Paradigms in Physics is a novel, NSF-supported, upper-division physics curriculum designed to address several problems that were present in the traditional curriculum at Oregon State University. In 1996, our department was faced with the problem of reorganizing our curriculum to accommodate a new internship program for engineering physics majors. Once we opened the door to upgrading the curriculum, we decided to address a number of other needs and wants for our new curriculum. We wanted a new curriculum that would:
The result of our curriculum reform is the Paradigms in Physics program. The program consists of a junior year of ten Paradigms courses and a senior year of six Capstone courses. In an effort to encourage students to draw connections between the subdisciplines of physics, the structure of the Paradigms has been crafted to mimic the organization of expert physics knowledge. Thus, students are presented with a model of how physicists organize their understanding of physical phenomena and problem solving. Each of the courses focuses on a specific paradigm or class of physics problems which serve as the centerpiece of each course and on which different tools and skills are built. The ten Paradigms courses are: Symmetries and Idealizations, Static Vector Fields, Oscillations, Waves in One Dimension, Quantum Measurement and Spin, Central ForcesEnergy and Entropy, Periodic Systems, Rigid Bodies, and Reference Frames. The first seven paradigms form the core of the junior year and are taken by all Juniors; the last three are optional. Three Paradigms are taught each quarter with each course lasting three weeks. A typical week consists of three hours of lecture and 4 hours of lab/group activity.
In the senior year, students resume a more traditional curriculum, taking Capstone courses in the traditional disciplines of Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Statistical Mechanics, Optics, and Mathematical Methods. Currently we offer seniors six optional specialty courses: Computational Physics (2), Solid State Physics, Nuclear Physics,and more Optics (2). The Capstones and specialty courses areoffered in the traditional lecture style as quarter long courses with three contact hours per week.
The structure of the paradigms allows significant flexibility. Less prepared students stretch the Paradigms courses of the junior year over two years. Students from other departments can easily take one or two paradigms specific to their interests without having to take an entire year-long course covering material outside of their scope of interest. The flexibility of the Paradigms structure also allows us to introduce quantum mechanics early on, making courses more exciting for students, better preparing them for the GRE and preparing them to take more advanced specialty courses in their senior year.
In the design of the new curriculum we have incorporated and developed modern pedagogical strategies to help improve student learning. Group activities are common in Paradigms courses. These activities allow students to learn from each other and work together in constructing their understanding of physics. They also help students to stay actively engaged in the classroom. Computer resources are used frequently to help students visualize the systems they are studying. A number of the Paradigms courses also contain a vital lab component. These labs are integrated into each course in an effort to help students obtain a deeper understanding of the course material. Integrated labs in the paradigms range from single two hour lab sessions with appropriate follow-up work, to exclusively project-based courses. Lab activities give students the opportunity to develop lab and writing skills as well as reinforce the connection between coursework and the physical world. Another advantage of integrated labs is that they allow us to incorporate inquiry based activities in the upper-division curriculum. As a result, students are excited by the opportunity to engage in discovery and experiment.
The preliminary plans for the Paradigms program received extensive consideration by an expert panel of external reviewers composed of experienced upper-division physics faculty. The reviewers agreed strongly that the Paradigms program would prepare students for careers in industry as well as graduate school in physics. Early results of the evaluation team from the first two cycles of classes, completed in 1998 and 1999, indicate that top students are learning as much as before and less prepared students are learning more. We have found that a mix of traditional lecture and modern pedagogical techniques, if smoothly integrated, is effective for most of our students. Students are significantly more comfortable with a mixture of notations and with drawing information from a number of sources.
We are currently offering workshops for faculty at other institutions who may want to incorporate some of our materials in their own curricula. See the Workshops link for current offerings. We are actively recruiting a small number of institutions interested in testing with us the possibility of disseminating the entire Paradigms in Physics curriculum. We would like to test the Paradigms curriculum in a variety of different settings ranging from smaller liberal arts colleges to larger research universities. It is essential that participants in the beta testing program have strong departmental and institutional support. In order to provide financial support for evaluation and implementation of the beta testing program, we intend to seek NSF and other funding jointly with other participating institutions. For further information about this possibility, please contact us.
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Last Update 5/10/06, webpage created by Corinne Manogue,
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