Day 38 - Project Work Session

Day 38 - Project Work Session#

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Announcements#

  • This Week: Project Work and Discussion

  • Next Week: Presentations

  • Final Project Due Dec 8th (no later than 11:59 pm)

  • No Final Exam

Final Project#

It is worth 30% of your course grade and has three graded components:

  1. Computational Essay – 60% (Due Dec 8th)

  2. In-Class Presentation – 25% (Next Week)

  3. Peer Review – 15% (Next Week)

Project Components#

1. Computational Essay (60%)#

Submit as a Jupyter Notebook. It should:

  • Pose a clear, compelling research question about a physical system.

  • Provide background and motivation.

  • Apply appropriate computational modeling, simulation, or analysis.

  • Integrate code, figures, and explanatory narrative.

  • Reflect on limitations, implications, and possible extensions.

Due: Monday, December 8th

Project Components#

2. Presentation (25%)#

Presented during the final week: Dec 1, 3, or 5 (time slots will be assigned randomly).

Requirements:

  • Length: 8-12 minutes (depending on group size) + 3-5 minutes for Q&A

  • State research question and motivation

  • Summarize physics principles, computational methods, and key findings

  • Use visuals (plots, animations, brief code excerpts); do not present the essay verbatim

  • Make slides that present your work clearly and concisely

  • Be accessible and invite discussion

3. Peer Review (15%)#

To support a collaborative and reflective learning environment, you will complete a peer review form for each presentation you attend (at least two per class during Dec 1, 3, or 5).

These reviews are not about grading your classmates, but about offering thoughtful feedback and engaging with their ideas.

Your reviews will be assessed for thoughtfulness and completeness, not for judgment of content.

They will be shared anonymously with the presenters to help them improve.

Complete Google Form#

By November 26th or no presentation credit#

Reporting your group members for the final project and a short summary of your project idea for sharing with the class.

https://forms.gle/iPKR9EDAaHW3GirN7

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Best Way to Use this Time#

  • Review the project rubric; ask questions about your work in the context of the rubric

  • Physics or modeling questions take priority over coding/programming questions

  • Research coding/programming questions, we can discuss approaches/sources

  • Your writing for this project is important and will be evaluated

Your project does not need to be perfect; science rarely is.

Questions not worth asking#

  • How do I get a 4.0 on this?

    • Ans: Check the rubric and do your best

  • Will this get a good grade?

    • Ans: Likely

  • Can I just do … ?

    • Ans: Unlikely

  • How much more do I need to write?

    • Ans: Depends

Check the rubric and do your best. Y’all’s work has been good so far.

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