River Water Quality Instrumentation cALE Project

Background and Learning Objectives The use of course-based authentic learning experiences (cALEs) in science and math courses has been shown to increase student retention, grow translational skills such as teamwork and communication, and strengthen students’ science identity. This project integrates an authentic learning experience centered on local environmental issues into a college physics curriculum. We focused on the American River due to its proximity to our campus, but the choice of environmental issue can depend on the campus location, and the learning objectives can be addressed through similar approaches to other environmental issues. This cALE is designed to involve two physics courses: an upper-division course in which students will design and build instruments applicable to quantify aspects relevant to the environmental topic (in our case, water quality of the nearby American River), and a lower-division class in which students will test and characterize the instruments and develop standard operating procedures for the instruments. Specific learning objectives: Through this project, students will: Upper-division course: Identify one or more relevant instruments applicable to a nearby environmental challenge (e.g., water quality, air quality, noise pollution, etc.) Design an instrument to quantify a metric relevant to the chosen environmental challenge Build a functional instrument prototype based on the chosen design Communicate the functionality of their instrument as a written report Lower-division course: Characterize instrument functionality, including random and systematic instrument error Develop standard operating procedures (SOP) based on development design report Present orally and in writing instrument SOP and design recommendations for future instrument improvements Additionally, this cALE aims to: Increase awareness and applicability of the role of physics in addressing environmental challenges Bridge coursework and build collaboration between lower- and upper-division courses in a 4-year degree program Foster translational skills, including teamwork and communication Build sense of belonging and student self-efficacy in science   Course Structure and Implementation The cALE spans two physics courses: The upper-division course is an advanced undergraduate-level electronics and instrumentation course. Students have already completed an undergraduate upper-division course that introduces basic electronics including both analog (DC, AC, semiconductors/op-amps) and digital circuits and analysis. In this course, students learn advanced circuit analysis techniques such as Fourier analysis, along with digital signal processing and more advanced digital circuits (e.g., frequency counters, pulse width modulators, and phase-locked loops), as well as using LabVIEW, programming microcontrollers, and interfacing the two so that measurement data can be collected and processed on a computer. The lower-division course is the final course in the calculus-based physics series. Students in this course are completing their classical physics framework at the lower-division level. The course includes standard lab exercises related to the topics of the lecture/discussion portion of the course, but also have overarching themes such as analyzing experimental uncertainty, distinguishing between random and systematic uncertainty, laboratory conduct, and communication of results. The cALE is initiated in the upper-division course. With the guidance of the instructor, students are 1) prompted to identify one or more aspects of environmental monitoring for which they will design an instrument (in our case, water quality monitoring of the American River); 2) select a sensor and design and to conduct the measurement; 3) build a working instrument capable of collecting data, including appropriate control software, and; 4) summarize their design in a written report. This whole process spanned roughly half a semester of student-driven project work in the course. In the semester following the instrument development in the upper-division course, the cALE was implemented in the lower-division course. Students were introduced to the project early in the semester, and their role in the project was described as testers for the prototype instruments developed by upper-division physics majors. The project replaced 3 regular weekly labs (3 hours each). In contrast to the more traditional lab exercises used in the course, the project description was purposefully kept open-ended. Along