Advanced Laboratory Instruction for a 21st Century Workforce

Despite a slew of pedagogical and curricular innovations that have been introduced over past 20 years, the actual content of the Physics curriculum overall has remained staunchly static. In a way, this makes sense. Maxwell and Newton were Maxwell and Newton 50 years ago and will (in all likelihood) be Maxwell and Newton 50 years from now. Understanding them well is central to a good Physics education. However, as highlighted by the APS/AAPT Joint Taskforce on Undergraduate Physics Programs's (JTUPP's) Phys21 report, the grand majority of Physics majors will not go on to pursue a career in academic physics. Instead, most students end up following engineering and computer-related careers in the private sector. While a Physics education gives students broad technical training, mental flexibility, and an ability to solve problems in a variety of fields that are sought after in industry, surveys of hiring managers and recent graduates find that physics majors would benefit from increased exposure to the technologies and computational analysis tools used in industry. In this talk, I will discuss my thoughts on why the hands-on environment of advanced laboratory courses is an ideal place to introduce students to the broad array of tools and technologies used in industry and to teach students skills that do not fit neatly into other parts of the curriculum. I will also discuss the role that that industry-standard computational tools like finite-element modeling software can play in the advanced laboratory, especially in the era of remote teaching and learning.