Section 4.2 Discussing refinements during Upper Division Curriculum Committee meetings
¶The first Upper Division Curriculum Committee meeting winter term addressed several issues. It began with a report on changes made in one of the junior-level paradigms in physics courses and ways those changes would impact another course. The group also discussed how to track revisions made within courses based on assessments of student learning outcomes as specified by the university's requirements for preparing for a report and site visit for renewing accreditation. A second report pondered the importance of students learning about a general case in Math Bits as well as the specifics a faculty member models in applying that abstract mathematics within a particular physics context, especially now that the mathematics methods capstone course had been eliminated. This meeting also considered courses to recommend for students headed to graduate school, particularly specialty courses as well as the first year graduate courses in mechanics and math methods to replace the undergraduate mechanics and math methods capstone courses that had been eliminated.
The second Upper Division Curriculum Committee meeting focused primarily on a report about one of the junior-level paradigms in physics courses by a faculty member teaching the course for the first time. The wiki archiving agendas, minutes, and reports was being updated. The third Upper Division Curriculum Committee meeting focused primarily on progress in designing a new junior-level lab course that might help resolve the issue of how to provide an increasing number of majors with sufficient support for getting started with and completing senior theses. Also discussed were recommended electives for graduate-school bound students.
The fourth meeting focused upon three options suggested by the Paradigms 2.0 Committee for revising the order of the paradigms in physics courses: a minimal change (moving one course from spring term back to its prior position fall term and moving another course from fall to spring term, a medium change (making that change plus moving PH 315 and 335 to fall term and shifting the paradigms courses all one term later), and a large change (making prior changes and easing fall term senior year by moving one of the paradigm courses back to spring term junior year, which would schedule three rather than two paradigms in physics courses that term) A straw vote indicated that only two faculty favored a minimal change and most were in favor of a medium change.