Teaching support University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Abstract: Undergraduate physics students at a high-profile, strongly research-focussed university in Australia are immersed in a culture that celebrates high achievement but can lead to uncertainty and anxiety when exposed to doing research for the first time, which by its very nature has no “right answer” to find. These students take a lab subject as part of their major, which requires taking at least two experimental projects, each of which involves 18 hours of classroom time. In 2023, we wrote a new version of the astrophysics projects, that focus on the process of doing research, rather than leading students to a specific result. While students found this process difficult, they gained a sense of ownership over their projects that prepares them better for future research careers in physics.
