| Class: | Wednesdays 2-4pm Room: HEBB 212 - the Physics Outreach Lab |
| Professors: | Andrzej Kotlicki and Janis McKenna |
| Offices: | HENN 260 (Kotlicki) and HENN 262 (McKenna) -- we are next door to each other in HENNINGS Physics |
| E-mails: | janis@physics.ubc.ca My email most often gets read and answered evenings between 11pm and 1am. |
| kotlicki@physics.ubc.ca | |
| Archive of Past PHYS 420 demos: | http://outreach.phas.ubc.ca/resources/physics-420/ |
| Webpage: | http://www.physics.ubc.ca/~janis/Courses/420 (this is it) |
| CANVAS Learning Management System: | http://canvas.ubc.ca
Login with your Campus Wide Login (CWL), then choose |
| Text: | No text: notes and electronic resources will be used. They will be posted in CANVAS |
| Timeline: | We meet as a class in the fall term only, September - December. We continue to work as needed in the Outreach Lab in January and February, until your demo is fully functional, your presentation complete, and your project is approved and deemed ready to be presented in a school. |
| Your presentations in the schools will take place in January or February, preferably by the end of spring break. Your final webpages, documentation, self-reflection are due early March, after your presentation(s) in the schools.. Most of your pedagogy and fabrication/construction work will completed by Christmas. | |
| Facilties: |
Students who may need to use the Physics and Astronomy
Student Machine Shop for construction of their demo project must first complete
the Student Machine Shop Course
and should familiarize themselves with the
Fundamentals of Machine Tools
handbook.
Student Machine Shop Course . Machine Shop users must comply with the
Student Machine Shop Safety Regulations.
We also have access to equipment, resources and assistance from our PHAS Technical Services (for those who did not complete
the Student Machine Shop course)
Note that some of the links above will require access from UBC campus network or using VPN |
Physics 420 is a physics demonstrations project course: Each student will design, build and document a demonstration and accompanying pedagogy on a topic dealing with physics, engineering or astronomy, present it as a classroom lesson in our PHYS 420 class and, after final approval, in a school. The demonstration projects are aimed at elementary or secondary students - your choice. PHYS 420 students will do the bulk of their work independently, using resources and facilities in the Outreach Lab (Hebb 212), and PHAS Technical Services, with guidance and feedback from both instructors. We meet formally in a weekly two hour meeting on Wednesdays in term 1 where you will present proposals, then status reports and demonstrations. We 'debug" and give each other a lot of feedback. You'll have access to the Outreach Lab outside class hourse, where you'll work on your projects throughout the week/term and can also meet one-on-one with the instructors in the Outreach Lab for guidance and feedback on your project in both terms. The class tends to be small, so we are all familiar with everyone’s project, and we all give and receive feedback and assistance on each other's work.
| No Final Exam - | |
| 5% Homework 1 - 1-page preliminary proposal, plus full annotated bibliography (3-5 pages) | |
| 15% Homework 2 - 5-page report, (including plans and technical details) | |
| 20% Presentations in class, 4 classes in November, assessed by all students and instructors | |
| 20% Presentation in school(s) in January/early February - Assessed based on review of USB-video of your presentation | |
| 20% Webpage/documentation of demonstration - due in February, after presentations in schools | |
| 15% Final assessment of project by instructors - based on originality, overcoming challenges, degree of difficulty | |
| 2% Self-assessment and reflection on project - due in February, after presentation in school(s) | |
| 3% Participation, and quality of written feedback and assessments of your peers' presentations. |