Bruce Patton

Bruce Patton

 

The Ohio State University

Monday, March 9, 2009

4:00 p.m.

Cardwell 102

Experiences with a "Jackson by Inquiry" Electromagnetism Course and the Connection with Neural Networks, Recent Cognitive Neuroscience, and Modern Theories of Teaching/Learning

 

The electromagnetism course is often a singular experience in the education of a physics student, graduate and undergraduate. We described recent experiments to deliver the highly technical material in the electromagnetism course in an active learning studio lab format that current physics education research suggests is more optimal.  Exploration of the results leads to connections with neuronal network models of the brain, modern neurophysiology and cognitive science, a simple phenomenological model of the teaching/learning process, and the optimal design of the learning environment.