remains if those skills could be fostered earlier. Lab courses play a key role by allowing students to practice essential skills like problem-solving, decision-making, and handling uncertainty needed for scientific inquiry. However, traditional formats for these courses—where students replicate lecture results by following step-by-step instructions with pre-assembled equipment— fall short of their educational potential. Recent research works highlight their limitations in effectively deepening students' understanding of physics concepts, fostering experimental skills and expert-like views and attitudes.

In this talk, I will present how we implemented a transformation guided by research of the introductory laboratory course for physics majors at the University of Potsdam to promote students’ acquisition of experimental skills and expert-like attitudes. The ultimate goal is to have students gain experimental independence to be prepared for future professional and societal challenges. I will detail our didactic approach, the course learning goals and describe various lab activities developed to reach those goals. During the talk, I will discuss the educational advantages and my experience (including the challenges) with this approach.

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