How Computational Physics Students Improve their Computational Literacy
Karl Henrik Fredly, Tor Ole B. Odden, Benjamin M. Zwickl · 2024
Physics students now use computation from the introductory level until the advanced level, but little is known about how or why they develop their programming skill.We have interviewed computational physics students toward the end of their studies to understand how and why their programming practice has changed.We found that there is a qualitative change in how they write and think about code when they encounter large collaborative coding projects.These projects challenge students with their inherent complexity, pushing them to make their code more readable and sophisticated.The collaborative nature of these projects also play a big part in making students reflect on their choices and learn from each other.Though this is only one example of how to teach computational physics, we discuss implications for teaching from these student experiences.