What physics matters most for designing and constructing the structures we inhabit? Motivated by this question, I discuss the development of a one-semester, lecture/lab, introductory physics course to benefit students majoring in the "built environment": architecture, interior design, and industrial design. The course incorporates more physics of light, sound, and heat than is typical for first-semester physics, and explores certain topics (such as reverberation or heat transfer) to greater conceptual depth. I describe the outline and interdisciplinary connections of the class and give examples of hands-on in-class activities and laboratories.

In colleges and universities in the U.S., modern physics courses (i.e., courses focused on quantum mechanics, relativity, elementary particles and/or cosmology) are typically targeted for majors in physics or other STEM fields and usually require prior knowledge of classical physics and calculus. However, some colleges and universities also offer modern physics courses to first-year students who are not planning to major in STEM-related fields. These introductory modern physics courses generally receive less attention in the literature of PER. However, they present a unique opportunity to educate our future leaders and teachers about contemporary physics topics that often get overlooked in general introductory physics courses, giving them a deeper perspective of everyday technology and current physics research. In this study, we conducted an extensive review of the course catalogs of all four-year degree-granting U.S. institutions of higher learning and have compiled a list of modern physics courses targeted for non-science majors. We identified statistical information about the institutions that offer these courses, such as their Carnegie classifications, enrollment numbers, and locations. We also identified common features of physics departments that tend to offer these courses, such as their sizes and program offerings. 

We discuss the design and implementation of a Physical Science in Contemporary Society course, a 40-student senior-level physics course at the University of Toronto that encourages physics students to explore how physics and society influence each other. Student-centered course design elements included ungrading, student-led active-learning instruction, and student-defined final projects. A different instructor taught each iteration of the course with a PhD student in the Faculty of Education acting as a “critical friend” to bridge the handover of the course and to analyze course elements using a self-study research approach. Features of this successful case study suggest promising approaches to support student-centered innovations and to transition active-learning course designs between faculty members.

One of the main objectives of Game-Based Learning is to engage students in formal and informal educational settings using games and play. However, research has shown that some educational games were not very effective in engaging students as intended, and in some cases, made no difference. One of the reasons behind this issue is that many educational games follow the ‘one size fits all’ approach, which is not adaptive nor considerate of the different educational needs of the students. Therefore, game-based learning is shifting towards adaptivity and personalization of educational games that are designed to fit students’ interests and their psychological and pedagogical needs. In order to design and develop adaptive educational games, several measurement tools have been created and validated. This talk will discuss one of the most recent measurement tools (Hexad) and its implications on designing and developing an educational physics video game for non-physics majors.