Improving Undergraduate Physics Education (IUPE) Award

This small undergraduate department has a tradition of outstanding outcomes for its graduates. Between 2016-2018, this department averaged 16 graduates per year, and the American Institute of Physics (AIP) ranked it in the top 7% among 503 undergraduate-only institutions. Nearly 75% of IWU physics students work with faculty members on research projects, and it offers 12 different advanced lab courses, making it exceptionally strong in this area. Approximately half of its graduates go on to pursue a PhD in science, another third do graduate work in engineering, and the remaining third enter the workforce directly, usually pursuing careers in engineering, programming, teaching, sales, or finance.

This research-driven, student-centric physics department prepares students for 21st century careers by seamlessly integrating purposeful research and education with workforce development, life-long learning, and cultural inclusion. All of its majors are given the opportunity to work in faculty research labs at UAB and in Europe, through an NSF-supported International Research Experiences for Students program. By organizing the Physics degree into five job-focused tracks supported by a Faculty Mentoring System, and with two new physics and data science and research-intensive physics accelerated BS/MS (ABM) programs, UAB helps students develop an individual program of study to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace while pursuing their passion. Track faculty mentors connect students with research while providing academic support and career guidance. This department also impacts a much broader and diverse student audience than ever before through transforming online teaching into innovative Remotely Accessible Interdisciplinary STEMM Education (RAISE), developing student social networks, and supporting Alabama high-school teachers. Since 2015, this department has witnessed an increase to historic heights of both the number of physics majors and the overall number of students taught. UAB Physics is now moving to a newly-built Science & Engineering Complex, a state-of-the art interdisciplinary building designed to empower graduates to impact the future.

The department of physics and astronomy at Colgate University strives to provide a rigorous introduction to careers with the flexibility to allow students an entry into numerous post-graduation fields while also building a sense of community and belonging. Four of the introductory courses have a lab component and three are taught with in-house written textbooks, and students are exposed to modern physics, mechanics, electricity and magnetism, computation, mathematical methods, quantum mechanics, relativity, and electronics. The astronomy curriculum has alternative instrumental methods and introductory astronomy courses. Through electives and a senior capstone research course, students craft a major focused on their career interests, and faculty research involving undergraduates is an institutional expectation– all faculty are involved in taking students in summer research experiences, and students involved in research routinely appear as co-authors in publications and present at conferences. The diverse range of faculty research specialties, as well as the diversity of faculty with 11 total, including three women and three from underrepresented groups, allows students to pursue interdisciplinary areas such as biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, or environmental studies. The welcoming atmosphere of the department and peer mentoring has encouraged a community of learning, students clubs, and professional chapters. The total enrollment at Colgate University is about 3,000, and in the past 15 years, department enrollments have soared, featuring consistently high graduating classes, averaging 25 graduates per year in the last seven years, and with yearly averages of eight and seven women and students from underrepresented groups, respectively.

The department of physics and astronomy is structured as a student-centered learning system to produce graduates who are ready to compete successfully in today’s world. It supports the aspirations of Howard University to be a world-class institution by providing a forward-looking, technologically enhanced higher education environment with a global view. The department’s mission is to strive for a recognized level of national and international excellence in research and teaching in physics and to assure that students of African American descent are given the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential in physics. With an emphasis upon providing educational opportunities for Black students and fully welcoming students from other underrepresented populations, the department supports the historical and current mission of Howard University. The program is among the leading producers of African Americans with bachelor’s degrees in physics.

The Michigan State University department of physics has a long history of excellence in physics education. In recent years the department has developed significantly transformed models for both of its large introductory physics course strands. The engineering physics courses use a communities of practice framework in flipped classrooms, and the physics for life scientists courses has a redesigned curriculum to connect the physics to modern biological sciences. Both of these course sequences will be implemented at scale in MSU’s new STEM Teaching building with its large open classrooms ideal for these transformed classes. These approaches and curricula have also been disseminated in journal papers and conference proceedings. For its majors, the department is in the midst of implementing its long-term plan to integrate computation into each core course taken by students majoring in physics. Much of this effort is enabled by a focus over many years on cultivating a culture of continuing improvement in teaching. This focus in teaching has also led to significant investment in building a major physics education research group at MSU. The department has a longstanding tradition of active undergraduate student groups, and the combination of these involved groups and the teaching efforts described above have led to a steadily increasing number of majors, with over 100 incoming students declaring the intention to major in physics for the Fall 2021 semester.