Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Carleton College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

providing a discussion of mechanical properties of materials and the historicalimpact of these developments at the beginning of the course, students begin to see how materialsdevelopment can have a significant societal impact.3 This historical reflection on the societalimpact of new materials paved the way for examining examples of how materials science andengineering today might be used to address some of society’s environmental and energychallenges.The remainder of the course was dedicated to considering several ways in which materialsscience and engineering can have an impact on energy and environmental challenges. The fourapplications that the course focused on were materials for solar energy conversion, smartmaterials for energy efficiency

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie Lopez del Puerto, University of St. Thomas; Adam S Green, University of St. Thomas; Jeffrey A. Jalkio, University of St. Thomas; Marty Johnston, University of St. Thomas; Paul R Ohmann, University of St. Thomas (MN)

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

(Part 1: Imaging) Conceptual goals: Understand the nature of polarized light, how polarization changes upon reflection and transmission, and how insects use polarized light for navigation and communication. Experimental goals: Learn how to operate CCD cameras in conjunction with linear polarizers. Quantify how various materials either polarize or depolarize scattered light. Computational goals: Use MATLAB’s Image Acquisition Toolbox to acquire images from CCD cameras. Learn basic image processing in MATLAB to create polarization maps of optical targets.This first experiment in the polarized light lab introduces students to polarimetric imaging, amethod that is widely used in science, engineering, and medicine. Using a CCD

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank V. Kowalski, Colorado School of Mines; Susan E. Kowalski, Colorado School of Mines; Patrick B. Kohl, Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines; Hsia-Po Vincent Kuo, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

fluency, originality, and honingpositive critical thinking skills. This emphasis is reflected as the group creates a metric toevaluate their potential solutions.A specific case from undergraduate and graduate level engineering physics courses is describedto illustrate how the extensive work done in this arena in psychology, marketing, and businessenvironments can be applied to STEM education. Students were presented with the problem ofhow to measure the mass removed from a quarry. The classroom process is outlined and actualstudent results are presented to illustrate the method for other instructors who might be interestedin employing similar activities in a non-threatening, low-stakes learning environment.IntroductionIn the landmark report about

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bala Maheswaran, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

the activity enjoyed learning theconcepts via designing and team work. 4 Figure 3 Rate the motor design team activities from very interesting (5) to uninteresting (1) 50 45 Number of students 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 Low (1) to high (5)Figure 4 displays the responses to the question, “Do you think that the motor design team projectmotivated you to learn the engineering physics concepts?” This reflects the students’ viewregarding the effect of the project in learning

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Baha Jassemnejad, University of Central Oklahoma; Scott Tracewell StJohn; Evan C. Lemley, University of Central Oklahoma; Kevin Rada, University of Central Oklahoma, Department of Engineering and Physics; Juan Camilo Orozco

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

they will face in their transformation to becoming an engineering, and generalattitudes about their personal confidence seem to skew high. This indicates that the students feelgood about moving forward onto upper level laboratory and design courses. The questions aboutattitudes indicate a high average level of confidence in learned skills, but a slightly increasedpolarity between levels of interest and motivation. This could indicate that the course is can be agauge for a small number of students whether or not to pursue engineering.These survey results generally seem to reflect a strong agreement with the overall goals of thecourse, and provide insight into areas that might be improved in future semesters. As the coursegoes forward, we intend

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching and Research in Physics or Engineering Physics I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Teresa L. Larkin, American University; Jessica Uscinski, American University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

Physics 100 is:  Strong  Moderate  Minimal  Not ApplicableGE-1 Critical reflections on the nature and history of beauty and MinimalAesthetic sensibilities artGE-2 Interchanging ideas and information through writing, ModerateCommunication skills speech, and visual and digital mediaGE-3 Systematic