(Zoom registration link)

Decades ago, a small curriculum reform committee was given the “simple” task to rearrange the upper-division physics courses to allow engineering physics majors to participate in an internship program. Thirty years later, the Paradigms in Physics Program has become a national model for holistic reform and shared curriculum decision making. An early commitment to incorporating a few Maple visualization activities has developed into a rich laboratory for developing interactive pedagogies that place responsibility for learning more firmly in the hands of the students. Simple evaluation plans have evolved into a physics education research (PER) group that now numbers 24 current faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students and over 30 research alumni. An NSF requirement for dissemination resulted in a curriculum dissemination website (https://paradigms.oregonstate.edu), hundreds of research papers and conference presentations (osuper.physics.oregonstate.edu/publications), and several textbooks.

Corinne will give a highly personalized account of the history of the Paradigms Project. What are some of her hard-earned lessons and joyful successes? Who were some of the key players and how did they contribute to the ongoing success? What are some of the key features that characterize the current program and ensure its sustainability? As time allows, she will also share a few of her favorite activities, so come prepared to participate!

Bio:

Corinne is Professor of Physics Emerita at Oregon State University and for 25 years was the Director of the Paradigms in Physics Project, a program that reformed the entire upper-division curriculum for physics majors. Her physics education research (PER) investigates how Paradigms students use visualization and geometric reasoning in their problem-solving. Her traditional research in theoretical quantum gravity uses the octonions to describe the symmetries of high-energy particle physics. She is a Fellow of the APS and the AAPT and was awarded the AAPT’s David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching. Even now, in the process of retiring, she continues to be amazed to find herself a physicist.

Before the talk (~3:45pm), tea and coffee will be served outside 151 Weniger.

After the talk, there will be a reception with food and drink in 247 Weniger.