In the fall semester of 2018, a Physics I course taught by Joseph Trout, associate professor of Physics, was conducted as an active learning course with a service-learning component.  This was the third consecutive fall semester which the course was taught in this manner.  One of the active learning techniques used in the course was a peer-to-peer teaching opportunity, where the Stockton University students in the course presented the demonstrations to their fellow students, demonstrations traditionally presented by the instructor.  The students in the class were organized into small groups of two to four, and each group had an assigned demonstration.  Each group met with Trout outside of the formal class time, where they were provided with a skeleton set of PowerPoint slides to use to lecture on the concepts involved in each demonstration and were instructed on the actual demonstration.  Each group was instructed to improve the slides and perfect their presentation of the demonstrations.  The groups then presented their demonstration to the class, following the normal class schedule. 

Day of Science

Near the end of the semester, the Stockton students held a “Day of Science” for seventh and eighth graders from local schools. 

The Day of Science consisted of four events.  In the morning, the grade school students were organized into small groups, and the groups rotated through stations where the Stockton students presented the concepts and performed the demonstrations that they had perfected through the semester, in a near-peer teaching opportunity.  The Stockton students ate lunch with the grade school students where they discussed the STEM fields and life at Stockton University.  Dessert consisted of liquid nitrogen ice cream, made by the grade school students, under the direction of Elizabeth Pollock, associate professor of Chemistry. 

The first part of the afternoon was spent in a workshop where the grade school students, with the help of the Stockton students, assembled an apparatus to project designs using LASER light.  

The grade school students were instructed on LASER safety, simple DC circuits, and concepts in optics.  Each grade school student was required to assemble and connect the DC electrical circuits involving rotating mirrors attached to small DC motors, rheostats to control the speed of the motors, and batteries to power the motors.  Each student was able to take their apparatus home with them.

When the weather and time permitted, the grade school students completed a nature scavenger hunt through the Pine Barrens surrounding the Galloway campus.

The service-learning portion of the course was a great success.  Three grade schools were invited to travel to the Galloway campus for Day of Science: Saint Francis Xavier Grade school in Philadelphia, PA and, in honor of the opening of Stockton University Atlantic City, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School and the New York Avenue School in Atlantic City, NJ.  The grade school students enjoyed their trip to Stockton and were very excited to learn about the STEM fields of study.  The Stockton students enjoyed sharing their knowledge of the basic concepts of Physics.