Laboratory demonstrator Ra Inta (centre) working with a group of first year students in an Exploratorial.

In 2004 the School of Physics introduced a new way of teaching physics, which aims to link the theoretical world of the lecture theatre to the real world as we experience it. The development of ‘Exploratorials’ has been funded by a UNSW Capital Grant and is a collaborative project between Professor Joe Wolfe, Associate Professor Richard Newbury, Dr Maria Cunningham, George Hatsidimitris and Dr John Smith of the School of Physics, and Dr Iain McAlpine of EDTEC.

One of the problems with conventional physics teaching is the gap between lectures and laboratory work. Students fail to make the connections between the theory they learn in lectures, the problems they learn to solve in tutorials, and the workings of the real world. Careful laboratory work is an essential part of any physics course as it is important for the students to gain practical skills and understand the limitations of theory in describing the real world. However, it is only possible to cover a small amount of the theory in experimental work.

In response to the challenge of providing a more integrated course we have introduced ‘Exploratorials’ – a three hour learning activity that requires students to solve tutorial problems using real equipment. The students have homework questions to do both before and after the Exploratorial to extend the learning experience. There are Exploratorials that cover motion, fluid flow, waves and music, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics.

One of our most popular Exploratorials is on projectile motion: students launch a ball from a metal ramp and have to predict where the ball will land. They use a mixture of measurement and theory to make the prediction, but no practice runs are allowed. When the students are satisfied that they know where the ball will land they tell the laboratory demonstrator who places a cup at the indicated spot. Marking is easy – if the ball lands in the cup the answer is correct!

The students work in groups for the Exploratorials and the element of competition between the groups to see who can get the answer right and who finishes first brings a real atmosphere of excitement to the laboratory, engaging students and teachers alike.

In 2004 Exploratorials were successfully trialled with two physics courses, and we are now looking at developing more Exploratorials and introducing them to other courses.

Maria Cunningham