EVOLUTION OF THE PRACTICAL TRAINING IN MATERIALS PHYSICS: FROM A CONSTRAINED RESEARCH IN THE POLYMER SCIENCE FIELD TO A MULTIDISCIPLINARY METHODOLOGY

Scientific degrees such as Physics require specific practical training programs to acquaint students with the classic and brand new technologies and developments in the most relevant research fields. In the case of Materials Physics, this need becomes even more relevant since it is a mainly applied Science in which theoretical concepts are connected to practical experiences. In Materials Physics, practical exercises are mandatory to train students with experience in Research and Development (R&D) activities and to prepare them for their professional future in scientific careers.

With the aim of encouraging this practical learning in Material Physics, a practical teaching program has been successfully going on for the past few years at the University of Valladolid. Framed into the Physics Degree of this University, this program was first focused on the development of practical skills related to the field of Polymer Science based on a method consisting on facing a real research situation. This training was a good opportunity for the students to make their first contact with experimental Polymer Science and R&D activities, in this particular area. However, despite the success of this initiative, it suffered from a lack of interdisciplinary. Materials Physics is a wide subject that covers not only polymers but also all the types of materials, from crystals to amorphous, ceramics, composites and metals. Therefore, a transition to a more extensive practical program that offers formation in all these fields is required.

With these ideas in mind, in this work, we propose a new and improved teaching methodology for the practical training in Materials Physics. This new program includes five lessons in which the most important types of materials, materials properties, and physical mechanisms are studied and analyzed by using different experimental techniques. In addition to the development of these practical lessons, the methodology proposed includes an evaluation system that encourages scientific and communication skills.

The results of this multidisciplinary teaching methodology have been evaluated by comparing the results of the implementation of the program during the past and current scholar years. We have found that this new methodology helps to better understand the theoretical concepts of Materials Physics via practical training.