#this is the first one i ever made so there are some sig errors in the setting

[jrtataut]

Reflective Blog Post: The Marshmallow Challenge

The instructions were simple - create a free standing structure to support the weight of a marshmallow using nothing but spaghetti and tape.

The highest tower wins.

With the competitive and time-based elements introduced everyone was enthusiastic and ready to get into it.

We got into groups, the timer began counting down and we were off.

One of my teammates immediately brought his idea to the table: it would be easier to start from the top and work our way to the base.

So from that moment onwards he became our leader, creating the top of our tower by sticking four stands of spaghetti into our marshmallow. While him getting in front of the project would save us time from thinking about what to do, it did limit us to a very basic design and there was not much the others could offer. While one half of the team was building the tower, the others either watched or walked around the room seeing if they could borrow any ideas.

We kept two things in mind to apply to the structure; its height and resilience; and experimented with how we were going to keep it standing. There was not much play involved in the development of the tower.

In the end, through reinforcing lots of tape and spaghetti wherever it was needed in order to hold our tower up, the design looked something like this:

It was among the tallest of our peers, beaten by a tower of the same design with the simplest of modifications - an antenna to hold up the marshmallow.

What stuck with me after that activity was the explanation given afterwards, how kindergartners managed to beat their older and ‘wiser’ counterparts:

The secret of this task, was to focus on getting a feel for the weight of the marshmallow and how it affected the spaghetti.

Really basic stuff right?

Yet the majority of us completely missed it and either went straight to trying to replicate structures of previous design or sciencing the hell out of it. This usually didn't end up amounting to much.

The most successful of us were the ones who played around with the marshmallow and contributed their ideas.

Why?

The teamwork aspect of it all is obvious: the towers will be taller if people experiment with their own ideas and use the best parts of that to develop the final object.

The act of playing with the marshmallow however is a lot more subtle, even more so that we are older and more experienced. I saw that many people took to previous knowledge and experience to solve the problem at hand: for example, a few of the towers had the characteristics that you would see on some bridges and landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower.

Even though it seemed easier to begin with, it was actually more difficult and time consuming to replicate these previous designs, as the materials we were provided with were absurdly impractical; yet that was the whole point of this challenge.

You see no one building spaghetti and marshmallow towers on a regular basis. Coming into this experience, I had no knowledge of anyone ever having attempted this before. We had to start from scratch in order to achieve the best results for the challenge.

The success of our tower included no prior knowledge of engineering principles, just pure trial and error. Our structures were skeletons of skyscrapers patched up excessively in order to keep it standing. We only did what was necessary because we figured out the necessary bits by starting from the top. There weren’t any intricate plans or designing it in an aesthetically pleasing way, we just had a goal. With the requirements of that goal given to us, we were able to focus on fulfilling them and accomplishing it.

There are many things my group and myself could have done differently though. The winning tower obviously bested us because their creators were more familiar with the interactions between the marshmallow and noodle. If we spent more time playing with the marshmallow, we would have reached the same discovery as the winning team and maybe improved our tower even further. We could have made use of all the people in our team by first working individually to produce small towers before coming together and then compiling what was best from each of our designs into one. Even though we sent our spy around the room, we didn’t incorporate any of what he told us into our tower because we were so set on our current design that we felt it was superior.

The marshmallow challenge represents creativity and innovation. It's human nature: “the highest level of human performance” (Sawyer, 2012, p.1). When we create, we are experimenting to solve problems that better our lives as a whole.

Of course, our towers were nowhere near engineering marvels, however the method we used to create them were what our ancestors used to develop the skyscrapers we have today.

The marshmallow challenge has encouraged me to start from the basics and that making mistakes is beneficial to the creative process. This allows us to “to escape from local optima and discover better solutions” (Bateson & Martin, 2013, p. 5).

Iteration and collaboration is evidently key to not only making towers from spaghetti, but to any project in the future. In later projects, I seek to encourage myself and others to share their ideas, start from the ground up (so to speak), and look at everything with the curiosity of a child. Utilizing what I have learnt from this activity should enable me to better my ability to come up with creative solutions to various issues I will come across during my time in BCT.

The lessons of this exercise has major implications for not only future projects in BCT but the extent of which we are able to push ourselves. Our creativity is simply our individuality expressed, doing something no one has ever done before and if it is exercised enough, it can lead to amazing things.

