CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Advanced Search
Home > Proceedings > Volume 9793 > Article
Open Access Paper
8 October 2015 Experimenter's toolbox for learning about light and color both in the classroom and out of class
Gang Wang, Jacob Millspaw, Mark Masters
Author Affiliations +
Proceedings Volume 9793, Education and Training in Optics and Photonics: ETOP 2015; 97931D (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2223108
Event: Education and Training in Optics and Photonics: ETOP 2015, 2015, Bordeaux, France
Abstract
So often in classes that teach the non-science major students are “dog and pony” shows. The students watch demonstrations, they take notes, they supposedly “absorb” the information only to forget it after the next examination. These types of classes serve only as attempts to transfer information. But what if we give the students a toolbox that provides them with the ability to make their own observations about how light works. Then, the students are empowered to plan their experiments, manipulate the simple apparatus, make their own observations, and draw their own conclusions; more closely paralleling how scientists function. To succeed at this endeavor, we carefully designed a low cost toolbox for the students. Investigations include: Additive color mixing, digital colors and filters, shadows with colors, LED spectrum and spectra, light’s path, Polarization, Luminescence and Brightness, and simple optical instrumentation such as spectrometers. We created activities that give the students direction, but allow them freedom to explore and discover. Online forums/class discussion are also used to enhance their comprehension of their projects. Using this philosophy, we have had great success in both online and face to face classes.
© (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Citation Download Citation
Gang Wang, Jacob Millspaw, and Mark Masters "Experimenter's toolbox for learning about light and color both in the classroom and out of class", Proc. SPIE 9793, Education and Training in Optics and Photonics: ETOP 2015, 97931D (8 October 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2223108
PROCEEDINGS
 7 PAGES
DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY
GET CITATION
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Light emitting diodes
Physics
Light sources
Glasses
Optical filters
Geometrical optics
Spectrometers
RELATED CONTENT
Subscribe to Digital Library
Receive Erratum Email Alert
Back to Top