BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A team led by Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of Physics Gabe Spalding has been awarded a grant of more than $451,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
Spalding is the principal investigator on a project aimed toward improving laboratory instruction in physics for undergraduate college students in the United States. The NSF grant begins by funding a conference on laboratory instruction slated for 2012, and, separately, an immersive training program for faculty and staff to develop contemporary instructional laboratories. Spalding said these efforts will provide instructors with a focused, hand-on approach to guiding students through the laboratory. “We’re really talking about a revolution in the way physics is taught,” he said, noting the program will “promote significant updates in the experiments and techniques taught, as well as inclusion of contemporary concepts.”
The initiatives in the grant, titled “Improving ‘Beyond First Year’ Physics Laboratory Instruction,” are in response to a recent national survey of laboratory instructors spearheaded by Spalding’s team and working with The Ames Library. The study indicated curricular development is vital for success in the instructional laboratory. “We found many needs,” said Spalding. “This award really recognizes the value of our initial efforts at addressing some of those needs over the past few years, and gives us the means to make a significant difference at the national level.”