The large number of students choosing to study physics at Junior College comes as a surprise to many, both locally and abroad. Actually, it should not given that the majority of students in secondary schools study physics and considering that pursuing the subject at post-secondary level opens up various avenues of further study and job opportunities.
In addition to good quality teaching, we offer our students a number of physics related activities which give more meaning to the subject, help them see its relation with real life situations, and become aware of career choices. During the two-year course, the learning experience we offer our students goes beyond the boundaries of the official syllabus and standard textbooks.
On a regular basis, we invite our students to participate in activities we organise purposely for them, as well as in others, that we deem relevant and useful to them. Over the years, we have managed to organize a number of core activities, though this does not mean that our activities are the same every year. On the contrary, by actively seeking and considering students’ feedback and current trends, such activities evolve so that they continue to retain their appeal.
In spite of the large number of students we have, we pride ourselves on giving them as much personal attention as possible. We have started organising tailor-made ‘orientation tours’ at the beginning of the year for first year students taking physics to familiarize themselves with the department. It is during these sessions that students most probably first get to know about our activities. Information about upcoming activities is readily available for students on the department’s notice boards, as well as on the website http://www.um.edu.mt/jc/physics. We have more innovative ways in the pipeline on how to reach our students.
In past years we organized visits to the Delimara power station, the Faculties of Architecture, Education and Engineering, the Institute for Energy Technology, manufacturing and servicing plants, science related exhibitions, and so on. This year is no exception as we have already organized a number of such activities and others will soon follow. The following is an overview of the main ones.
We have been holding the Value Education Weekend (VEW) for the last nine years. This is a residential activity for second year students, which, as the name implies, is spread over a whole weekend during which we try to focus on values by drawing from what for many is perhaps an unlikely source: science. Students are presented with science related issues and situations that involve values on which they have to reflect, question and debate while using and applying their scientific background. It is one of those activities that students remember long after they leave the College. A lot of preparation goes into its organization and stretches our resources to the limit. Fortunately, we have a lot of assistance and collaboration from members of the Mathematics Department as well as the Junior College Chaplaincy.
In 2006, the Physics Department organised the first astronomy related activity called “Evening with the Stars” at Dingli. Encouraged by its success and requests by students for something more, other activities followed and in 2007 it was decided to launch Stargazer Astronomy Group (SAG). The aims of the group include the organisation, coordination and promotion of astronomy related activities. During 2009, which is the International Year of Astronomy, SAG will be organising a number of activities with the aim of bringing astronomy to the attention of a wider spectrum of people. The first activity will be a presentation “Digital Photography of Space” by well-known gastro-photographer Leonard Ellul Mercer. This will be followed by observation sessions, an SAG logo competition, lectures on Galileo and the planets, as well as promoting and participating in activities organized by other entities.
Saving Energy… Saving our Future (SESOF) is a Comenius School Partnership Project between Gymnasium Sulingen (Germany), Batthyány Lajos Grammar School and Secondary Medical School (Hungary), University Junior College (Malta), Gimnazjum nr 21 w Czestochowie (Poland), and Izzet Baysal Anadolu Lisesi (Turkey). The initial contacts and work on the project were initiated way back in 2006 while the application was submitted and approved in 2008. As a department, we also have the additional task of coordinating the project, which will run till 2010.
Students have a leading role in this project as they have to monitor the use of resources (water and energy) at home, establish ways on how to reduce their consumption, test them and disseminate their findings to the wider community. In November, a group of students accompanied by teachers visited Bolu in Turkey for the first project meeting and another group of students will soon be going to Hungary for another one. More information about this project can be found at http://www.um.edu.mt/jc/physics/comenius_project . This project is funded by the European Commission Education and Culture DG, Lifelong Learning Programme. With our network of contacts, we are planning to participate in more projects with a European dimension because we believe in their high educational value.
Practical work features very prominently in our scheme of work because we believe in its relevance and importance. We boast that we have the best-equipped laboratories on the island that compare very favourably with facilities in similar institutions in other countries. Throughout the course, students get the chance to do a substantial number of experiments on their own or follow demonstrations on a regular basis. For many students, it is perhaps the first time they get the chance to try out an experiment on their own and to get what Woolnough describes “a feel for phenomena”.
Over and above the standard laboratories, the department also has the privilege of hosting a Science and Technology Museum. The idea for setting up this museum was proposed in 1995 when the University Junior College was set up and was officially inaugurated in 2001. Most of the collection is made up of apparatus that was used at the Evans Laboratories, the Royal University and other public and private sources. The museum has embarked on a project to organise annual exhibitions on specific themes; the second one in this series was entitled “Measuring Amps and Volts”. This exhibition focused on various types of old electric meters from the past to the present.
When our students visit the museum, they have a unique opportunity to observe, appreciate and learn from the genuine antique equipment on display. We are also aiming to establish a group of students who would help in the running of the museum.
Currently, the museum is being overhauled to ensure better conservation and presentation of exhibits, as well as to provide a more meaningful experience for visitors. We would very much like to see this museum grow into a fully-fledged national museum of science and technology, which is completely lacking on the island.
We hope that these activities act as a stimulus for students to continue learning. We encourage them to make use of all resources available to widen and deepen their knowledge. Although the Internet has taken the lead today, the value of books cannot be underestimated and we regularly recommend appropriate titles to the college library to support this kind of learning. The collection of physics related books is varied, with many recent editions. Besides standard textbooks, one can also find a good collection of other titles including biographies and works of important scientists, books about practical work, astronomy, as well as on the physics around us such as the physics of sailing, tennis and even ballet just to mention a few.
Organising such activities involves a lot of planning to ensure that they are safe, have a high educational value, and take place at the right time. Numerous meetings are held before each activity to make the necessary contacts, to effect bookings, to choose the date/s, to prepare the programme and the publicity.
Meetings are also held after each activity for evaluation purposes. We give a lot of importance to evaluation based on feedback we get from students as well as others in order to improve future activities. A recurrent remark we get from students is that they learn a lot while enjoying themselves and they keep urging us to organise similar activities more frequently. In spite of the difficulties involved, this positive and encouraging feedback gives us the energy and impetus to go on.
In our drive to organise new activities we try to be sensitive to students’ needs. We try to keep a sharp look out for new opportunities, which tend to crop up unexpectedly, and actively seek to forge new partnerships for the benefit of our students.
However, the onus of participation and involvement lies on them. Although they stand to gain a lot, we also believe that their involvement is voluntary.
All this cannot be possible without the hard work of staff members at the Physics Department who voluntarily dedicate their time, very often after working hours and at weekends, as well as the support and backing of the College administration.
Paul Xuereb
Physics Department Coordinator
Junior College
[email protected]