For the honors option I met with a group of three other people once every week. We would go over homework problems or just general problems that anyone was having with the current chapter that we were covering. In order for me to lead this group it was necessary that I completely understood the material so that I was able to explain it to others. This meant that I always read the chapters in the book as thoroughly as I could and that I always did the homework early in the week so that I could help my group if they were having any trouble with it.
I think that the group was beneficial to the people that were in it, but it was also beneficial to me. I usually look at a concept in one way that makes sense to me. But when I have to explain things to other people, I need to be able to look at it in more than one way because not everyone thinks the same way that I do. This was really helpful to me because I think that it gave me a deeper understanding of the course material.
Having the study group also benefited me outside of PHY 215 as well. Since all of the people in my study group were also in my other physics classes, we also started to work together in our other physics classes. So this group gave me a lot of connections for my future physics classes at MSU. I think that it is good to have people to work with, especially in upper level physics classes because the more I discuss physics with other people, the better I understand it myself.
When I first began my honors option for Thermodynamics and Modern Physics, I was concerned that my study group would become a stale ordeal where I had to rehash the text to a few people on a weekly basis. Much to surprise and pleasure it has instead developed into a valuable forum in which to discuss, demonstrate and joke about topics that would otherwise have remained stale and abstract. Although I was only required to meet for two hours per week with my study group I found that we often chose instead to make the time an informal forum that meandered all over the current course topics and into related courses and disciplines. My study group contained a wide spread of majors including Physics/Teaching, Biochemistry/Chemical Physics, and Astrophysics, but because of the relaxed informality each member was quickly engaged and was able to bring their unique experiences and background into the discussion. Often our meetings lasted for three or more hours and although we often discussed concepts outside the class' main focus, the relationship between these concepts was a powerful force in solidifying my understanding of the course's material.
It is often noted that teaching is the best test of understanding and with my study group this was most certainly the class. Before coming to each weekly meeting I had sufficient knowledge to pass an exam on that week's work, but after a few hours of explaining and answering questions I felt as though I was leaving with an intimate as opposed to superficial understanding of the material. Being constantly asked to explain concepts led to a continual search for the best way to demonstrate a particular topic and a perpetual need to try different approaches to ensure understanding. Sometimes this led to success in the most unexpected ways, for example, while trying explain the Lamor precession of an atom's magnetic moment about a magnetic field I attached bits of Sticky-tack to a quarter, drew on vectors, and then attempted to spin it on different axes to demonstrate that only specific alignments would be stable and that they would indeed precess around Earth's magnetic field. What had started out as a joke, ended up being the most informative part of that study session.
Although I could have been successful and earned a respectable grade in the class without it, my honors option it was one favorite parts of this class. It helped solidify my understanding of the material and share that understanding with others, all while having a bit of fun with physics.