Bibliography:

Bateson P. & Martin P. (2013) Play, Playfulness, Creativity and Innovation Retrieved from https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WylYWy4MGdoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=ancestors+innovation+creativity&ots=iQLrjMWkoB&sig=cCcCz1PbZ8nEUU839ko7yWZWVvw#v=onepage&q=ancestors%20innovation%20creativity&f=false

Sawyer R. K. (2012) Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation Retrieved from https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=P9hoAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=human+nature+creativity+innovation&ots=ykhJVSaPUC&sig=j3cbuw46CFelzUxcFlbin40iXZw#v=onepage&q=human%20nature%20creativity%20innovation&f=false

[biopsychs]

physics doesn’t have to suck: how to enjoy and do well in your required physics classes

As someone who doesn’t intend to take a physics class ever again, I was relieved when I walked out of my second semester physics final. That said, physics doesn’t have to suck or drag your average down. 

(1) How to enjoy physics: Adjust your attitude. Physics is so cool if you actually think about it. Your attitude will dictate your experience. (2) But physics is so hard: Change the way you study and don’t give up. I did better in university physics than in high school. The content was way more difficult but it was my studying methods that made the difference.

This post is split into 3 parts: Introductory physics (very basic physics, that unit of physics you had to do in a lower level science class), high school physics (physics from an algebra-based perspective), and university physics (calculus-based physics and labs). (Obviously these overlap a lot but I needed to organize this somehow)

INFO IS UNDER THE CUT B/C THIS POST IS RIDICULOUSLY LONG

1. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS

Skills you should master that will greatly help you now and in the future

Converting between units

What all those symbols actually mean

Interpreting what graphs mean

Scientific notation

Know how to do algebra fairly well (esp. rearranging equations)

Khan Academy is a great resource for introductory and high school physics.

Start every question by stating all of your known and unknown variables. Write down which variables you have and which ones you need. Then, you can easily figure out which formula you need.

Make sure you’re actually understanding the concepts behind everything; plugging numbers into equations will only get you so far.

Rearrange formulas to equal the variable you need before you substitute your known values into the equation.

Use your knowledge of physics from your own experiences. Don’t overthink. Just try to picture what would happen if, say, a ball and a feather were dropped from the same height.

2. HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS (ALGEBRA-BASED)

(Everything from part 1 applies, esp Khan Academy)

Pay attention to in class demos.

Draw free body diagrams whenever you can -- they can be annoying but quickly being able to visualize all of the forces acting is an important skill

Ask your teacher for help or clarification if you need it! You won’t always have the opportunity for one-on-one help, plus your teacher may mark you a bit easier if they see you’re really trying.

Know trigonometry well! In fact, if any of your algebra skills are weak, be sure to review. Don’t let basic math hold you back -- you can do this!

Your first step for any problem should be to write down any known variables or numbers and then the variables you need to find.

Work with a study group (just make sure everyone else is as committed as you are, otherwise studying with others won’t help). People think in different ways and you’re bound to find a solution eventually -- and less likely to give up if you can’t do it.

Get all the part marks. Write down your variables, a formula that could be applicable -- anything that might earn even half a mark (teachers are a lot more forgiving than you think)

Double check your final answer. Ensure you have the right units and ask yourself if your final answer makes sense.

Don’t give up! A big mistake I made in high school was giving up the first time I couldn’t figure out a question because physics was hard and I would never understand it. No excuses! Ignoring a question won’t help you answer it when it comes up on a test. Figure it out on your own or get help.

3. UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (CALCULUS-BASED + LABS)

(Note: Some university physics classes are algebra-based. My university is dumb and forced me to take difficult, calculus-based classes.) 

(Again, most things from part 1 and part 2 apply here as well.)

A) Lectures, studying, finals, etc.

Pay attention in class and write good notes

My physics lectures were boring but trying to catch up by reading my textbook later was so much worse

Your lecture notes may not make much sense at first but later on you’ll be able to tell which concepts were stressed by your prof

Draw any diagrams your prof shows you (or take a picture with your phone if you’re lazy). Be sure that the diagram is complete and don’t forget about labels. Don’t worry too much about neatness as long as you know what the diagram is supposed to show you.

