Equipping students to connect multivariable calculus with the physical world
Equipping students to connect multivariable calculus with the physical world
Monday, October 28, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Weniger 116
Prof. David Roundy, Department of Physics. OSU
What tools do students need to help them apply the content they learn
in multivariable calculus to integration in electrostatics and partial
derivatives in thermodynamics? I will discuss the skills that students
are lacking, and will present classroom experiences that give students
the opportunity to develop these skills. The activities introduced
will include computational activities, integrated experiments, and
small group activities. The computational activities were developed
as part of a new computational physics laboratory course that
addresses both student learning of physics in the Paradigms and the
development of valuable programming skills. The other experiences
were developed as part of the Energy and Entropy Paradigm, and a new
"mathematical interlude," which teaches students important partial
derivative relations for thermodynamics prior to the Energy and
Entropy course.
Jansen