Physics+Modeling+Workshop,+Summer+2009

I attended a three week physics modeling workshop this summer, and like you, I was thinking catwalks and feathered boas, but it turns out that the workshop was about creating laboratory models from which students could use to understand broader subjects such as one dimensional motion, Newton's laws, momentum, and energy. Unlike biology or chemistry, the laws of physics lend themselves to student discovery; by devising the appropriate lab procedure, collecting the data, and analyzing the data, students will be able to uncover the mathematical relationships between whatever dependent and independent variables they tested.

Whereas physics lessons commonly begin with the introduction of a formula, followed by an explanation of the formula, and then the application of the formula to word problems, the modeling approach begins with observing a physical phenomenon such as a swinging pendulum. Students would identify the motion and then (with the instructor's guidance) device methods to test what factors affect the motion (pendulum length, pendulum mass, angle of displacement, etc...). From conducting a lab experiment and performing a graphical analysis of the data, students will be able to derive the mathematical relationship between the period of a pendulum swing and any factors that they tested. Often, student lab groups will write their findings on desk-size whiteboards, and then present and defend their findings/results in front of the class. Subsequently, students will individually solve problems using either the mathematical relationship or through graphical analysis.

This approach to learning physics concepts is student centered. The students are responsible for designing the lab, collecting and analyzing the data, drawing conclusions, and defending their conclusions. Throughout each step, the instructor's primary role is to listen and question the students on their presentations.