Keep all your notes in one notebook: Use one colour for writing regular notes, another colour for circling formulas or starring things you don’t understand,  and be sure to write the date down for each lecture and leave space if you fall behind during the lecture (you can always copy someone else’s notes later)

Get a good textbook!

Talk to older students and see if the textbook was helpful for the class. If it’s useful then actually use it! If it’s not, find a good textbook to use! 

Do lots of practice questions

My profs tended to go over more conceptual ideas in class and didn’t do many examples.

Try to do a variety of questions! This will tell you if you actually understand the content or if you’ve just memorized how to do certain questions.

Work with other people on assignments (and join/start a group chat for your class)

I had online assignments due every Friday at midnight. My friend and I would meet up on Wednesday or Thursday to work through most of the assignment together. If there was a question we didn’t get, there would always be someone in our class group chat wondering the same thing and there was always some smart physics student that would be a bro and explain how to approach the problem (on another note: don’t leave assignments till the last minute)

Group chats are also great if you miss class or can’t remember when the cutoff for the midterm is

If you don’t understand something get help before it’s too late. 

Be prepared with specific questions. It’s hard for someone to help you if all you can say is that you don’t know anything. Go to your prof, TA, tutor, etc. 

I found my profs to be super nice about everything. They just want people to be excited about the subject they teach!

If you’re just stuck on one thing there are tons of resources online! Just be specific in what you’re googling and check out resources that other profs have posted online.

Understand the math before you start doing questions

Know the basics of derivatives and integrals

It’s super important to be able to draw a rough graph of the first, second, etc. derivative when all you are given is a graph of the original function (i.e. drawing the graphs for velocity and acceleration when given a graph of displacement)

But don’t ignore the conceptual stuff

This is why a good textbook is important!

Plus you can get part marks for some questions by stating whether one value should be higher/lower than another value, even if you can’t figure out the calculations -- and you can check your answers this way.

For example, it’s pretty important to know what magnetic flux density is before you can calculate it’s value

When studying for tests, don’t just assume you know how to do a question.

Looking over the solution for a problem and actually completing the problem are two very different things. This is the biggest mistake I’ve made when studying physics.

Understanding the solution is only one step in actually being able to answer the question. Looking over solutions is lazy studying if you’re not even trying to do the work. Start the question. Glance at the first part of the solution if you’re stuck. Keep going from there.

For first year physics classes, you really shouldn’t skip over any parts of problem. Yeah, rearranging that formula might look easy but can you actually do it? Practice makes perfect.

If you have a midterm coming up that tests material from a few weeks ago, be sure to do questions from the older units. The content might look familiar but just because you could do a question 2 weeks ago doesn’t mean you can do it now.

Don’t leave your studying till the last minute.

Get a planner and carve out enough time to do practice questions every few days. Trying to catch up on four chapter’s worth of problems is not fun and won’t work very well. Plus, you don’t just have to know how to answer questions. You have to be able to answer questions efficiently.

B) Labs

My labs were very different each semester.

First semester content included kinematics, relativity, forces, momentum, work, etc. The labs were super boring but super easy. For most labs we used motion detectors and a program called logger pro to collect and graph data. Lots of carts.

Second semester content included light, energy, radiation, magnetism, circuits, etc. The labs mostly involved bread boards and wires.

Regardless of content, some general comments on labs are...

Labs won’t always follow lecture content. Apparently that’s too difficult to organize.

That said, get your prelabs done. Properly, if you can. If you don’t fully understand a prelab question, ask your TA once you’ve handed it in. This will save you so much time.

Find a good lab partner. Not sure if there’s a trick to this but just try your best. And be a good lab partner too!

Make note of how strict your TA is with sig figs and error calculations. There’s no sense in losing a few marks when you could stay an extra 15 minutes and do the work properly.

Eat some food and hydrate before your lab -- you never know when your lab will take you 3+ hours to finish.

If you’re not sure if your experiment is working ask your TA. Trying to complete the lab with incorrect data is difficult and your TA will probably make you repeat the experiment anyways.

I hope this post was helpful! I struggled with physics in high school (my worst class) but it ended up being one of my best classes in university (A’s both semesters). The content was way more difficult but my studying habits and test-taking methods were what made the difference!!

Feel free to add additional advice to this post!

My Other Posts:

AP lit tips

high school biology

organization tips

recommended reads

reminders for myself

using your time wisely on public transport

what i learned from high school