Course Objectives#

This course emphasizes making models of physical phenomenon and how we use various tools at our disposal to investigate those models. Hence, we have learning objectives for making models of these systems and for learning specific tools.

Principle Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • investigate physical systems of their choosing using a variety of tools and approaches

  • construct and document a reproducible process for those investigations

  • use analytical, computational, and graphical approaches to answer specific questions in those investigations

  • provide evidence of the quality of their work using a variety of sources

  • collaborate effectively and contribute to a inclusive learning environment

Each of these learning objectives contributes to your development as a physicist. I recognize that these are big ideas to think about. What I mean is that the objectives above are quite broad and you might be able to see a little about what or why they are included. But, below, I added more detail about each one along with a smaller scale list of objectives that you will engage with. Throughout our course, you will have opportunities to demonstrate these objectives in your work. My aim is to make what you are assessed on in this course something you are interested in, so these objectives reflect that.

Investigate physical systems#

Clearly, one of our central goals is learning how to make models of physical systems. This means learning about and developing fluency with a wide variety of mathematical and computational tools. In this courses, we will make extensive use of Jupyter notebooks for homework and projects. In fact, what you are reading is a set of Jupyter notebooks! Below, you will see the list of objectives for this principal objective.

Investigating Physical Systems Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • use mathematical techniques to predict or explain some physical phenomenon

  • employ computational models and algorithms to investigate physical systems

  • compare analytical and computational approaches to these investigations

  • provide coherent explanations for their investigations buttressed by physical, mathematical, and/or computational knowledge and principles

Construct and document a reproducible process#

A critical element of physics work is making sure that with the same setup and approach, others can reproduce the work you have done. This provides validity to your work and evidences how we develop collective understanding of physics. Physics is a social enterprise and the ensuring the reproducibility of work supports that enterprise. Below are the learning objectives for this principal objective.

Reproducibility Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • document their work and analysis such that others can reproduce their work

  • consistently reproduce their work and results in a variety of contexts

  • provide an explanation for why certain work or results are not (or should not be) reproducible

Use analytical, computational, and graphical approaches#

The main approaches that we use to make models are mathematical, computational, and graphical. In this class, we will aim to leverage the benefits of each to learn more about the physical systems that we are investigating. Indeed, much of the “knowledge” that you are going to develop will be about specific analytical, computational, or graphical approaches to investigate physical systems. Below are the learning objectives for this principal objective.

Modeling Approaches Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • Use a wide variety of modeling techniques to investigate different physical systems

  • Choose and employ appropriate approaches to modeling physical systems of their choosing

  • Explain how those approaches lead to different results or conclusions

Provide evidence of the quality of their work#

The definition of the quality of a piece of science is a collective decision by the scientific community. In established communities, like physics, there are commonly-accepted ways of defining the quality of work (norms, customs, and rules all play a role). But that is not to mean those ways can’t change; papers describing quantum physics and relativity brushed up hard against this issue of quality and were both dismissed and celebrated. Newer disciplines are still establishing those norms and rules. And in some cases, disciplines are pushing back against Western norms of quality. In our class, we will collectively decide what we mean by ‘’high quality’’ work. Below are the learning objectives for this principal objective.

Quality Control Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • describe what it means to have high quality work in our class

  • look for and evaluate when work meets those standards

  • provide suggestions (or act on suggestions) to improve the quality of their work

Collaborate effectively#

Physics is a social enterprise that relies on effective and productive collaborations. Very little (if any) science is done alone; the scale of science is too grand for individuals to effectively work – everyone needs a team. In this spirit, in this classroom, we deeply encourage collaboration. We will try to develop effective collaboration through your work on projects and our in-class activities. Below are the learning objectives for this principal objective.

Collaboration Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate they can:

  • Collaborate on a variety of activities in and out of class

  • Document the contributions in these collaborations and make changes if contributions are unbalanced

  • Develop personally effective strategies for collaboration