We did a lab yesterday that asked students to measure the speed of a ball leaving a spring-loaded launcher in a few different ways. this is a great way to talk about the difference between systematic and random errors and how those are dealt with. As a way of starting that discussion, I asked the […]
Category: Course Reports
This Day Needs a Reboot
Kate and SteelyKid have colds (well, they’re sharing the same cold), so SteelyKid is waking up a lot during the night. Since Kate needs rest as well, she put earplugs in last night (she’s a much lighter sleeper than I am), and I took baby-soothing duty. So I was up half the night. I come […]
Academic Poll: Course Selection
We’ve just recently completed pre-registration for Winter term classes, so I’ve been thinking a bit about why students do and do not sign up for things. Thus, a poll: You are a college student considering an elective class in your major, and you see it has a lab. Your reaction is:survey software Feel free to […]
On the Quantum Physics of Whiteboards
I’m teaching Physics 350: Quantum Mechanics this term, which is a junior/senior level elective course using Townsend’s book which deals with quantum mechanics in the state vector formalism. The room in which the class meets is the only one in the department that contains a whiteboard (using dry-erase markers) rather than a blackboard (using chalk). […]
Academic Poll: Pop Quiz, Hotshot
Tuesday is a heavy teaching day for me– I’m in lab from 9-4, basically– so here’s something to occupy the time. Oh, no! It’s a pop quiz: Pop quizzes are:(survey software) (In case the phrase is an American idiom, a “pop quiz” refers to a short test given in class with no advance warning.) This […]
Poll: The Computers of the Future
Today’s Quantum Optics lecture is about quantum computing experiments, and how different types of systems stack up. Quantum computing, as you probably know if you’re reading this blog, is based on building a computer whose “bits” can not only take on “0” and “1” states, but arbitrary superpositions of “0” and “1”. Such a computer […]
Academic Poll: How Much Should Students Write?
I’ve been buried in lab grading for a lot of this week, but I’m finally down to the last few stragglers. The experience has me thinking a bit about what we’re doing here, and talking to people in other departments, and it seems like a good question for my wise and worldly readers. At the […]
Adventures in OA
The abbreviation here has a double meaning– both “Open Access” and “Operator Algebra.” In my Quantum Optics class yesterday, I was talking about how to describe “coherent states” in the photon number state formalism. Coherent states are the best quantum description of a classical light field– something like a laser, which behaves very much as […]
Swashbuckling Through Quantum Optics
I’m teaching my Quantum Optics class again this term, out of a completely different textbook than last time around– I’m using Mark Fox’s Quantum Optics from the Oxford Master Series in AMO Physics, which is more of a regular textbook. I’ve got six students– four junior and senior physics majors, one senior chemistry major, and […]
Matter and Interactions: Post-Mortem
OK, it’s not really a full post-mortem, because I haven’t graded the final exams yet, but I wouldn’t tell you about those, anyway. Still, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past term, which was my first teaching introductory mechanics on the Matter & Interactions curriculum. On the whole, I continue to […]