Engaging students with team based and open-ended response projects in a descriptive acoustics course

Abstract

Helping non-science majors feel comfortable in a physics class can be a challenge. Inclusive pedagogy techniques encourage creating learning communities and providing more opportunities for students to engage with the content. Elements of Team Based Learning (TBL) and open-ended response projects were applied to a descriptive acoustics course. TBL allows students to work with permanent, strategically placed teams during the semester. Teams are selected to help spread the abilities uniformly for all teams to be successful. In this course, group activities, a group component of exams, and the peer evaluation were implemented. The evaluation holds students accountable for their effects with their teams, rewarding students who work hard and minimize freeloading, an often-challenging aspect of group work. In addition to TBL, open-ended response projects were used in place of a research paper. Students can choose to research an acoustics topic or perform their own experiment. The students can also decide how they would like to present their work. The flexibility allowed students to display their results in a variety of ways from traditional written work to podcasts.