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Dr Enrico Lombardi (left) explaining the photo-electric effect to students
Mr Joel Rampho (left) getting students involved in understanding rotational motion
Ms Mmamushi Madisha performing data analysis on a computer
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Practical work for first-year Physics students
August is practical work month in the Department of Physics. First-year students enrolled for the practical work module PHY1038 flock to Pretoria for a two-week intensive training session on laboratory-based experiments.
A total of 78 students participated this year. They represented all nine provinces in South Africa. The group also included two international students, one from Canada and the other from Singapore.
Students prepare for the laboratory session during the first seven months of the year using a home experiment kit. The kit contains simple, cost-effective equipment that students use at home to perform some basic experiments. The objective is twofold: firstly to bridge the gap between secondary school and university Physics by providing opportunities for hands-on and minds-on learning and experimenting; and secondly, to introduce students to laboratory work and data analysis.
All the staff in the Department of Physics, including the academic assistants, are involved in focused sessions with the students. The students are introduced to the campus, laboratory and library on the first day, and then perform eight different experiments during the next eight week days. They gather data, analyse the data, present the data and results graphically, and come to conclusions about the results.
The experiments include computer simulations, spreadsheet data analysis on computer and computer-interfaced experiments. The two weeks are concluded with an examination on the final day.
This model for practical work, which has been developed over the years, puts the Physics Department at Unisa in a unique position within the ODL environment. The intensive nature of the training provides students with the necessary skills to compete very favourably with any student trained at a residential university.= |
