Computational Fermi problems!

Fermi problems (also known as Fermi estimation problems or estimation problems) are a classic type of exercise that have been used in physics education for decades.

At UiO we have begun using them in our first-semester physics course as a gentle start to “thinking like a physicist." But Fermi problems can also be a rich site for building modeling skills across the STEM disciplines, and when combined with a little statistics and computation can quickly turn into simple Monte Carlo problems.
 

This ODD seminar will be partly a Fermi problem workshop and partly a demonstration of the new class of computational Fermi problems we are developing for our physics and STEM courses.
 

Also, there will be cake!

Short Bio

Tor Ole Odden is Associate Professor at Department of Physics, UiO. 

The bi-weekly ODD seminar series at CCSE

The Open Discussions on Didactics (ODD) is a seminar series on Mondays at 13.00 every other week (odd week numbers).

The seminar is an informal arena to present and discuss learning theory, educational research and teaching experiences within computational science. To cater to the highly heterogeneous backgrounds and interests of students, teachers and researchers in our environment, we aim for seminars that introduce listeners to new ideas within a broad spectrum of aspects, and that invites reflection and discussion.

Presentations need not be mature and polished - to the contrary we hope that as many as possible wants to share undigested observations and reflections in short presentations of varied form and topics. We hope to have enough contributions to frequently have the meetings as lightning talk sessions, where three different speakers will each give a 5-10-minute presentation followed by discussion.

Published May 16, 2023 4:03 PM - Last modified May 16, 2023 4:04 PM