Brasil Final Report - Department of Physics - The Ohio State University

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Within U.S. universities, the department is the basic instrument of change. Deans and
presidents can encourage reform, but changes will not last more than the funding cycle unless a
substantial minority of the faculty in the physics department really wants to change. The average
lifetime of a dean in a university is three years. Faculty last much longer. We all know of instances
where one superior faculty member has developed an excellent course that fades the minute he or
she goes on sabbatical. Thus several faculty members need to work together to change the way
undergraduate students experience physics. In addition, they need the support of other members of
the department. Not all faculty will want to actively work with undergraduate students, but it is
essential that the time-consuming work involved in mentoring undergraduates as well as revising
undergraduate courses be valued by the department as a whole.
Real change in undergraduate physics must involve the entire undergraduate physics
program, not just the curriculum. Revision of the introductory courses in physics is important both
to improve public appreciation of physics and to satisfy the new engineering guidelines. Courses
for students who will be teachers are particularly critical for the future of physics. The PER
community and physicists in general have put a great deal of effort into developing several revised
versions of such courses.
The new introductory courses provide exciting learning experiences for students enrolled in
them. However, departments cannot afford to neglect the upper division curriculum for physics
majors. In addition, departments must examine the needs of those who employ their graduates,
provide adequate counseling for students, mentor undergraduates in research projects, work with
departments whose students enroll in the physics service courses, and actively recruit physics
majors. Healthy departments generally foster social interaction among faculty and students.
Revitalizing undergraduate physics clearly involves much more than new curricula and the design of
new introductory courses.
Finally, each undergraduate physics department is unique with a different mission, different
types of students, and a different blend of faculty members. What works well at a private research
university may not work at a regional university which offers only a masters program. All
departments can benefit from sharing ideas with one another, but most departments adapt good
ideas to fit their local environments. Like politics, effective changes in undergraduate physics will
ultimately be local.
Undergraduate physics in the U.S. has just begun a process of change that will probably
consume the next decade. We have much to learn from one another and from physics departments
in other countries. Certainly we need to open channels of communication from one department to
another and from one country to another. Good ideas turn up everywhere!
We physicists work hard, and we are capable. Working together, we can achieve our goal of
excellent physics education for all undergraduate students.