EMU Today

YPSILANTI - As a fan of parody music and sketch comedy, Physics and Astronomy Interim Department Head Ernest Behringer thought it would be fun to encourage student engagement with physics students at Eastern Michigan University by inviting students to create a music video on coding in physics.

A song that sprang to Behringer’s mind while considering parody music was the 2016 single "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake from the Dreamworks animated feature "Trolls." He aimed to have EMU students recreate that rendition into their version titled "Can't Stop the Coding!"

“I was getting set to participate in a conference about including computational physics in the physics major, and ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ had dropped not too long before,” said Behringer. “The joyful fun in the video reminded me of the community gathering for the conference, and so something about this combination just clicked.”

At that moment, Behringer began penning the lyrics to create his version of the musical hit. Once he finished writing, he realized that a music video to support the lyrics would tie everything together.

I was excited about the idea of a music video with students singing about coding, he says. 

Later, Behringer connected with Shelby Smith, a communication major, who was able to work on the production of the music video as a project for her capstone course. Smith directed the whole video while working with the student cast. The physics professor also worked with Avital Keely, a physics research major and the president of the EMU chapter of the Society of Physics Students, who coordinated the choreography for the other students in the video.

“The goal of the music video was to encourage students to join the department by demonstrating that scientists know how to have fun too,” Smith said. 

As a double major in both communication and digital media production, Smith says she enjoyed the opportunity to combine her knowledge in those two fields while she worked on the project. 

“The main assignment in my Communication Capstone [COMM 495L2] class was an Academic Service Learning Project that involved working with a nonprofit organization to fulfill a need within the field of communication,” Smith explained. “I knew I wanted to find a project that would allow me to use my video production skills, so my professor, Nick Romerhausen, suggested that I reach out to the Physics Department since Dr. Behringer had several ideas for video projects. I thought that the music video sounded the most fun.”

Long hours were needed to combine the music video's development and filming together. While Smith intended to spend 30 hours on the project, the pre-production, filming, recording, and editing took nearly 60 hours to complete. 

According to Smith, the group faced challenges along the way, including time restraints, scheduling, and recruiting physics students to participate, but she did not let that discourage her from working on the project.

“It took longer than expected, but it was definitely worth it,” Smith said with a smile. 

For Keeley, being back in front of the camera was her favorite part since she loves working on films.  

“I volunteered to choreograph the music video because I love choreographing and I have experience,” Keely explained. “I’ve actually already choreographed a whole dance to the original song from the video. This song is the easiest to come up with dances to, which also makes the dances pretty easy to learn.” 

“I think everyone did absolutely amazing in the physics video,” she added.

After many years of classroom teaching, Behringer feels that using music can help communicate fundamental ideas to students.

“In my experience, music is something you feel, and it seems easier to remember feelings than particular processes or facts,” he said. “I hope that the main idea that comes across is that it is important– and valuable – for physics majors to know how to code and that we should work together to develop models and simulations to gain physics understanding. These days, coding is an essential and authentic part of discovery, and the practice of physics.”

Behringer says that collaborating with the students was his favorite part of the video after hours of filming.

“I loved working with Communications major Shelby Smith, who did almost all of the video creation as part of her Communications Capstone course,” he said. “We had an early conversation about the scenes – sort of a storyboard – and she took it from there, pulling in resources as needed to achieve her vision. I was blown away by the final cut. I also loved seeing one of our majors, Avital Keeley, show her artistic side by coming up with the choreography, too.”

He added, “I hope that people, in general, just enjoy the video, like they enjoy a television show like The Big Bang Theory. I also hope that prospective students see that physics majors can have fun and be serious about our studies at the same time.”

About Eastern Michigan University
Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 14,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and its graduate school. National publications regularly recognize EMU for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. Visit the University’s rankings and points of pride websites to learn more. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website. To stay up to date on University news, activities and announcements, visit EMU Today.