Background and justification of the project
The elective MSc. course ‘Astrophysics’ (3MP120) - taught in the department of Applied Physics – is a course attracting between 70 and 100 students annually not only from the Applied Physics department but also from the other TU/e departments such as Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Electrical Engineering.
The elective MSc. course ‘Optical diagnostics: techniques and applications’ (3MP180) – taught in the department of Applied Physics – is a course attracting between 25 and 30 students annually.
What the subject of these courses have majorly in common is the fact that knowledge and understanding of matter in the ionized state – i.e. plasma – is generated by collecting and analyzing the spectrum of the light these plasmas emit. With respect to the subjects in the course ‘Astrophysics’ this light is generated by high density (e.g. stars) and low density (e.g. nebula) plasmas in outer space while in the course ‘Optical diagnostics, ..’ this light is generated in naturally occurring (e.g. flames) plasmas and chemically reactive plasmas such as those used in solar cell and semiconductor industries. Regardless of the light emitting ‘source’ involved, many fundamental physical and chemical processes can be derived from the shape and features of recorded spectra.
Especially the course “Astrophysics” is approached from a fully theoretical perspective (top-down). Students learn to derive equations and learn to apply those equations to the physical and chemical phenomena occurring. Although students appreciate the current way of teaching, private communication with a subset of the student population revealed that the students would welcome very much new forms of teaching that enable learning by experience and learning by doing (hands-on). Since the course astrophysics is a rather “broad” course in which it is not always possible to touch all discussed subjects sufficiently in-depth, the proposed innovation could provide the students with the possibility to generate more in-depth knowledge.
Jointly, the teachers of the courses “Astrophysics” and “Optical Diagnostics, ..” propose the development of a module that will enhance the learning outcomes of both courses. In the module to be developed, students:
- Experience themselves the way most physical information about plasmas gets retrieved, i.e. by means of collecting and analyzing spectrally resolved radiation spectra,
- Merge experimental and numerical methods to obtain fundamental knowledge about objects (in laboratory and industrial plasmas and in outer-space).
- Learn to be reflective towards their own findings and understanding in open-ended situations/problems, and
- Develop their hands-on skills regarding experimental and numerical work.
In this way of education, the theoretical knowledge base will be directly coupled to real-life research. Not only the intrinsic motivation of the students will be enhanced (from experience we know that students get enthusiastic when they can immediately apply their knowledge), also the teachers operate at their best since this type of education is one-to-one coupled to their daily-life research activities. This merging of education and research activities is the essence of university education.
Since the other subjects of the content of the Astrophysics course are suitable for this type of education as well, the current project can be seen as a ‘pilot’ for a total revision of this course into a modularly designed course. To this end, the proposed ‘pilot’ will be extensively evaluated (as will be described later in this document). Also, the way how the students’ knowledge gathering through this new approach can be assessed best will be extensively explored and worked out in this pilot.
In the course “Optical Diagnostics, ..”, the proposed innovation fits naturally in the already active VR module. Students can then not only build in the virtual laboratory a setup with which plasma can be studied, but with this addition also learn how to extract plasma parameters like density and temperature from recorded spectra.
Objectives and expected outcomes of the project
The overall aim of the proposed project is to develop a joint ‘hands-on’ (see “Vision on TU/e Education in 2030”) module for the courses ‘Astrophysics’ and ‘Optical Diagnostics, ..’. This module is based on I) hands-on measurements of light spectra emitted by respective plasmas (e.g. by the Sun in the course Astrophysics and by laboratory plasmas in the course ‘Optical Diagnostics’), II) commercially available spectrum analyses software, III) a (to be developed) software package to translate the recorded spectra into macroscopic characteristics of the matter under investigation and iv) an educational / supervision scheme to guide the students through a reflective and iterative process to improve their understanding content wise. This means the implementation of another form of teaching where the relation between teacher and student transits from “Teacher à Student (top-down) to “Coach ßà Coachee”.
Educational innovation:
From an educational point of view, the additional value can clearly be attributed to the hands-on experience with the combination of experimental, theoretical and numerical work and the merging of these three into tangible results and understanding of physical phenomena in ionized matter. Especially, the proposed (guided) reflective way of working towards this understanding – by iteratively applying the sequence: furthering the understanding of the theoretical framework à experiment à numerical modeling à reflection towards literature à furthering the understanding of the theoretical framework à etc., etc. – is new in applied physics education and is expected to majorly improve the students’ learning results. For the TU/e-educated engineers of the future, this cyclic divergent and subsequent convergent reasoning to come to end results of open-ended projects is crucial to get acquainted with, as also mentioned in the “Vision on TU/e Education in 2030”.
Through this approach the students do not only learn content-wise about this very important subject, but also get acquainted with the general approach large research (in academia and industry) and development (in industry) projects ideally have (i.e. combining experimental with theoretical and numerical work, cross checking with literature and iteratively improving understanding). By such implementation, students will be challenged to take an active learning attitude and ownership of their own learning process. This attitude and ownership will empower a deep learning approach.
Expected results
Above all, we expect to trigger the students’ intrinsic motivation since it is our believe that intrinsic motivation will do a major component of the teaching and learning experience itself.
As a result of this innovation, i.e. the offered hands-on experimental, experimental and numerical possibilities and the interactive and iterative learning sequence, the students are expected to improve their:
- Realization of how fundamental knowledge about matter in the plasma state has been and can be generated fully based on recording and analyzing light emitted by the plasma,
- Realization of the high potential that combining experimental and numerical approaches provides with respect to understanding of matter,
- Reflection skills towards their own work applied to open-ended projects, and
- Hands-on skills (both experimental and numerical).
