Course Reform at PhysTEC Sites
Ball State University
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Florida International University
Seattle Pacific University
Towson University
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Western Michigan University
The past few decades have seen an explosion of research-based physics curricula and teaching methods that replace traditional didactic instruction with more interactive, student-centered teaching methods. Teachers who use these strategies can transform their students from passive acceptors of knowledge to active investigators who are deeply engaged in their own education. And not only will students learn more, but they may come out with a more positive attitude towards physics. As the lead PhysTEC faculty at Arkansas writes, “University of Arkansas’ philosophy has been that you never know who is going to be a future teacher, so you should treat all students as if they might be, modeling good pedagogy in introductory physics classes. This has the beautiful side effect that if all students experience an intro class taught the way we would like future teachers to teach, you end up with more MAJORS!”
PhysTEC has encouraged its sites to adopt proven curricular reforms because 1) PhysTEC subscribes to the notion that teachers teach as they have been taught; 2) these reforms have been shown to improve learning gains on standardized, research-based content assessments; and 3) the high-quality, research-based materials that exist have been designed to avoid many pitfalls that home-cooked curricula may fall into. Our hope and expectation is that students whose instructors use effective interactive teaching methods will go on to use these same methods when they become teachers.
Course Transformation Strategies
