Reformation of Physics Lab
Manual for Life-Science Students
at USM
Bharath Kandula
Hiro Shimoyama
Department of Physics & Astronomy
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM)
Overview
• Previous lab system
• The process of investigation
• Improvement & organization of labs
• Conclusions
• Future work
Previous lab system
• Was challenging to life science students (complicated
and ambiguous procedures).
• Required advanced knowledge in Physics.
Ex: The period of spring motion:
T  2
fM  m
k
c.f. T  2
m
k
• Did not focus on an important concept (requiring
several different apparatuses for a single activity.)
• Made TAs more time explain procedures and how to
use apparatuses rather than teaching concept and
inquiry.
The process of investigation
• Observed lab activities, student-TA interactions and
analyzing quizzes and lab reports.
• Constantly collected feed back from students about the
equipment, manual, quizzes and understanding.
• Had every-week discussions among TA’s and project
manager about the feedback and observation data.
• Reported problems which lead to students’ and TA’s
confusion.
Improvements
• Reduced the number of equipment used in
each activity although raising the standard.
• Clearly instructed using the computer
software with diagrams.
• Improved students’ understanding by
including conceptual questions after each
measurement.
• Implemented warning notes to prevent
students from making trivial mistakes.
Continued…
• Innovated the very first lab of physics,
“Before conducting Physics labs” as follows
 Data analysis with types of errors
 Explanation of data acquisition software
 Units and conversions explained with
daily life examples.
 Graphs and analysis
Continued…
• Provided insightful activities at the end of lab activities
to enhance students’ understanding.
Ex:
1. Moment of inertia (test how hard it is to accelerate different
objects)
2. Rotational K.E (the final velocity with different sizes of
spheres)
• Encouraged students to discuss conceptual questions
during lab.
• Promoted more interaction between students and TA.
Management of the labs
• Prepare to revise the manual by considering all
observation data, our discussions, and students’
feedback.
• Aided by the website (www.hirophysics.com) to
access the information, such as schedules and
other physics resources.
• Post some animations related to “How to use
some basic equipment” on the website.
Conclusions
• Reduced unnecessary burden for life science students who
have less/no physics background.
1.Concise set up of the experimentation (shown with
pictures in the manual)
2.Fine explanation on the procedures
• Accomplished students’ better results in quizzes and lab
exam compared with previous years.
• Improved students to write good quality of lab reports.
1. Better experimental results and analysis (<6% of error)
2. Better understanding of concepts
Continued…
• Turned out that better results do not
necessarily mean that students acquire better
understanding of the concept.
• Found that the some of problems could lie
beyond manual.
Future work (Beyond the manual)
• Improve students’ basic math skills for physics.
• Implement a curriculum so students can learn
the concept of experimentation. (Some students
completely separate it from theories.)
• Establish an integrated method to have
effective interaction between TA-student.
• Implement interactive demos and movie clips
for students’ learning. (involving daily life activities)
• Implement a method and guideline to
stimulate after-lab discussion among students.
Thank you for
listening.
Appendix I: List of
experiments/activities of PHY111
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Before conducting Physics labs
Introduction to Kinematics
Vector addition and its significance
Newton’s laws and the equations of motion
Work- Energy theorem
Conservation of linear momentum
Centripetal force
Equilibrium of torques
Moment of inertia
Rotational Kinetic energy
Physical properties of spring
Appendix II: List of
experiments/activities of PHY112
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Charging by Induction and Conduction
Electric Potentials and Fields
Electronics Primer
Ohm’s Law and Resistivity
Capacitance and the RC Circuit
Magnetic Fields
Electromagnetic Induction
RLC Series Circuit with AC Source
Geometrical Optics and Refractive Index
Thin Lenses and its Equations
Interference and Diffraction of Light