Employability and Problem- Solving in Physics at Salford
what we are trying to do… Bridge the gap between school and industry Develop skills (and mindsets) that will make students more employable Make students aware of potential career directions Provide enjoyable break from traditional lectures and labs Make Salford students better physicists…
the skills we hope to develop… experimental skills - observation - measurement - analysis - design - construction employability skills - business awareness - CV, interview - company research (market, industry, competitors) transferable skills - leadership - teamwork (people management) - communicating ideas to a group oral (presentation, teaching) written (report, logs, notes) - Information gathering - problem solving - applying knowledge - project planning/organisation
employer talks Dr Katy Szczepura (University of Salford / NHS) Dr Jill Tipping (Christie NHS Foundation Trust) Medical physics Tom Talbot (AREVA) Nuclear energy Jo Gwillim (Centre for Alternative Technology) Green technology Dr Hywel Owen (Cockcroft Institute / University of Manchester) Particle accelerators Dr Neil Boag (Nanoco Technologies) Quantum dots Prof Bob Cywinski (ThorEA / University of Huddersfield) Alternative nuclear energy James Leach (Mewburn Ellis LLP) Intellectual property law Stuart Lucas & Andrew Paterson (EADS Astrium) Aerospace Col David Thornycroft & Lt Rob Swift & Sgt Mick Hill Armed forces Dr Tim Needham & Dr Roger Clark (University of Leeds) Geophysics *University of Salford graduates
activities: cotton reel tanks Build a cotton reel tank that will travel as far as possible
activities: research questions Explain the explosion “Teach” an aspect of physics to the rest of the class
activities: catapult Fire a projectile into a bucket
activities: The Italian Job Analyse the feasibility of stunts in The Italian Job
the skills we hope to develop… experimental skills - observation - measurement - analysis - design - construction employability skills - business awareness - CV, interview - company research (market, industry, competitors) transferable skills - leadership - teamwork (people management) - communicating ideas to a group oral (presentation, teaching) written (report, logs, notes) - Information gathering - problem solving - applying knowledge - project planning/organisation
activities: Energy Research Project Come up with an innovative research idea to reduce energy demand in (pre-1940s) buildings
the journey… Not all students enjoy this style of teaching / learning… Am I doing it right? Can’t you just tell me the answer? What physics is this supposed to be teaching me?
the journey… … but many really benefit from it… It was interesting not intuitively knowing the answer and having to fathom out what was going on – the outcome was surprising. This has really helped me understand things that never even occurred to me before.
the future… First Year Tweaking and improving activities Integrating business and science project research
the future project structure… AssessmentIdea Generation The Company & The Industry The Market & The Competitors Transferrable skills
the future… Second year Free to choose research direction Hydrogen rockets Coil guns Stirling engines Project that is industrially relevant Mini R&D project “Real” problem