A “flipped” approach to large-scale first-year Physics labs

Faculty:
Faculty of Science, Physics and Astronomy

Course:
PHYS 100

Enrolment:
Dr. Georg Rieger

Principal Investigator:
Dr. Georg Rieger

This project will explore the practicality and pedagogy of having students do the lab component of Introductory Physics (PHYS 100) entirely at home. A group of volunteer students will perform experiments at home while the lab takes place on campus and participate in classroom and peer discussions using Blackboard Collaborate. The lab already has some experiments that students perform at home with everyday equipment. This project will build on these experiments and explore what adjustments would be necessary to do the entire lab at home. In the short-term, this project hopes to make improvements to the Physics 100 labs, and if it’s successful, students would have more flexibility and choice when taking the lab and it would also be possible to offer Physics 100 to non-UBC distance students. In the long-term, this project will help determine the impact of at-home labs on student learning, motivations, and attitudes. And if successful, the project could inform developers of MOOCs about possible ways to incorporate a laboratory component into the online environment.