Speaker
Description
This talk presents a non‑worksheet lab manual for the mechanics course designed to cultivate genuine experimental skills rather than verify textbook results. The approach replaces prescriptive procedures with open‑ended investigation, prompting students to make measurement choices, confront uncertainty, and interpret obstacles as opportunities for discovery. By shifting motivation away from copying AI‑generated work, the manual helps students understand how experiments are constructed and why unexpected outcomes matter. Early use shows stronger reasoning, more resilient problem‑solving, and deeper engagement with empirical physics. The talk will also outline how this framework extends into the second‑semester laboratory sequence, creating a coherent, inquiry‑driven experience across the introductory physics curriculum.
