Newtonian Physics Practicals

First year physics labs and tutorials at University of Toronto have recently been combined into Practicals, which involve conceptually based activities based on the material being discussed in lectures.  These activities are done in teams of 3 or 4 students and often involve actual apparatus as well as conceptually based problems.  Students share a notebook and share the mark on the assigned activities for each 2-hour period.  In this workshop the rewards and pitfalls of this teaching method will be discussed, and participants will work through many of the activities that were specifically developed for the First year Physics Practicals at U of T.  We will also discuss the importance of room architecture and furniture, and the renovations of U of T’s lab-space that were done in order to facilitate the Practicals and encourage student discussion and team-based learning.

Jason Harlow completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at the University of Toronto in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Penn State University in 2000.  He spent several years teaching undergraduate physics and astronomy courses at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, before returning to U of T.  Jason is now a Lecturer in the Physics Department at U of T, which is part of the Teaching Stream Faculty.  His main area of interest these days is in Physics Education Research and how to best help students learn.