Section 2.2 Forming a Small Representative Committee
During winter term, 2016, several faculty agreed to serve on the Paradigms 2.0 committee to help identify issues needing attention, seek information as needed from other faculty, access various resources, design and propose revisions, and bring a proposal to the rest of the faculty for a vote.
Members of the committee included a full professor who had provided leadership for the Paradigms in Physics program over the past two decades, two associate professors who were respected in the department for their expertise and enthusiasm in teaching some of the paradigms in physics courses as well as for their research programs, and an assistant professor with interests in student learning and curricular reform. They all were volunteers who had changes they wanted to help make happen; each was comfortable both as a speaker offering ideas but also as a good listener, willing to hear what others had to say; they represented different faculty perspectives such as experimentalist or theorist, were of different faculty ranks, were close colleagues of faculty in different research areas within the department, were knowledgeable about different aspects of the current curriculum and its history, and seemed to be respected by other faculty. All recognized and accepted that this undertaking likely would involve a huge investment of their time and effort. The lead author of this document, a part-time faculty member who had retired from another institution, participated as an observer, documenting the Paradigms 2.0 committee meetings and individual interviews with a digital audio-recorder and written notes.
To begin the revision process, the committee met occasionally winter term to brainstorm how to proceed, conferred about an upcoming colloquium to inform faculty about the intended re-envisioning process, and collaborated in designing an online survey to gather faculty and student input.