Supporting the integration of computing in physics education
Supporting the integration of computing in physics education
Event Date:
2023-03-23T16:00:00
2023-03-23T17:00:00
Event Location:
HENN 201
Speaker:
Marcos (Danny) Caballero (Department of Physics and Astronomy; Department of Computational Mathematics, Sciences, and Engineering; and CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University; Department of Physics and Center for Computing in Science Education, University of Oslo)
Computing has revolutionized how modern science is done. Modern scientists use computational techniques to reduce mountains of data, to simulate impossible experiments, and to develop intuition about the behavior of complex systems. Much of the research completed by modern scientists would be impossible without the use of computing. And yet, while computing is a crucial tool of practicing scientists, most modern science curricula do not reflect its importance and utility.
In this talk, I will discuss the urgent need to construct such curricula in physics and present research that investigates the challenges at a variety of all scales from the largest (institutional structures) to the smallest (student understanding of a concept). I will discuss how the results of this research can be leveraged to facilitate the computational revolution in science education. This research will help us understand and develop institutional incentives, effective teaching practices, evidence-based course activities, and valid assessment tools. This work has been supported by Michigan State University’s CREATE for STEM Institute, the National Science Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT), the Norwegian Research Council, and the Thon Foundation.
Bio:
Marcos (Danny) Caballero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering. He holds the Lappan-Phillips Chair of Physics Education, co-directs the Physics Education Research Lab, serves as a principal investigator for the Learning Machines Lab, conducts research as part of the newly-founded Computational Education Research Lab, and holds an appointment as research faculty at the University of Oslo’s Center for Computing in Science Education. He helped found the Georgia Tech Physics Education Research group in 2007 and earned the first physics education focused Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 2011 working on computational modeling instruction and practice. Danny studies how tools and science practices affect student learning in physics and computational science, and the conditions and environments that support or inhibit this learning.
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2023-03-23T16:00:002023-03-23T17:00:00Supporting the integration of computing in physics educationEvent Information:
Abstract:
Computing has revolutionized how modern science is done. Modern scientists use computational techniques to reduce mountains of data, to simulate impossible experiments, and to develop intuition about the behavior of complex systems. Much of the research completed by modern scientists would be impossible without the use of computing. And yet, while computing is a crucial tool of practicing scientists, most modern science curricula do not reflect its importance and utility.
In this talk, I will discuss the urgent need to construct such curricula in physics and present research that investigates the challenges at a variety of all scales from the largest (institutional structures) to the smallest (student understanding of a concept). I will discuss how the results of this research can be leveraged to facilitate the computational revolution in science education. This research will help us understand and develop institutional incentives, effective teaching practices, evidence-based course activities, and valid assessment tools. This work has been supported by Michigan State University’s CREATE for STEM Institute, the National Science Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT), the Norwegian Research Council, and the Thon Foundation.
Bio:
Marcos (Danny) Caballero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering. He holds the Lappan-Phillips Chair of Physics Education, co-directs the Physics Education Research Lab, serves as a principal investigator for the Learning Machines Lab, conducts research as part of the newly-founded Computational Education Research Lab, and holds an appointment as research faculty at the University of Oslo’s Center for Computing in Science Education. He helped found the Georgia Tech Physics Education Research group in 2007 and earned the first physics education focused Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 2011 working on computational modeling instruction and practice. Danny studies how tools and science practices affect student learning in physics and computational science, and the conditions and environments that support or inhibit this learning.
Learn More:
See Danny's website here
Event Location:
HENN 201
