Description
For decades, students have been asking, “What is the purpose of this experiment?”[1] Lab classes have traditionally been used to reinforce lecture content, but recent studies show that labs with the goal of teaching experimental practices and scientific thinking are more effective.[2]
To this end, we describe a project at The University of Melbourne to modernise astronomy and physics lab classes and implement the practices of real-life scientists, while introducing students to basic computer programming for data analysis in an interactive Jupyter Notebook environment.[3] This work is inspired by the efforts of Micol Alemani and Eugenio Tufino at the University of Potsdam.[4]
Jupyter Notebooks support coding in Python, a free, open-source programming language which is the preferred coding language of astrophysicists and scientists in the modern day. The modular structure of Jupyter Notebooks supports an interactive worksheet based on text, images and other media from the instructor, in which students are able to write, compile and comment their code in real-time, so that they receive instantaneous feedback, thereby driving in-class engagement and empowering students. A discussion of the development and initial roll-out of these materials will be presented.
[1] Hart, C.; Mulhall, P.; Berry, A.; Loughran, J.; Gunstone, R. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 2000, 37, 655–675.
[2] Holmes, N. G.; Wieman, C. E. Physics Today 2018, 71, 38–45.
[3] Project Jupyter, https://www.jupyter.org.
[4] Tufino, E.; Oss, S.; Alemani, M. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2025, 2950, 012022.
| I am the presenting author | Yes |
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