A Study of the Development of the Paradigms in Physics Program

Members of the Paradigms 2.0 committee resumed meeting during winter term 2019. After discussing various possibilities, they consulted each faculty member who would be affected by adjusting the order of the junior-level paradigms in physics courses. Members of the Paradigms 2.0 Committee also discussed these possibilities with the group of faculty participating in the Upper Division Curriculum Committee meetings as well as with a focus group of students currently enrolled in the upper-level courses. Eventually the Paradigms 2.0 Committee articulated five options: making a minimal change, a medium change, and three options for making a large change in the order of the paradigms in physics courses. In preparing for a vote, they first provided information about these five options in the first Upper Division Curriculum Committee meeting during spring term and then presented the five options formally for a vote in the first regular faculty meeting two days later. One of the options for a large change in the order of the junior-level courses was chosen as discussed in section 4.6.