Section 3.2 Building upon a Successful Card-Sorting Process Used Earlier
The Paradigms 2.0 committee members decided to follow the unusual process that had been successful two decades earlier during the initial re-organization of the upper-level curriculum into the Paradigms in Physics courses. Those earlier faculty members had first listed on colored index cards the topics taught in the standard courses; then had moved the index cards around to create new groupings of similar concepts used in different physics sub-disciplines. This collaborative card-sorting process had included inviting every faculty member to participate in viewing the new groupings of cards, in suggesting possible rearrangements, and in contemplating the consequences of various combinations. All faculty members had had an opportunity to consider the proposed changes from their own perspectives and to discuss the changes one-on-one with a committee member.
When the committee finally had formally presented the proposed reformed curriculum for a vote, the faculty had approved the plan unanimously. These multi-color card groupings then had become the basis for designing the junior year physics courses that were organized around physics paradigms – “central concepts and examples which lie at the heart of physics” (Manogue, Siemens, Tate, Browne, Niess, and Wolfer, 2001, p. 980). This successful history inspired the decision to re-envision the current curriculum in a similar way.