Introductory Physics and Thriving Undergraduate Physics

Programs

Robert C. Hilborn

Amherst College

Support fromAmerican Association of Physics Teachers,American Physical SocietyAmerican Institute of PhysicsThe ExxonMobil Foundation

National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics

Outline

• Current statistics

• Some history

• Brief survey of recent CBIP efforts

• SPIN-UP and the role of CBIP in physics departments

• Some provocative thoughts

• Discussion

Calculus-Based

Introductory Physics

Bachelor’s Degree Production

Source: AIP Statistical Research Center: Enrollments and Degrees Report, and *NCES Digest of Education Statistics

National Statistics

Facts and Figures 27-28% of high school students take physics.

The % is growing! 50:50 men/women!!

70-75% of high school students go on to 2-year, 4-year colleges and universities.

350,000 students take college/university intro. physics each year (25-30% in 2-year colleges). About 50% of those take CBIP.

Only 3% of those taking calculus-based physics ever take another physics course.

SOURCE: AIP Statistics Division

The Changing Role of Physics

Physics

20th Century 21st Century

Summary of the New Environment

• Changing role for physics in the universe of science

• Changing student population– demographics– preparation– interests

• Changing National Focus– emphasis on K-12

Some history of CBIP via textbooks Curry, Street, and Purcell 1950s

Halliday and Resnick 1960s

The clone era 1960s-1990s and on…

Outliers: Berkeley Series and Feynman Lectures

Recent developments – see Joe Amato, Physics Today, Dec. 1996.

MechanicsThermal PhysicsElectricity/MagnetismWaves

Difficulties:1. Large amount of

material favors recipes and memorization techniques, often without long-term retention.

2. Emphasis on pre-20th Century physics often doesn’t inspire students.

3. Isolated from the rest of physics and other sciences.

4. Students have changed since we were in college.

The Standard Model of Introductory Physics

OpticsRelativityAtomic PhysicsCondensed Matter PhysicsNuclear PhysicsHigh Energy PhysicsChaosYour Favorite Subject Here

General Philosophy for CBIP A thorough and rigorous coverage of a limited number

of topics is more effective than an encyclopedic and show introduction to a wide range of subject matter.

Physics should be taught as a growing subject and the student should be given illustrations of problems on present frontiers.

Senior and experienced staff members should engage in the teaching of introductory physics courses, in the training of teaching assistants, and in experimentation directed at the improved teaching of physics.

•Carleton Report, Am. J. Phys. 25, 417 (1957).

Innovative Delivery

Workshop Physics - P. Laws et al. Interactive Lectures-Peer Instruction - E.

Mazur (Harvard), J. Mestre, W. Gerace (U. Mass.), T. Moore (Pomona),…

Interactive Demos – R. Thornton, D. Sokoloff Studio Physics - J. Wilson (UMass), K.

Cummings (S. Conn) , Cal Poly SLO, U. New Hampshire, …

SCALE-UP – B. Beichner (NCSU), J. Saul (UCF),…

Dynamic Physics - P. Sokol (Penn State)

Innovative Delivery - 2 Overview--Case Study - A. van Heuvelen (Rutgers) “In-line” text exercises, take-home experiments - R.

Chabay and B. Sherwood (NCSU), J. King et al (MIT). Complete PPT and WWW package: G. Gladding,

(Illinois) WWW – JiTT- E. Patterson, G. Novak (Air Force), A.

Gavrin (U. Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis) Tutorials - L. McDermott, P. Heron, J. Redish Context-Rich Problems -Heller (Minn.) Computer-Intensive - R. Fuller (U. Nebraska), W.

Christian (Davidson)

Innovative Ideas: Texts Joe Amato, Physics Today, Dec. 1996. R. Knight, Physics: A Contemporary Perspective (Addison-

Wesley) R. Chabay and B. Sherwood, Matter and Interactions,

(Wiley) Tom Moore, Six-Ideas that Shaped Physics (McGraw-Hill)

IUPP J. Rigden, L. Coleman, J. Barojas, Physics In Context

(IUPP) Relativistic Mechanics first, J. Reichert J. Amato, C. Holbrow, J. Lloyd, Modern Introductory

Physics (Springer) L. McDermott, P. Heron, et al, Physics by Inquiry (Prentice

Hall) Eric Mazur … (Prentice Hall) Cummings, Laws, Redish, Cooney, Understanding

Physics, PER Revised HRW (Wiley) …..

