Department of Physics

USU / Department of Physics / Assessment

Assessment

Department Mission and Goals

In fulfilling its part of the mission of the University, the Department:

creates and disseminates new knowledge,
teaches courses in physics at the graduate and undergraduate levels that will help prepare students for professional careers in science, technology, and health care,
and teaches courses that will help promote public awareness and understanding of science.

The overarching goal of the Department is to perform each of its various functions at the highest quality level consistent with available resources. Similarly, the general goal of the Department Head and the administrative staff is to provide an effective administration to support faculty teaching and research endeavors.

Five specific goals are currently being pursued in the Department:

enhance the Department’s reputation in the national and international physics communities
increase the fiscal resources of the Department
increase the number and, especially, the quality of graduate students
increase the number and quality of undergraduate majors
maintain or increase the current level of student credit hours in courses taught by the Department

Goals of the Department Degree Programs

UNDERGRADUATE The BS in Physics is intended for students who are more than casually interested in physics but who have no intention of pursuing its study at a graduate level. This degree equips the recipient with potentially sufficient technical background to work as a lab technician or engineer aide. Supplemented with a few courses in business, perhaps, such a degree could be used to find employment in technical sales or management. With a stronger complement of business and economics courses, this degree might well provide entrée into a career in finance or marketing. Students interested in medicine and dentistry might find taking this degree (along with the usual courses in biology and chemistry) would distinguish them from other applicants competing for admission to professional schools. Such a degree would also be attractive for those wishing to practice patent law.

The BA in Physics is intended for students with a strong interest in the philosophical implications of physics, in its methodology and corpus of knowledge, but with no intention of pursuing the study of physics or a related discipline at the advanced level. With this degree, students might pursue advanced work in the philosophy, history, or sociology of science. They might embark on careers as writers of science for newspapers or popular magazines, as publicists or grant writers for technical firms, or as writers of educational texts. They might pursue careers in patent and corporate law. Some (with appropriate supplementary courses) might enter medicine, dentistry, or veterinary science. Others might use their knowledge in management positions or in other aspects of business.

The BS in Physics with Professional Emphasis is primarily designed to prepare students for continued study in physics, astronomy, materials science, and other related areas of physical science and engineering. Students terminating study with this degree, however, will have strong backgrounds in the fundamentals of physics used in industry or in research at national laboratories. Their strong problem solving skills should make them attractive as employees in a wide variety of technical and business endeavors.

The BS in Physics with Applied Emphasis provides a firm foundation in the macroscopic physics essential to industrial research and development, incorporates significant experience in one other area of engineering or science, and is sufficiently streamlined that students can actually complete the requirements in four years. By suitable choice of collateral courses (done in close consultation with Departmental advisors), students with this degree can create attractive credentials for employment in many areas of technological industry, in business, sales, and marketing. Such students may also go on to advanced study in some fields of engineering, materials science, biophysics, medical physics, chemical physics, and geophysics.

The Double BS with Math combines the minimal BS degree requirements in Physics and Mathematics. The intent of the program is to allow students with unusually strong quantitative skills and interests to explore the close relationship of mathematics and theoretical physics. Though holders of this double degree will be well suited for careers in actuarial science and applied mathematics, many will probably wish to continue the study of one or other discipline at the advanced level. Such students are advised to supplement the minimal requirements listed above with appropriate courses to facilitate their admission to graduate work.

The BS in Physics Teaching is designed for secondary school teachers who will seek positions in which teaching physics is their primary assignment. The program provides enough background for the recipient of this degree to teach some other science and mathematics courses as well.

The BS in Composite Teaching is designed for secondary school teachers who will teach physics as one component of their assignments, along with chemistry and perhaps mathematics.

GRADUATE

Students seeking the Master of Science degree can pursue a regular MS (Physics), an MS (Upper Atmospheric Physics) option, or our newly created Industrial Physics (IMS) option.

The regular MS program can take on Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C forms.

In Plan A (30 credits), the student takes 4 core graduate physics courses, 6 to 15 credits of research, writes and defends a research thesis, and presents a departmental colloquium. The student completing this program should be have practical experience in scientific research and should have grounding in advanced material generally accepted as core subjects in physics. He/she is qualified to study for a PhD and is qualified to enter the scientific research workforce as a team member.

In Plan B (30 credits), the student takes 5 core graduate physics courses, 2 or 3 credits of research, writes and defends a research paper (typically a literature review), and presents a departmental colloquium. The student completing this program should be have practical experience in finding information from scientific literature and should have grounding in advanced material generally accepted as core subjects in physics. He/she is qualified to assist in scientific research.

In Plan C (33 credits), the student takes 6 core graduate physics courses can choose to take no research credits, but must present in writing and orally to his/her supervisory committee a paper on some aspect of graduate physics education. The student completing this program is well qualified to convey advanced, well-established scientific information either in an educational environment or in a business environment.

The Upper Atmospheric Option takes advantage of the Department's very strong research program in upper atmospheric physics. Originally designed specifically for students from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), the program is generally available to all students interested in this particular branch of applied physics. This degree program is offered as plan A only. The student who completes this program has a good grounding in the properties of the solar-terrestrial space environment and techniques to explore this region using space platforms. This is a terminal MS degree and will open possibilities for employment in the aerospace industry, government agencies dealing with space science and engineering or the Department of Defense.