The points mentioned above assure that students acquire a deeper knowledge base and learn to a large extent how to apply the gained knowledge and experience in real-life research and development projects they will face later in their finalizing MSc. project and further in their career.
Project design and management
Figure 2 demonstrates the proposed way of working. Although the overall course’s goal is the same, i.e. “understand physical phenomena X”, the setup will be totally different. Students enter an iterative process flow where furthering understanding of the theoretical framework is combined with hands-on experiments and numerical modeling. During each iteration, students evaluate whether the matter is understood by cross checking their results with the outside world (i.e. literature, lecture materials, theoretical examples/exercises, etc.).
Two essential differences will lead to enhanced learning:
- Information is provided to the students not top-down and in one fashion (see Figure 1), but students can cherry-pick information from sources as they desire and at the moment this becomes relevant (the role of the teachers changes from ‘teacher’ (content-wise) to ‘coach’ (process-wise)).
- Implementation of “reflection / evaluation” in the process (see Figure 2) allows to clearly include the ‘NO’ during each cycle of the iterative learning sequence. Since it is not eventually decided top-down by the teachers whether students master the learning material, students are given the possibility to evaluate their own work and understanding on multiple occasions during the module. Also here, coaching is essential.
Project design [process]:
The full project takes 3 years and starts immediately after being granted to be ready to start the first pilot in Q2 of 2020.
Between the moment this proposal is granted and Q2 2020, the teachers (Job Beckers, Jan van Dijk and Richard Engeln) of the respective courses will start designing the details of the proposed innovation. This in consultation with other teachers around TU/e and the TN Educational advisor and with the support of a teaching assistant.
Actions to be undertaken in this period (see more details and costs in the budget overview further in this document) are:
- Working out and carrying out a detailed plan for the implementation of this innovation.
- Purchase of spectrometers.
- Purchase of Specair spectralfit software.
- Development of radiation transport model by Plasma Matters B.V.
During the pilots in Q2 in 2020 (“Astrophysics”) and in Q4 in 2020 (“Optical diagnostics, ..”), content-wise supervision will be done by the aforementioned teachers. Technical and numerical supervision will be done by a PhD student (experimental) and by Plasma Matters B.V. (numerical).
The quality and the progress of the implementation of this innovation will be carefully monitored not only by the involved teachers, but also by the TN Educational Advisor / quality assurance officer and a selected group of students taking these courses. Based on their experience and feedback the innovation will be optimized before the start of the second year by the teachers. (A comparable evaluation and optimization step is conducted in-between the second and third year). A quantitative overview of the proposed contributions over the three years can be found in the financial overview further in this document.
Success of the innovation:
Especially in the first year (pilot phase), students of the “Astrophysics” course are free to decide whether they would like to do the content of this module in the old-fashion way or through the new process proposed here. Although we are aware that, in general, different forms of education need different forms of assessment, we are convinced that both groups (learning in the old-fashion way versus learning through the module to be developed) could take identical exams as long as the exam questions are sufficiently generalized. In the end, one of the main learning outcomes of these courses is the understanding of general phenomena. This should be achievable with both approaches, but to a higher extent with the module to be developed (is the expectation of the teachers and students). After the pilot phase, it is decided which form of assessment would suit the content and form of the developed educational module best.
The result of the aforementioned indicates the success of this innovation and will also be used as input for optimization of the module for the second and third year.
Risks:
One risk would be that the developed module is experienced too open-ended or not sufficiently open-ended. This will become clear during and after the pilot phase in the first year. To minimize this risk straight away, we will setup a team of teachers (applied physics but not involved in these courses) to review the design of the modules before the pilot phase.
Dissemination and sustainability of the project
The proposed innovation maps to a large extent the important features in the ‘Vision on TU/e Education in 2030’. Especially the challenge-based and open-ended character of this innovation and the transition it prepares (in pilot form) towards modular education are highly valued in this 2030 vision. Moreover, the computational character (here enhanced with iterative and direct interaction with experiments) is mentioned as well.
Primarily, the outcomes of the project will be used by the students of the two courses involved: ‘Astrophysics’ (70 – 100 students annually) and ‘Optical Diagnostics, ..’ (25-30 students annually). Moreover, the analysis of spectra and the translation of this into understanding has many more areas of application (not only within the applied Physics department, but also in departments such as Electrical
Engineering, Mechanical engineering and Chemical Engineering). Of course, all developed material and experience will be available for teachers of other courses at TU/e (also at other departments), for instance through presentations at educational days, or through direct interaction with other staff members.
On a more general level, the educational development of an iterative application of the sequence: “furthering the understanding of the theoretical framework à experiment à numerical modeling à reflection towards literature à furthering the understanding of the theoretical framework à etc. à etc.” for such knowledge- and understanding-driven courses could be very useful for many other courses, even for those which are content-wise very far away.
Especially when one realizes that this way of working and learning is applied on a regular base in the high-tech industry surrounding TU/e but also in research projects at TU/e, the knowledge and the experience developed throughout this project helps TU/e teachers in general to educate and prepare their students for the future.
In practice, we propose to setup an online environment / website with information about the ideas for this project, with background information for teachers willing to apply the developed methods and with materials and with examples and experiences of both teachers and students.
Results and learnings
This project is currently still ongoing
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