Alberto Leonardi
_Teaching
Materials science and engineering
Materials science and engineering studies concern the investigation and characterization of fundamental physical/chemical properties affecting the behavior of complex materials and systems. Understanding how material properties can be exploited in modern engineering applications and how these properties might be affected by natural phenomena are the primary goals of a well-rounded education in this subject. At the end of a materials science program, students should be able to: (i) establish effective relations between ideal models of physical phenomena and elementary material properties; (ii) understand and properly interpret experimental data from the important materials characterization techniques; (iii) use available and, ideally, self-developed computational tools to support the analysis and investigation of experimental data by means of theoretical models; and (iv) effectively present and critically discuss the results obtained.
Students become committed to learn when their efforts are directly oriented to the application of knowledge in answering well-defined issues, ideally arising from their real life experiences. My past experiences in teaching continuum mechanics and materials science convinced me that interaction with students and their engagement in the learning path (e.g., in class activities) is fundamental in directing their attention from the mere listing or memorization of knowledge to the opportunity to apply their subject matter in academic and real-world contexts. Whereas class lectures generally focus on simple query involving the understanding and characterization of materials properties and their contribution to observable phenomena (e.g., why does the sky look blue? How does the metal detector at the airport work?), applied research and engineering projects in real case studies can be employed to strengthen the student experience with course contents and to promote their collaboration in accomplishing complex goals. A piece of an ongoing research project or detailed study of an already-published work can be used as a laboratory activity, wherein students can apply theoretical knowledge and simultaneously face the limitations involved in a “real life” problem. In this context, the emerging field of computational materials science provides a wide array of opportunities that can be explored within an academic class setting. Focused on establishing strong links between experimental results and theoretical models, my research has indeed been the most effective way for me to obtain an in-depth understanding of materials behavior, constantly replenishing my excitement in related research. This has convinced me that teaching is an important resource of ideas and motivations to promote research developments, often providing unexpected questions and points of view.
Although individual courses address specific topics, I believe it is important to be prepared to adjust the contents of lectures to address the specific preparation earned by the students, and part of each course is explicitly dedicated to address unexpected needs or requests for in-depth explanations. My in-class activities and formal lectures are integrated through “computer assisted learning”, providing additional materials and specific suggestions for on-line specialized courses. Weekly home exercises, short tests, and feedback reports are well-established mechanisms to assess student progress; however, direct and honest interactions about individual classroom or laboratory projects are my preferred mechanism to identify difficulties and improvements of individual students and of the entire class. Although testing and homework are sure ways to improve students’ knowledge and abilities, the forward and backward interactions taking place while developing a project activity (in addition to its complexity) are of primary importance to enhance student competence in the subject and the self-critical evaluation of the accomplished results.
Laboratory activities are thus arranged with a significant amount of time spent in open discussions and pair evaluations of progress. Unfortunately it appears common for students to quickly forget knowledge once a course has ended, so my final exams will be focused on the application of learned knowledge and on the relations among new concepts and real-life application of materials. The use of an oral examination for a final evaluation can be effective in assessing effective understanding of a subject, allowing faculty to verify the ability of a student to identify relations between fundamental materials properties and the behavior of complex systems.
I am convinced that the use of computational technologies is of great importance for modern applications and studies of materials. Although students quickly learn how to use modern software, they often trust numerical results without fully understanding their meaning and reliability. Basic concepts such as precision and accuracy often become blurred when dealing with results provided by modern computer applications. The experience of uncertainty, from a combination of characterization techniques and computer simulations, can serve as a case study to keep students aware about approximations inevitably involved in any science and engineering application. For example, when discussing the potential energy curve that defines the atomic arrangements in a bulk material, small molecular dynamics simulations can be used to show the effects of adopting alternative potential models (e.g., Lennard-Jones, embedded atom method, modified embedded atom method). Furthermore, using traditional hand calculation methods can often be used to assess errors from numerical approaches that often result from incorrect or poor model assumptions.
Material science and engineering studies combine theory and content from pure subjects such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics to build the base reference for more specialized courses. Therefore, the continuous improvement of a course is based on many factors, including direct feedback from current students, suggestions from past students, and honest feedback from colleagues (especially those teaching similar or more-specialized subjects). Periodic feedback from current students can be used to improve and adjust the ongoing course, particularly the overall arrangement of the course, allowing faculty to focus on aspects that the students themselves find more stimulating.