Flow Visualization for General Education

A new experimental course on flow visualization is offered to Penn State University students as a General Education course (PHOTO 321N). This course is part of the new GenEd integrative studies requirement intended to make integration between two knowledge domains: Art and Physics of Fluids. The course is not math oriented and is designed for the students with minimal to no background in photography or fluid mechanics. Students explore a variety of aesthetic issues in the form of practical and creative assignments. The course consists of lectures on photography skills, fluid physics, visualization techniques, critique sessions, and a guest lecture. Assignments consist of images or videos paired with written technical reports, and self-reflection sessions to learn "effective communication" skills. Other course objectives evaluated through students’ projects are "creative thinking" and "integrative thinking". Some samples of student works are entered to the Gallery of Fluid Motion competition which enables students to network with the scientist in the field. This course proved to be very successful in attracting all students (male and female) in both engineering and non-engineering majors.