The tour itinerary.	Dreaming spires at Oxford, one of the universities visited

As third year laboratory director, I recently conducted a tour of senior physics teaching laboratories at ten universities in the UK. The departments visited were chosen for their high ranking in the most recent higher education quality review. The motivation for the tour was to seek out and report on creative teaching techniques and innovative use of teaching space relevant to the context of laboratory teaching, with a view to influencing the planned major renovation of the senior teaching laboratory spaces in our School.

Heads of the visited teaching laboratories were interviewed, photos taken and pertinent local documentation gathered to illustrate relevant findings. Interview questions, suggested by the Innovative Teaching and Educational Technology (ITET) fellows George Hatsidimitris, Iain McAlpine and Kate Wilson, were designed to draw out information relating to recently introduced, as well as forthcoming, initiatives in tertiary physics learning and teaching.

It was found that most of the teaching laboratories dated back, architecturally, to the boom times of the 1960’s and 70’s and conformed to fairly traditional layouts. The process of refurbishment of these laboratories along much more flexible lines is, however, now commencing as a result of the rethinking of objectives in physics education in the UK. With the relatively recent introduction of four year Master in Science (MSci) degrees in England, major changes have occurred in the structure and delivery of physics programmes; fewer hours are spent by students in the traditional lecture situation while more time is devoted to practical project work and formal training in transferable skills, as desired by prospective employers.

In consultation with our ITET fellows, flexible learning spaces, useful for collaborative student laboratory and project work, student oral and poster presentations and mini-conferences, have been incorporated into our renovation plans. It is apparent that the upcoming refurbishment of our senior teaching laboratories is very necessary and timely in order to keep abreast of developments in tertiary physics education.

Support from George Hatsidimitris, ITET fellow within the School, is gratefully acknowledged.

Barry Perczuk