Teaching and assessment issues in physics major classes ~ Looking for Innovative Approaches How to know before exams whether advanced concepts comprehended in modern physics classes? The example of mass, time, and space: Letters to future and past self. How does one account for progress in a complex teaching situation (Modern Physics Lab Writing Skills, Critical Thinking, Presentation Skills, Computer Skills or, in other words: COM3 Creative Writing in Statistical Mechanics. Letter To Past and Future Self Approaching and Digesting Difficult Concepts Modern Physics Development Modern Lab: Standards How To Assess Complex Achievement Rubrics standard based oral prelabs oral final exam standard based i.a. teaching standard based equipment seminar lab reports Using Bloom's Taxonomy Level 1 Knowledge: Fact Level 2 Comprehension: understanding Application: solve problems Level 3 Analysis: compare, examine, distinguish, infer, conclude Synthesis: design, estimate, predict, solve, discuss, modify, minimize, elaborate Students earn one level at a time and have to revisit each standard. Standard Based Grading Examples: categories Standard Based Grading experiment lab skillssafety skillsmastery apparatusdata fitting random error systematic error report language metricsparagraph design deadlines chapter designchapter integration oral/math/ theory preparationaudienceconfidencedeliverymath COM3 draftsIT usagejargonoral exampeer group Examples: earning a category standard Example 1 subcategory basic lab skills surety in basic operations awareness of measurement range awareness of measurement conditions awareness of alternative measurements Example 2subcategory- chapter integration effectiveness fluency consistency relation to introduction chapter Example 3subcategory- audience ability to use jargon with peers/instructors ability to be abstract ability to come up with examples ability to negotiate interaction in lab group Standard Based Grading At absolute zero temperature the theory of Thermodynamics leads to a number of paradoxa. Students do a creative writing hw interpreting the exotic paradoxa for our three example systems in the regular course work: Critique two of the paradoxes in the context of one of our texts three main example systems: Monatomic ideal gas, two state paramagnet, or Einstein Solid. Compare the two paradoxes at zero degree as they relate to relevant physical quantities in that context (e.g. specific heat, chemical potential, pressure, etc.). It may not sound like much, but for physicists this is extreme fiction :-) Creative Writing in Stat Mech assessing students outside their comfort zone Modern Physics