Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab
written by
Melissa Eblen-Zayas and Ryan C. Terrien
At Carleton College, a self-directed group project is the capstone of the "Contemporary Experimental Physics" course. Instructors in this course do not prescribe topics or experimental implementation, and a wide array of projects results. We report here on trends and lessons learned after five classes with this project (44 experiments). We compile project outcomes as measured by evaluations and student and instructor reflections. We consider how these outcomes are affected by topic source (instructor-suggested or independent), sub-field of physics, and the relative emphasis on hardware design or analytical complexity. Combined with individual case studies and topic examples, these data will serve as a valuable reference for future implementation of open-ended experimental projects in similar courses.
2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College
Part of the BFY Conference series
Baltimore, MD: July 25-27, 2018
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<a href="https://advlabs.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=14960">Eblen-Zayas, Melissa, and Ryan C. Terrien. "Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab." Paper presented at the 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, Baltimore, MD, July 25-27, 2018.</a>
M. Eblen-Zayas and R. Terrien, , presented at the 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, Baltimore, MD, 2018, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020).
M. Eblen-Zayas and R. Terrien, Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab, presented at the 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, Baltimore, MD, 2018, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020>.
Eblen-Zayas, M., & Terrien, R. (2018, July 25-27). Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab. Paper presented at 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, Baltimore, MD. Retrieved December 14, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020
Eblen-Zayas, Melissa, and Ryan C. Terrien. "Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab." Paper presented at the 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College, Baltimore, MD, July 25-27, 2018. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020 (accessed 14 December 2024).
Eblen-Zayas, Melissa, and Ryan C. Terrien. "Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab." 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College. Baltimore, MD: 2018. of BFY Conference. 14 Dec. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020>.
@inproceedings{
Author = "Melissa Eblen-Zayas and Ryan C. Terrien",
Title = {Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab},
BookTitle = {2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College},
Address = {Baltimore, MD},
Series = {BFY Conference},
Month = {July 25-27},
Year = {2018}
}
%A Melissa Eblen-Zayas %A Ryan C. Terrien %T Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab %S BFY Conference %D July 25-27 2018 %C Baltimore, MD %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020 %O 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College %O July 25-27 %O application/pdf
%0 Conference Proceedings %A Eblen-Zayas, Melissa %A Terrien, Ryan C. %D July 25-27 2018 %T Lessons Learned from Five Years of Student Self-directed Experimental Projects in the Advanced Lab %B 2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College %C Baltimore, MD %S BFY Conference %8 July 25-27 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14960&DocID=5020
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