Model While You Measure: Making Better Physics Lab Courses
The discipline of physics is rooted in experimental evidence. Understanding measurement systems, comparing measured results to models, and using data to refine those models are essential skills for physics students to learn. However, these experimental practices are not often emphasized in undergraduate lab courses or taught in an authentic context. My colleagues and I research how students learn experimental physics, and use our findings to improve laboratory teaching. I will describe our ongoing process to develop a pedagogical assessment of scientific modeling in experimental physics, and how we use insights from our research to improve laboratory courses at both the introductory and upper-division levels of the undergraduate curriculum.