CBIP and Thriving Departments

The role of CBIP in building a “thriving” undergraduate physics program.

Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate

Physics

Supported by ExxonMobil FoundationAmerican Institute of PhysicsAmerican Association of Physics TeachersAmerican Physical Society

National Task Force

on Undergraduate PhysicsJ. D. Garcia (U. Arizona)

S. James Gates (U. Maryland)

Robert Hilborn (Amherst College), Chair

Ruth Howes (Marquette), Co-Chair

Ken Krane (Oregon State)

Elizabeth McCormack (Bryn Mawr)

Laurie McNeil (U. North Carolina-Chapel Hill)

Jose Mestre (U. Massachusetts)

Tom O’Kuma (Lee College)

Doug Osheroff (Stanford)

Joe Taylor (Princeton)

Carl Wieman (U. Colorado)

Ex Officio:AIP- J. Stith, J. HehnAPS-J. Franz, F. SteinAAPT-B. Khoury, W. HeinPKAL – J. Narum

Site Visits to 21 “thriving” undergraduate physics programs.

Survey (with AIP) all 761 bachelor’s degree granting physics programs in the US (74% response).

Report and Analysis.

See AAPT web site http://www.aapt.org/Projects/ntfup.cfm

Ask your department chair for the report!

Physics Today, September, 2003.

Site Visit Departments• Angelo State University

• University of Arizona

• Bethel College

• Brigham Young University

• Bryn Mawr College

• Colorado School of Mines

• Cal State San Luis Obispo

• Carleton College

• Grove City College

• Harvard University

• University of Illinois

• University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse

•Lawrence University•North Carolina State Univ.•North Park University•Oregon State University•Reed College•Rutgers University•SUNY Geneseo•University of Virginia•Whitman College

Site visit teams employed about 65 physics volunteers.

20 +/- other possibilities

What makes an UPP Thrive?Conclusions from the Task Force Site Visits

Strong and sustained departmental leadership Well-defined sense of mission Recruit and retain students

– Challenging and supportive program– Multiple-tracks/options– Prof. development and mentoring– Introductory courses – Career information - alumni

Emphasis on the entire program of the department, including interactions with other departments

SPIN-UP and CBIP

Most of the site visit departments have experimented with CBIP – mostly pedagogy and not content.

Departmental effort (not just junior faculty or just senior faculty w/o research programs).

CBIP often used as a recruiting tool for physics majors.

Designed to serve the appropriate audience. Department continually works to improve the

course(s).

The Survey: 74% Response Rate Thanks to Ken Krane and Roman Czujko: 60% report “significant” curricular change in the

past several years. Of those 71% report changes in CBIP.

Change Content and Ped.

Content only

Ped. only

Of those reporting change in CBIP

50% 10-20% 30-40%

Some Difficult Questions

• Why haven’t the innovations been widely adopted?

• Why is there resistance to educational change?

Why Don’t Innovations Stick? Innovations are no good? Innovations good, but no documentation of their

success. Assessment is difficult (pace Mike Zeilik and Bob Beichner).

Large upfront investment of resources required. Lack of faculty development and reward. Difficult to make the effort a ‘departmental project’ with

long-term sustained focus. Student resistance.

How to make them stick: G. Gladding and R. Lopez – Sunday.

To be discussed Saturday afternoon.

I was hired to do research. My evaluations are great – of course my

students are learning! “Reform” is just dumbing down the

curriculum. (see quote from Lloyd Taylor, 1938)

The Resistance

Provocative (?) Thoughts The goals of CBIP are often ill-defined, if defined at all.

An improved CBIP by itself will not save your undergraduate physics program.

Energy and enthusiasm and concern count. Details of content and pedagogy are of secondary importance.

One size does not fit all. Local details are important.

A departmental effort is crucial. (The “energetic hero” model does not work in the long run.)

Continuous experimentation and feedback are crucial.

Don’t underestimate the “tyranny of the textbook.” Textbooks do matter, and the net effect is usually negative.

Conference Survey

Please fill out CBIP survey form (one form per department) before the end of the conference.