What does a physics undergraduate education give you? A perspective from Australian physics

Sharma, Manjula; Pollard, J.; Méndez, Alberto; Mills, David; O’Byrne, John W.; Scott, Dale; Hagon, Sue; Gribble, Joan; Kirkup, Les; Livett, Michelle; Low, David J.; Merchant, A. J.; Rayner, A.; Swan, Geoff; Zadnik, Marjan; Zealey, Willam

doi:10.1088/0143-0807/29/1/006

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Swain et al (1999) have looked at student attitudes to laboratory aims, comparing three very different countries: Egypt, South Korea and the UK. Sharma et al (2008) looked at physics courses in general to explore what the students had gained, with special reference to future jobs.…”

Section: Goals and Objectives Associated With The Undergraduate Physi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work

et al. 2008

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The physics laboratory has long been a distinctive feature of physics education. It has been given a central role in the teaching and learning of physics at school and undergraduate levels in universities. The literature indicates that science educators have suggested that there are academically rich benefits in the learning and understanding of physics based on laboratory work. However, some educators have begun to raise serious and valid questions about the effectiveness of the learning through laboratory work in science subjects and the heavy cost for the establishment and maintenance of laboratories. This research paper provides perspectives on these issues through a brief review of the history, goals and objectives related to the physics undergraduate laboratory. An empirical research study was conducted to determine the university students' perceptions, views and opinions with regard to physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work. This involved 143 students from first and higher years and the evidence was gathered by survey and focus group interviews, the former using a variety of types of questions. The evidence from the students is positive and suggests that undergraduate physics laboratory work may well be contributing towards the achievement of specific desirable goals.

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Section: Goals and Objectives Associated With The Undergraduate Physi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work

et al. 2008

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“…Training at international collaborations may improve technical and problem-solving capacity as well as team-work capabilities, management and communications skills. The latter have been often found poor in science graduates without such advanced experimental training (Rodrigues et al 2007, Sharma et al 2007, O'Byrne et al 2008, Institute of Physics (IOP) 2012, Nielsen 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiential learning in high energy physics: a survey of students at the LHC

et al. 2017

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More than 36,000 students and post-docs will be involved in experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) until 2025. Do they expect that their learning experience will have an impact on their professional future? By drawing from earlier salary expectations literature, this paper proposes a framework aiming at explaining the professional expectations of early career researchers (ECR) at the LHC. The model is tested by data from a survey involving 318 current and former students (now employed in different jobs) at LHC. Results from different ordered logistic models suggest that experiential learning at LHC positively correlates with both current and former students' salary expectations. At least two not mutually exclusive explanations underlie such a relationship. First, the training at LHC gives early career researchers valuable expertise, which in turn affects salary expectations; secondly, respondents recognise that the LHC research experience per se may act as signal in the labour market. Respondents put a price tag on their experience at LHC, a 'salary premium' ranging from 5% to 12% in terms of their future salaries compared with what they would have expected without such experience.

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“…Physics is regarded as a difficult subject which requires a high level of quantitative mathematic skills, analytical problem solving skills and computational skills (Sharma et al, 2008). It is not a popular subject and does not attract many students.…”

Section: Financial Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing international PhD students to study physics in Australia

Choi

Nieminen

Townson

2012

Innovations in Education and Teaching International

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Since physics research is an activity of an active international community, international visits are a common way for physicists to share scientific knowledge and skills. International mobility of physicists is also important for PhD physics study and research training. We investigated personal and social factors that influenced the decision for international PhD students to study physics in Australia. Eleven international PhD physics students at a university in Australia participated in individual in-depth interviews. As a result, multidimensional factors on their decision to engage in PhD study abroad were found. Although highly regarded research fields and/or experts in fields appeared as a strong influential factor, other personal and social contexts also influence the final decision. This indicates intertwined aspects of personal learning desire and social contexts for PhD international learners in physics who are underrepresented in the higher education literature.

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What does a physics undergraduate education give you? A perspective from Australian physics

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work

The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work

Experiential learning in high energy physics: a survey of students at the LHC

Factors influencing international PhD students to study physics in Australia

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