General Education Course on Physics
Conducting Student Research Projects in a General Education Course
Okamura Hideki ICU 2013.3
1. The meaning of independent research
Most students of ICU will graduate with three units from Natural Science department, which is the minimum requirement 1). I have recommended physics and other courses to many students, telling them how science is an important portion of liberal arts. But most students will hesitate to join the course, because they have been avoiding science courses all the way long. However, I believe the opportunity of liberal arts is wasted if the students graduate with no knowledge about science. This is why I have been groping for a way to come up with a course that is so full of the essence of science, where students could really learn something about science even if this is the only course they would attend during the four years. Yes, teaching them so much in one term seems impossible. But after a long process of trial and error, I have come up with an answer. I assign independent research project to students.
Albert Einstein once said, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” I could teach humanities students various physics formulas, but most of the students would forget them completely within the year. Moreover, it is pointless to teach the students something they could look up on the Internet so easily today. What I have to teach them is the viewpoint and the spirit of science, and how scientists think.
In Japan, universities such as Keio and Tamagawa assign students of humanities to conduct experiments. The assignments are the same with students of science, and in some cases, they are only assigned to students who show excellent effort. In my course, on the other hand, I assign every student to conduct independent research. This is a very different approach from other universities. As far as I am concerned, my course is the only case in Japan where humanities students are assigned to conduct “scientific” independent research. My course itself is a form of an experiment2).
Students will go through every procedure: setting up of the topic, planning of research method, and actual experiment and analysis of results. By experiencing such procedure, students will be able to treat information more scientifically, even when they are outside of the classroom. Students will ask themselves whether the information was gathered through a proper method, and how the information can be proved substantial. Even if it is impossible for the students to prove it themselves, they can at least answer they do not know.
Such attitude is necessary in critical thinking. To make a decision concerning the information given, one must know how the decision is possible. It is impossible to ask someone who has never investigated certain matters to make a plausible decision. Such person would only resort to his/her feelings towards the information, and would easily be tricked by false information.
2. Actual methods
During my course, lecture on physics is paralleled by research project. In a general education course with large number of students, certain precautions must be taken to teach students without experience in research. Although independent research is literally conducted “independently”, I must give the students some directions to cover their lack of knowledge.
Figure 1 is the flowchart of how the project is conducted. As the first step, I will show number of examples of independent research. It is normal for the students at this point to doubt if they could conduct such a thorough research on their own. In the next step, students are to come up with several ideas for their research. However, they would need sometime to come up with a realistic idea. The students will be grouped accordingly to their interests, and discuss each other’s ideas repeatedly. By letting them come up with the idea by a certain deadline, students will pay attention to their surroundings, and start asking questions about how various things happen the way they do.
The results of the researches seem to be more plausible if I respect their autonomy and let them choose their own topics. The students will put in more effort if the topic concerns their own interest. Therefore, the topics do not always revolve around physics. The point of this research is to conduct a scientific research with a scientific framework rather than understanding physical phenomena. Typical experiments of physics with correct answers to discover are not suitable here. Students are to come up with an original experiment with no right answers. The originality of the topic must be checked by searching the web. The group discussion of the students must be conducted via Moodle, so the instructor may monitor the process, and make necessary suggestions. In the early stage, the students must make an interim report. A preparatory experiment must be conducted before the report, even if the students are not yet sure of the process. The interim report must include a research plan based on the preparatory experiment. The audience will make comments on the groups’ presentation, and the comment sheets will be handed over to the group at the end of class. Through such exchanges, students will be able to clarify the issues that are to be addressed, and what sort of experiment must be conducted to reach a plausible result. By doing so, they will gradually become able to take a scientific approach towards the topic, which will lead to proper research planning, conducting of the experiment, and conclusion following the analysis.
The research topic and group members are not fixed. After the preparatory experiment, students may change the topic. By listening to the presentation of other groups, students could find clues for their own topic, while they exchange constructive comments with each other. The groups must cooperate with each other, but they are rivals at the same time. The existence of other groups should fuel their own researches. On Moodle, students may not only review the discussion of their own group, but also those of other groups, and may even make a comment on them. The instructor will reward such constructive commitment with extra points.
I let the students know that evaluation will be made upon the final report. This will let the students realize that their interim report does not have to be perfect. Students are aware that interim report is merely a chance to share with the class what their research is about, and an occasion to participate in profitable discussion.
It is more effective to have several interim reports as long as the schedule permits. In my course, the students will make two interim reports. By the second time, students are already familiar with each other’s topic, and they are more interested to know how the experiments have played out. I believe this method is helping in improving the classroom’s atmosphere.
Through these procedures, students will, for the first time in their lives, realize what it is like to get to the bottom of the problem. Students will also learn that experiments may be designed accordingly with what they would like to know, and that each phenomenon has various aspects to it. Students will know that experiments must be carefully crafted to yield a plausible result (humanities students without the experience tend to think results are instantly found through an experiment), and that conclusion may be reached through an experiment only in certain conditions. Moreover, they will learn that scientific discussion is totally different from the methods they already know.
Student research project may not fulfill its purpose if the students are simply satisfied with the fact that they have conducted a research single handedly. The feedback from the instructor is crucial. Students must recognize how certain parts of their research are not conducted scientifically, and how certain logics are erroneous. Without this step, the class will not be effective enough. Such feedbacks made on interim reports and other occasions must be stressed as a “constructive opinion”, because sometimes the students could take critical opinions personally. Some students will feel uncomfortable, but since interim reports are not graded, the students will understand in the end that feedbacks are only meant as suggestions in hope of better future results.
3. Closing remark
I have shared above my method of letting the students conduct independent research in a general education course, a method I have been working on, and trying to make it better through the years. At the end of a course, a student of mine has written this on a comment sheet: “I have learned that this is a different method. No I know it is not about finding useful materials just to prove my point.” I believe this proves that the course have helped the students to some extent in understanding what scientific framework is all about.
Although the course lasts only for a term, I hope my students will acquire a new viewpoint, a viewpoint of science, through their experience of conducting a scientific research. This viewpoint should help them throughout their lives to make the right decisions. And if this is true, the goal of this course is reached, as in the words of Einstein. Most of the students will pursue their career outside of science. I hope they will make use of what they have learned through the research project in their respectable fields.
Number of experiments can be seen online:
http://subsites.icu.ac.jp/people/okamura/research/Education.html
Notes:
1) Hideki Okamura, FD Newsletter vol. 15, No.2 (2011)
2) Hideki Okamura, Experimental Introduction of Laboratory Work into a General Education Course, the proceedings of the 69th Autumn Meeting of Japan Society of Applied Physics, 3a-P9-5 (2008)