Section 4.5 Whom to teach: Modifying the student population succeeding in upper level physics courses.
¶Several of the faculty interviewed referred to the ‘brick wall’ that students seemed to encounter as they entered the junior year, both students completing the introductory courses on campus and those transferring from community colleges. The faculty pondered ways to create a more ‘kinder, gentler’ upper-level experience, to enable more students to succeed. Among the concerns was how to properly prepare physics majors headed to graduate school while at the same time meeting the needs of those whose aspirations were to work in industry immediately after graduation or to become precollege teachers.