The Industrial MS option is intended for students who wish to enter the workforce with higher qualifications than a BS. The evolution of this program has occurred with the assistance of industry and government representatives. One of the key features of the program is a requirement for the student to spend either the summer or one full semester in an internship. This program will be coupled with our BS with Applied Emphasis to create a BS-to-MS option. The program will be offered in the Plan B format only.

The Doctor of Philosophy in physics is a research degree in which the recipient studies core physics material at an advanced level and contributes significant new knowledge to some area of physics. The number of credits required for the PhD is 90 beyond the bachelors or 60 beyond the masters. It requires a written research dissertation and an oral defense, and two departmental colloquia. Students completing this degree program will be candidates for positions leading to senior leadership roles in research groups in industry and government laboratories. They will also be qualified for teaching/research positions in Universities.

Physics Program Assessment Inputs, Responses, and Outcomes

1. Inputs

The Physics teaching program impacts various stakeholders and its assessment is based on continual input from them that includes:

frequent (mandatory) conversations between our departmental adviser (see below) and her advisees;
exit interviews of all seniors; student participation at department meetings;
alumni surveys;
conversations with alumni who return to campus to deliver colloquia;
advice from a panel of industrial scientists;
responses to the Physics Department Newsletter;
continuing dialogs with the many departments we serve;
faculty reports on conferences dealing with trends in physics textbooks and curricular reform;
faculty reports on NSF review panels on physics education research; and (electronic and personal) articulation meetings involving physics faculty from the state’s institutions of higher learning;
examination of stated goals in course syllabi (example);
frequent class visits and follow-up discussions by the Department head and others;
Department retreats focusing on curricular issues;
Department meetings focusing on curricular issues.

2. Responses to Inputs

Input from these many sources have led us to institute numerous changes in our program over the past few years. The most significant of these are:

hiring a full-time academic adviser;
introducing computers for problem solving and data acquisition across the curriculum;
developing a number of undergraduate degree options to enhance our students’ career flexibility: BS in Physics; BA in Physics; BS in Physics with a Professional Emphasis; BS in Physics with an Applied Emphasis; Math & Physics Dual Major Option; BS in Physics Teaching; BS in Composite Teaching-Physical Science
reformulating junior level courses to better suit the needs of all our majors (not just those going to graduate school);
requiring a capstone research experience for all undergraduate majors;
streamlining our graduate requirements to reduce redundancies and to help shorten the time spent to obtain degrees;
establishing a Graduate Student Tracking Committee to more carefully monitor graduate student progress;
instituting mandatory attendance of graduate students at departmental colloquia;
producing new, audience-specific courses to better fit the curricula of the University’s various programs: Phyx 1200 – Intro. to Physics by Hands-On Exploration (primary audience: elementary education majors); Phyx 1800 – Physics of Technology (ITE majors); Phyx 2110 & 2120 – The Physics of Living Systems I & II (life science majors); Phyx 2200 – Elements of Mechanics (CEE, MAE majors); Phyx 3010 – Space Exploration (USU depth); Phyx 3020 – Great Scientists (USU depth); Phyx 3030 – The Universe (USU depth); Phyx 4020 – Science, Art, and Music (USU depth); two sections of USU 1360 (USU integrated physical science);
establishing a Physics Learning Center, a physical space that is staffed by student assistants and is open to anyone needing extra help in any course in physics;
housing undergraduate and graduate students in a common study area equipped with carrels, computers, and whiteboards;
running an informal seminar for students preparing to take the physics GRE.

3. Outcomes to Date

Though not all changes have been in place long enough to adequately assess outcomes we do know some things. Over the past two years:

Lara Anderson (soon to be at Oxford) and Jamie Jorgensen (now studying for a PhD at Rice) were named USU’s first Goldwater Scholars.
Paul Simonson (now in the MD/PhD program at Illinois), Richard Datwyler, and Jodie Corbridge were the first USU students chosen by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to present research at CUR’s Posters on the Hill at the US Capitol.
Professor Jan Sojka was tabbed the CASE Professor of the Year for the State of Utah.
In 2002-2003, our students won recognition for the presentation of their scholarly work at meetings of the American Geophysical Union, the American Physical Society (APS), and the Dirac Centennial Celebration.
Professor David Peak was named COS Teacher of the Year for 2003.
At the 2003 commencement, ten of our 15 seniors graduated with academic honors and Anderson gave the first student valedictory address in over 50 years.
During the fall semester, the plasma-fusion work of our freshman, Craig Wallace, produced almost daily (positive) radio, TV, and newspaper exposure for USU.
Most recently—and certainly most significantly, Anderson was awarded the prestigious Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships.

In addition, we know that:

The number of students enrolled in physics at USU has increased by over 25% in the last few years.

Presently, more than 90% of our student credit hours come from other departments (which we infer as indicating success in responding to others’ needs).
While, nationally, the number of physics majors has declined by 50% in the last decade, our number has risen by 50% in the same period.
The size of our 2003 graduating class (though small by some disciplines’ standards) ranked in the top 7% of all baccalaureate programs in physics in America.
The diversity of our degree programs has enabled recent graduates, among other things, to go to medical and law schools and to launch a career designing thrill rides.
Visitors to our colloquia frequently express astonished admiration for the size of our audiences.
The Learning Center is crammed with students.
Eight students participated in our informal GRE preparation seminar in Fall 2003.
Our adviser, Deborah Reece, received the 2000 Robins Professional Adviser Award.
And we think there may just be one or two more national prizewinners in our student pipeline.

4. To Do

Generate goal statements in each syllabus.
Identify example examination questions and assignments to assess goal attainment