Centre for Scholarship and Innovation
Two key barriers to student success in advanced physics and astronomy modules are (i) the abstract nature of key concepts that are far removed from everyday life, and (ii) the use of complex maths formalism that can obscure physical interpretation. The recently launched module S385 Cosmology and the distant Universe was designed with a series of embedded, week-long Python activities delivered via the Open Computing Lab. These activities focus on student exploration of key equations and observational data, with the aim of helping students overcome these barriers. The activities aim to make abstract ideas concrete, provide authentic experiences of advanced physics and astronomy tasks, and to further develop valuable employability skills in coding and Python.
This project will explore student experience with the S385 activities and will examine the relationship between Python engagement, use of supporting resources, performance on Python assessment tasks, and overall module performance, so as to assess whether the aims of the embedded Python activities have been achieved.
The anticipated outcomes and impact of this project are: