TITLE: Programming for Everyone, Intro Physics Edition AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: May 28, 2014 4:20 PM DESC: ----- BODY: Rhett Allain asked his intro physics students to write a short bit of Python code to demonstrate some idea from the course, such as the motion of an object with a constant force, or projectile motion with air resistance. Apparently, at least a few complained: "Wait! I'm not a computer scientist." That caused Allain to wonder...
I can just imagine the first time a physics faculty told a class that they needed to draw a free body diagram of the forces on an object for the physics solutions. I wonder if a student complained that this was supposed to be a physics class and not an art class.
As Allain points out, the barriers that used to prevent students from doing numerical calculations in computer programs have begun to disappear. We have more accessible languages now, such as Python, and powerful computers are everywhere, capable of running VPython and displaying beautiful visualizations. About all that remains is teaching all physics students, even the non-majors, a little programming. The programs they write are simply another medium through which they can explore physical phenomena and perhaps come to understand them better. Allain is exactly right. You don't have to be an artist to draw simple diagrams or a mathematician to evaluate an integral. All students accept, if grudgingly, that people might reasonably expect them to present an experiment orally in class. Students don't have to be "writers", either, in order for teachers or employers to reasonably expect them to write an essay about physics or computer science. Even so, you might be surprised how many physics and computer science students complain if you ask them to write an essay. And if you dare expect them to spell words correctly, or to write prose somewhat more organized than Faulkner stream of consciousness -- stand back. (Rant aside, I have been quite lucky this May term. I've had my students write something for me every night, whether a review of something they've read or a reflection on the practices they are struggling to learn. There's been nary a complaint, and most of their writings have been organized, clear, and enjoyable to read.) You don't have to be a physicist to like physics. I hope that most educated adults in the 21st century understand how the physical world works and appreciate the basic mechanisms of the universe. I dare to hope that many of them are curious enough to want to learn more. You also don't have to be a computer programmer, let alone a computer scientist, to write a little code. Programs are simply another medium through which we can create and express ideas from across the spectrum of human thought. Hurray to Allain for being in the vanguard. ~~~~ Note. Long-time readers of this blog may recognize the ideas underlying Allain's approach to teaching introductory physics. He uses Matter and Interactions, a textbook and set of supporting materials created by Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood. Six years ago, I wrote about some of Chabay's and Sherwood's ideas in an entry on creating a dialogue between science and CS and mentioned the textbook project in an entry on scientists who program. These entries were part of a report on my experiences attending SECANT, a 2007 NSF workshop on the intersection of science, computation, and education. I'm glad to see that the Matter and Interactions project continued to fruition and has begun to seep into university physics instruction. It sounds like a neat way to learn physics. It's also a nice way to pick up a little "stealth programming" along the way. I can imagine a few students creating VPython simulations and thinking, "Hey, I'd like to learn more about this programming thing..." -----