Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP)
Ruth H. Howes
In 1999, APS, AAPT and AIP created an eleven-member
National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics (NTFUP) to investigate
the drop in the numbers of students graduating with bachelors degrees
in physics that occurred during the 90s. The Task Force recognized
that physics departments operate in a changing environment. Disciplines
like computer science and neuroscience challenge physics' place in
the center of the scientific universe. Much experimental physics is
done by large groups at user facilities rather than in a basement laboratory,
and computational physics has begun to rival experimental and theoretical
physics. Industries focus increasingly on product development rather
than basic research so physics graduates find themselves working as
members of multidisciplinary teams and need the "soft" skills to do
that. Today's high school graduates are more likely than ever before
to have studied high school physics, and they bring enormous skills
in using computers. However, they often lack training in algebra or
calculus, and they are accustomed to learning from video rather than
from books. They are increasingly ethnically and economically diverse.
Many physics departments, particularly those granting
Ph.D.s, saw steep declines in the numbers of graduating majors. Other
departments have adapted successfully to environmental changes and
either have all the majors they want or are growing. From conferences
and other contacts with the physics community, we know that the department
is the engine of change in the university, that a physics major's experience
depends on an entire physics program, not just a series of courses
but also things like advising and a community of faculty and students,
and that one size program will never fit the diverse institutions that
educate undergraduate physicists.
In 2001, NTFUP received funding from the ExxonMobil
Foundation for SPIN-UP in order to find out what these thriving departments
were doing right. We looked for departments with plenty of majors where
morale was high for both faculty and students and the majority of the
faculty was involved in undergraduate education. These departments
succeeded in placing their majors in both grad school and the workforce,
attracted women and minorities, earned the respect of their administrations
and other departments on campus, and paid attention to training K-12
teachers. We also looked for variety in types of institutions in size,
in geography and in mission.
At the invitation of the department chair, teams of
three physicists including a NTFUP member visited 23 departments that
seemed to us to be thriving. The department agreed to produce a rather
extensive report before the visit and to support local expenses for
the team. About 70 physicists volunteered to conduct the site visits.
Each team produced a report for NTFUP and the department chair. The
confidential reports have been turned into public case studies describing
successful programs and strategies. The reports are
available in the Programs Section of the AAPT website under NTFUP.
There appear to be several keys to building a thriving
physics department. They are modified locally, but they reappear in
all or nearly all our thriving departments. First, all the programs
we visited focused on high quality academic preparation of students.
Many of them used flexible programs to accommodate the wide-ranging
interests of their students, but in no case did "flexible" mean lowering
standards in the physics courses being taught. Students might not take
as many standard physics courses, but the physics they studied was
rigorous. A number of departments had introduced several tracks through
the physics major. Others used 3/2 programs (3 years undergraduate
physics followed by 2 years in a professional school) both to attract
students to physics and to recruit them as physics majors.
In all thriving departments, the faculty as a whole
placed a high value on undergraduate education. If they did not participate
directly in undergraduate education, faculty members regarded it as
a critical undertaking for the department and supported those actively
involved during promotion and tenure and salary debates. Each department
worked to best serve those students actually enrolled in physics, not
the students the faculty wish were there. They constantly interacted
with students and modified the physics programs in response to what
they learned. All departments worked to build a community of physicists
including faculty, students and staff. Most departments, even those
so small that they used the back of a lecture hall, set aside space
for students.
The thriving departments had strong and sustained
leaders who were able to build a vision of a physics program that fits
the mission of the university and serves the need of students. Most
thriving departments also had support from their universities. All
thriving departments paid attention to advising students and to recruiting
them, but these activities varied widely from campus to campus.
Each of the thriving departments took responsibility
for the condition of their undergraduate programs. Faculty members
did not blame poor student preparation or unresponsive administrators
for the down turn most of them once experienced. They analyzed the
situation and took action to correct it.
Finally, we worked with the AIP Group on Surveys and
Special Studies to conduct a national survey of departments granting
bachelor's degrees in physics. The survey achieved a 74% response rate,
clearly indicating wide interest in undergraduate education throughout
the physics community. The survey results are still being analyzed.
However, we are able to present two preliminary findings. First, the
courses and content comprising physics majors are remarkably uniform
in almost all physics departments. This seems to indicate that the
pedagogy in these courses and other aspects of an undergraduate physics
program are critical to building a thriving department. Second, most
departments report doing many of the things that seemed to be working
for thriving departments. It is not clear whether some less successful
departments have just started work on their programs or whether they
need help in making these activities more effective in their local
environments.
The Task Force is hard at work on a report on SPIN-UP
due out later this fall. We are exploring ways to use these results
to improve undergraduate physics programs. Under consideration are
a series of regional conferences for teams of physicists from departments
or a program of sending consultants to departments. We invite you to
contact us to discuss SPIN-UP or your individual undergraduate program
at NTFUP@aapt.org. This article
was prepared with the help of the Task Force, particularly Ken Krane
and Bob Hilborn.
Ruth Howes is Professor of Physics at Ball State
University, Muncie, IN 47306 and a member of the NTFUP. She is a
past member of the Executive Committee of the FEd. She can be reached
at rhowes@bsu.edu
|
