Thinking it through

College engineering physics is for achievers
By Steve Waller, Public Information Specialist, Central Lakes College
Dan Macy, who attended Central Lakes College in 1997-98, returned to the Brainerd campus recently for a chance to work with first-semester engineering physics students.
Macy has a master’s degree and has industry experience from studies at Cal Poly and the University of Michigan. He was surprised to find the CLC students engaged in problem solving at a level beyond that one might expect from the community and technical college.
“They’re doing what some graduate programs would do,” said the Brainerd High School graduate who had taken several college classes while finishing at BHS.
The rigorous CLC studies examine real problem solving and active learning as the process toward prospective careers. Instructor John Saber, who earned a doctorate in his subject, purposefully implements the critical thinking philosophy.
“This is a style change from lecturing to use of thinking skills and team solutions,” said Saber, in his third year on the CLC faculty. Students take calculus concurrently, so the knowledge immediately blends to optimize relevance of the subject matter.
Colleague Jan Bedard, a 2010 state educational award winner, observed one class session and liked what she saw. “I saw John's students focus on an issue. They tried several solutions, and when one didn't work, instead of feeling defeated, they persisted by exploring other possible solutions.
“The interesting mix of big-picture thinkers and detail-oriented people allowed groups to look at the task from multiple viewpoints,” Bedard added. “Some students understood the physics, some understood the math, some understood the computer and graphics; each strength allowed others to become stronger in their more challenging areas.”
“Engineering physics is a calculus-based course, and these students may otherwise have no calculus background,” Saber said. “The students have responded well. I am not showing them how to do the problem.”
Stacy Ennenga Stricker of Pine River, a student, said the class structure and instructor’s teaching style have improved her critical thinking skills. “This class is different from others I've taken because we are guided through the problems, rather than lectured the information,” she said. I am retaining the information much better through this discovery process.”
To solve problems that are complex and that take several hours to solve, students start with Newton’s 2nd Law and derive the equations that describe the motion of the system presented in the problem statement. Rather than spend a lot of time with algebraic manipulations of the equations, students use Mathematica to do that work. This way, the students’ efforts are focused on critical thinking.
As Macy and Bedard witnessed, this is a new way to teach the subject. Saber said it comes out of a reform approach that began in 1986. Built on the concepts of hands-on vs. lecture, aided by technology, students now learn to explain their actions in the process of problem-solving.
“They have to say why a particular decision was a good idea,” Saber said. “They do this with the aid of self generated graphs and data sets. In every assignment they’re using four legs of a table – graphing, data, manipulation of the equations, and both written and oral explanations.”
Macy said in four years of engineering studies he was never offered such an approach. “It’s not plug and chug. The students are learning the approach, the method. It’s the process they would use as engineers.”
Saber believes in providing the challenge, giving students just enough guidance to harness their intuitive aptitudes. “The only equation I give them is Newton’s Second Law,” he said.
This is what gets students such as Sam Srock of Crosby are thriving on, the opportunity to obtain the greatest self-satisfaction as a problem gets solved. The home-schooled college freshman, one of three post-secondary enrolled students, has survived a number of dead-ends but managed to find answers.
“It had me stumped,” he said, after moving from the laptop computer to a drawing board where he more clearly could picture an equation. He celebrated completion of Part One of a three-part puzzler that consumed two days of lab time. The problem:
“A 200-pound bungee jumper jumps from a bridge 130 above a river. The bungee cord has an unstretched length of 60 feet and has a spring constant k=14 lb./ft.
A) How far above the river is the jumper when the cord brings him to a stop?
B) What maximum force does the cord exert on him?
C) How far up will the jumper rebound?”
Macy looked on as the team of Stacy Ennenga Stricker, Jonathan Hammer, and Rian Hutchison dug into the problem. He said he appreciate the practicality of the problem, as well as the aspect of working together for a solution. It compares admirably to the professional environment.
“This is a community of thinkers,” he observed. Saber told him how the students continue to communicate off-campus in efforts to solve such problems. “They’re working on them at night,” he said, noting that Skype allows them to move in real time toward solutions even when they’re apart.
Engineering physics is not for the unfocused. A few students have dropped out, citing difficulties with calculus, attention, and teamwork.
Saber said those who remain in class “love it.” They take pride in accomplishment.
“They’re the cream of the crop.”