Lawrence Today - Lawrence University

Teaching Physics Students to Innovate
Whether they were inducing atomic transparency, employing
lasers to examine atomic structures or prolonging the trapping
of electrons in a toroidal magnetic field, nine Lawrence
physics students, under the direction of five faculty physicists
last summer, found themselves embracing various personal
characteristics related to innovation — and they soon began
exhibiting behaviors and mindsets associated with innovative
thinking relevant to science and beyond.
One might ask why Lawrence physicists — students and
professors — were (and still are) exploring innovation, or, more
precisely, the teaching of innovation? The answer, according to
John Brandenberger, Alice G. Chapman Professor of Physics
Emeritus, is that “physicists, perhaps more than most individuals,
recognize that innovation occupies center stage in a serious
research program or scholarly venture. Innovation, in fact,
constitutes the lifeblood of a productive research program
in physics. Once we physicists at Lawrence
recognized this fact and began thinking about how
we might teach students to be more innovative,
we realized that our existing, ongoing faculty
research programs could probably serve as powerful
settings in which to incubate innovative mindsets
among our students.”
This interest in innovation by Lawrence physicists
emerged from a recent search for a new venture
that might enhance departmental offerings. The
resulting decision to focus on the teaching of innovation stemmed
from assertions by numerous experts that a major strengthening
of K-12 education, basic scientific research, creative engineering,
technological development and innovative thinking are absolutely
critical if the United States is to arrest its widespread slippage in
global competitiveness — and by the recognition that solutions
to our globally significant problems are going to require major
innovative thinking worldwide. Supported by a $150,000 grant from
the National Science Foundation and additional support from other
sources as well as Lawrence, a formal program is now underway in
which Lawrence physicists are exploring approaches to the teaching
of innovation. Most all members of the department — professors
Matthew Stoneking, Jeffrey Collett, Megan Pickett, Douglas Martin,
right: Faraz Choudhury ’11 (left)
and Eric Frater ’11 (right) install the
vacuum components and filament
hardware that they developed last
summer for Associate Professor
Matthew Stoneking’s Lawrence
Non-neutral Torus.
“ Most students
don’t become
published authors
during their
undergraduate
careers”
Shannon O’Leary, Adam Clausen and John Brandenberger — are
participating in the investigation.
Thus far the more prominent component of this program has
involved the use of six ongoing faculty research programs
supplemented by various innovation-centered discussions and
presentations arranged each week during the summer. In this part
of the investigation, the student researchers are encouraged to
embrace various character traits such as being creative, ambitious,
curious, perseverant and risk-taking thought to be conducive to or
at least strongly associated with innovation. While the students
find that the summer research/innovation activities are demanding,
all nine students last summer agreed that the program was eyeopening,
stimulating and virtually certain to influence their futures.
“That program forced me to think a lot about innovation — about
aspects of innovation that I wouldn’t have considered otherwise,”
said Gennady Malyshev ’10. “There was considerable
free thinking in terms of how we could solve this
or that problem, along with an emphasis on trying
to cultivate certain attitudinal and behavioral traits
within ourselves. Being more aware of those
characteristics made me more likely to embrace
them.” Working alongside Brandenberger, Malyshev
employed three-step laser spectroscopy to measure
several “fine structure splittings” in excited states
of rubidium atoms. The pair enjoyed the satisfaction
of having their findings published in The Physical
Review. “Most students don’t become published authors during
their undergraduate careers,” said Malyshev. “I was very pleased.”
Eric Frater ’11 enjoyed the broad latitude that Professor Mathew
Stoneking granted him in his attempt to solve a variety of
experimental problems connected with the Lawrence Nonneutral
Torus. Frater drew sketches and drawings, constructed
experimental components in the machine shop and eventually
incorporated these components into the large toroidal vessel so
that the electron plasma could be examined in ways never before
attempted. “This was an opportunity that I wouldn’t have gotten
in most places,” Frater said. “Often in this sort of situation, the
student just buys parts or has other people build things rather
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