Infusing Laboratory Skills

Throughout the Physics

Curriculum

- or -

Lab HW in ALL courses

2012 Topical Conf. on Advanced Laboratories

July 25, 2012

Marty Johnston

University of St. Thomas

St. Paul, MN

How we want to see our curriculum…

How we really look…

What

We Taught

Analytical

Experimental

Computational

Communication

What We

Wanted

Analytical

Experimental

Computational

Communication

- Vs -

Our Solution… Revitalize our curriculum by Increasing the experimental,

computational and communication content in all of our courses

Departmental Mission:

Both inside and outside the classroom, the University of St.

Thomas Physics Department provides undergraduate students

with a broad understanding and appreciation for physics,

cultivates problem solving skills involving analytical,

experimental and computational techniques and teaches how to

effectively communicate technical ideas. We strive to instill

values that enable individuals to responsibly engage the world

they live in.

NOT a solo effort…

• Everyone was involved – department wide commitment key to long-term viability

• Ideas evolve –

• Patience –

it takes resources to change curriculum, both time and money

Building Skills…

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction

Skill Introduction (Freshman / Sophomore courses)

• CISC 130 Problem Solving and Programming in the Natural Sciences

(programming in C)

• PHYS 215 Foundations of Modern Physics

(scopes, signal conditioning, nuclear instrumentation)

• PHYS 225 Applications of Modern Physics

(modeling of systems using Matlab)

• ENGR 350 Introduction to Electronics

(analog electronics)

Pulling it together …

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction

Integration

Skill Integration (Sophomore / Junior courses)

• PHYS 323 Methods of Experimental Physics

(computer aided DAQ, instrumentation, data analysis)

• PHYS 347 Optics

(physical optics culminating in optical tweezers)

Putting it in practice…

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction

Integration

Application

Skill Application (Junior / Senior Courses)

• Laboratory and Computational Homework …

… involved but not onerous

PHYS 331 Theoretical Mechanics

PHYS 341 Electricity and Magnetism

PHYS 410 Thermodynamics and Stat Mechanics

PHYS 431 Quantum Mechanics

NSF Grant DUE-0311432 Incorporating Computer modeling into the Upper-Division Physics

PI - Paul Ohmann

MathWorks Curriculum Development Grant

PI - Marie Lopez del Puerto

Skill Application (Junior / Senior Courses)

• Transitional Undergraduate Research – grows out of coursework

Quantum Dots (PHYS 225)

Polarization and Insects (PHYS 347)

Astronomical Data Mining (PHYS 104)

Nonlinear Systems (PHYS 323)

A. Green, P. Ohmann, N. Leininger, J. Kavanaugh

Physics Teacher, Vol. 48, No 1

Labs Infused Throughout the Curriculum

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction

Integration

Application

Where did advanced lab go ? …

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction

Application

PHYS 323

Methods of

Experimental Physics

Integration

PHYS 323 Methods of Experimental Physics:

A Sophomore Level Bridge Between

the Introductory Labs

and the Upper Level Curriculum

• Build on familiar physical concepts while introducing new mathematics, instrumentation, and coding

• Learn how to communicate, discuss ethics, and develop confidence

• Topics are driven by questions that arise during the investigation

• Course built around three two one experiments

The Physical System:

A Chaotic Physical Pendulum

Builds on concepts

introduced in

classical physics

• Rotational Dynamics

• Faraday’s law & Lorentz Force

The Physical Pendulum…

Time Domain

Frequency Domain

Phase Space

The Damped Physical Pendulum…

Time Domain

Frequency Domain

Phase Space

The Physical System…damped and driven…

Time Domain

Frequency Domain

Phase Space

Poincare Section

The Physical System…damped and driven…chaotic

Time Domain

Frequency Domain

Phase Space

Poincare Section

Searching for order…

Part I – Jumping Into the Problem

(4 weeks)

Part II – Building up Instrumentation &

Basic Analysis

(7 weeks)

Part III – Exploration

(4 weeks)

Fitting it all in …

Part I - Jumping into the Problem

Introduction to LabVIEW and Data Acquisition

Hands-On Introduction to LabVIEW for Scientists and Engineers,

2nd ed. John Essick, Oxford University Press, 2012

Review of Oscillators and Differential Equations

Develop a Mathematical Model for Our System

sin ( ) cos( )f f d d

I

I rmg b t

Part II - Building up the Instrumentation and Basic Analysis

Sensing Motion

Quadrature Encoders, Buffers, and Hardware Timing

Controlling Magnitude of Torque Eddy Motor (DC motors, Hall sensors)

Producing a Sinusoidal Drive Stepper Motor and Scotch Yoke

(Digital electronics, driver circuits, error sensing)

Part II - Building up the Instrumentation and Basic Analysis

Streaming and its Derivatives …

Numerical Methods - Digital Derivatives, Savitzky – Golay Filters

Characterization of the System … Fitting Techniques

Frequency Analysis …

Fourier Techniques, Windows and Convolutions

Part II - Building up the Instrumentation and Basic Analysis

Poincare Sections …

Part II - Building up the Instrumentation and Basic Analysis

Bifurcation Diagrams …

d

Part III – Exploration (4 weeks)

Students work on a question that interests them …

… What are the predictive abilities of our model?

- VS -

Experiment Theory

Part III – Exploration

How can we quantify what we see?

Correlation Dimension

1

( )1( )

1

Ni

i

N RC R

N N

0

log ( )lim

logc

R

C Rd

R

Part III – Exploration

Is the correlation dimension stable with changes in phase?

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2001.51

1.515

1.52

1.525

1.53

1.535

Dimension as a function of Phase

Cosine (1 Hz) Driving, 200 Poincare sections

Poincare Index

Poin

care

Dim

ensio

n

Part III – Exploration

Can’t we build a better stepper motor controller?

Xilinx FPGA

Part III – Exploration

How robust is our model for friction?

- vs -

sin cos( ) ( )f d dI rmg b t

sin os() c( )f f d dI rmg tb

Part III – Exploration

Is our torque really sinusoidal? What happens if it isn’t?

sin os( )( ) c df f dI rmg b t

Part III – Exploration

… Course Concludes with a Student Poster Session

Sonoluminescene…

Martian Atmosphere & Paschen Curves…

Why Chaos - what else could work?

Where are we now?

• Balance between analytical, experimental, computation and

communication is significantly improving.

• The structure for integration is in place

• Need to fully implement laboratory and computational

homework.

• Need to develop additional versions of Methods Course

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Introduction Integration

Application

Where are we now?

• Realize that we will never be done! The process is what makes

us better.

Support from my students & colleagues

Eric Brost

Vy Tran

Adam Green

Jeff Jakio

funding from NSF, MN Space Grant, and UST

is gratefully acknowledged