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SEAN ROBINSON: Oftentimes
the tasks we give students

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in the lab are really complex.

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They may not have
all the background

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they need in order to
complete the task when

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they're starting at.

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That level of
uncertainty really causes

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some anxiety in the
students, and can be

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a barrier for their learning.

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But if you're a professional
scientist, this type of anxiety

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is something you're
actually very familiar with.

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Most of us really
don't know what

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we're doing when we start
a new research project.

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I find it very useful to
notice when a student is

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in that condition, and call
it out, and actually explain

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how this is actually
a very normal thing.

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This is not them being
in a state of failure.

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This is them actually
feeling like what

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a real scientist feels like.

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A major part of a
course like this

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is building up the students'
identity as a scientist,

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helping them move their
understanding of themselves

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from being a physics student
to being a physicist.

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If we can achieve that by
the end of the semester,

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then this course is
a complete success,

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even if they've learned not
a single thing about quantum

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mechanics or relativity.