The aim of this course is to familiarise students with the scientific approach, which consists on the one hand of learning about a specific topic in order to summarise its fundamental concepts and present them to their colleagues, and on the other hand of learning to critically read their colleagues work in order to suggesting potential improvements. This scientific approach, which is essential to the development of any scientific topic, will also enable students to work on their written and oral communication skills.
Students will also be encouraged to reflect on the usefulness of these fundamental concepts in relation to industrial applications or societal concerns.
The objectives of this course, in line with the competency-based approach, are as follows:
- To learn how to read reference material on a specific topic in order to produce a written summary covering the main points of the topic.
- Learn to give an oral presentation of this summary within a set time limit.
- Learn to read the work of colleagues critically with a view to suggesting potential improvements.
- Learn to establish the link between fundamental physics concepts and certain industrial applications or societal concerns.
This course runs throughout the academic year.
In Q1, an initial one-hour seminar will be offered to students. During the following sessions, students will work in small groups to analyse a reference document relating to the theme presented during the seminar. They will produce a summary which will then be presented orally to the class. Each group of students will then critically read the work of another group (chosen at random) with a view to suggesting potential improvements. This written work will again be presented orally to the rest of the class. Finally, the students will reflect collectively on the potential applications of the concepts studied in various areas of human activity. This work, spread over the whole Q1, will be monitored on a weekly basis by the teachers responsible for this course.
Q2 will begin with three sessions corresponding to three seminars, each dealing with a different theme. New groups of students will be formed and each group will inherit a reference document dealing with one of the three themes presented in the seminars. Each group will produce work equivalent to that done in Q1 (i.e. summary; oral presentation; critical reading; oral presentation of areas for improvement; reflection on potential applications) with greater autonomy.
Seminar 1 (Q1) : Historical notions of the evolution of the concept of time
Seminar 2 (Q2) : Quantum physics
Seminar 3 (Q2) : Climate change and atmospheric physics
Seminar 4 (Q2) : Nuclear physics and mass energy production
This teaching unit (UE) is structured around seminars which provide the context necessary to go into the concepts covered in greater depth. Learners then discuss several aspects of these concepts in small groups and are invited to draw up their first summaries. These summaries are presented to the whole class for collective discussion. Each group examines another summary, reflects on potential improvements and proposes these improvements for collective analysis. As a recontextualisation activity, each group is also asked to think about how the concepts they have already studied can be applied to different areas of human activity.
This UE will be assessed on a continuous basis according to the following schedule:
- 20% for the production of the abstract,
- 20% for the oral presentation of the abstract,
- 20% for proposals for improvement,
- 20% for the oral presentation of the proposed improvements,
- 20% for reflection on potential applications.
This assessment framework will be applied to Q1 (10 points) and Q2 (10 points).
Communicated at each seminar.
| Training | Study programme | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Physics | Standard | 0 | 3 | |
| Bachelor in Physics | Standard | 1 | 3 |