A Study of the Development of the Paradigms in Physics Program

Section 3.2 Spring term: Collaborating during the Re-Envisioning Process

• Schedule frequent, brief, and focused small committee meetings

  • agree to meet, for example, for one hour twice a week such as M & W, 2–3
  • strategize about what needs to be done by whom by when
  • focus on agreed upon priority for that meeting
  • encourage all to contribute their ideas
  • pause frequently to give people time to think, to venture an unusual possibility
  • identify what is important, what principles should govern a particular decision
  • talk together about suggestions on the table as long as needed, even multiple meetings
  • end on time and be content with making some progress, even if only a little, for now

• Interview faculty teaching upper-division courses to ascertain current curriculum

  • decide who should interview whom, based on which committee member is most familiar with a course's content and most comfortable with the current faculty member teaching the course
  • decide on color scheme for index cards (e.g., pink for math methods, orange for thermodynamics, yellow for quantum mechanics, green for classical mechanics, blue for electricity and magnetism, white for professional development skills)
  • become aware of grain size issues, of how detailed an accounting of topics is needed
  • meet with the faculty member teaching a course, bring index cards and pen, talk about the course content, maybe look at textbook and/or class notes, write major topics, one on each card, aim for about ten cards per course

• Assemble index cards on large table that can be left undisturbed for many weeks

  • meet in quiet room with large table, chairs for committee members and visitors
  • arrange cards in columns, one for each course, in temporal order

    

  • keep the conversation open as contemplate changes to address identified issues
  • move cards around freely to try out various suggestions
  • keep meeting and talking until a solution emerges

• Keep faculty and administrator informed and engaged during re-envisioning process

  • engage upper-division faculty in brainstorming needs of majors during a regularly scheduled faculty curriculum meeting
  • invite individual faculty members with special expertise and administrator to meet with the committee to ponder possible changes early in the discussions
  • provide brief updates at regularly scheduled faculty meetings

• Meet one-on-one with every faculty member to discuss proposed changes

  • decide who should meet with whom, based on who is most comfortable with a faculty member and most knowledgeable about that person's likely concerns
  • listen and respond to concerns expressed, including letting individual faculty move the cards around to try out different scenarios; discuss with committee and modify as needed

• Meet with current students to discuss proposed changes

  • listen and respond to feedback expressed, including modifying plans as needed

• Prepare presentations at sequence of two faculty meetings before vote

  • provide informal summary of proposed changes, with handouts, at first meeting
  • make formal presentation at second meeting, open floor for discussion, continue discussion until someone motions from the floor for a vote. (If seems appropriate, committee members signal to facilitator to wait to vote at a later meeting).