Physics at Brigham Young University

PHYSICS AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITYSteve TurleyJune 26, 2010

Outline

Introduction to BYU Department Culture Introductory Courses Advanced Courses Student Mentoring Majors

Facts About BYU

Location: Provo, Utah Total Undergraduate Enrollment: capped at

about 30,000 Private, Religiously Oriented

significant financial support from LDS church vast majority of students are Mormon

Students from all 50 states and 110 foreign countries, but mostly from the West 30% from Utah 13% from California 5% each from Washington, Idaho, Texas

History

University founded 1875 (high school) First physics course 1881 First full-time physics instructor 1901 First physics graduate (Fletcher), 1907 Department formed 1911 (Fletcher) C. F. Eyring head, 1916-1951 MS degrees 1933, PhD in 1959

Admissions Selectivity

Some enrollment pressure, but most applicants are admitted

Some self-selection Average high school GPA: 3.8 90% have ACT scores between 24 and 30

Relatively high retention (about 93%)

BYU Physics Faculty

33 Full-Time Faculty (11 Prof/16 Assoc/6 Asst) Almost all are research-active

Research areas Astronomy/astrophysics Acoustics Plasma Atomic Optical Condensed Matter Nuclear General Relativity Statistical Mechanics

Number of Physics Majors

Grew significantly from 1995-2000, a period when other programs were shrinking

Stable since then.

Graduates Per Year

Relatively Small Graduate Program

Department Culture

Student emphasis Collegiality College and institutional ties strong

past history alignment with institutional values

Values Teaching Relationships Excellence

Attracting and Retaining Majors Orientation Advisement Promoting student-student interactions Faculty mentoring Undergraduate research Teaching emphasis Department culture

Orientation

Freshmen meeting with SPS Officers, Associate Chair, and U-grad Advisor Introductions Suggestions for Success Undergraduate Handbook

Required Introduction to Physics Class

Advisement

Formal Advising Class advisors On-call advisors College Advisement Center Peer Advisors

Informal Advising Research Advisors Other Students

Promoting Student-Student Interactions Very Active SPS Chapter

Monthly meetings Outreach

Undergraduate Study Room Open Tutorial Labs Peer Instruction Undergraduate Research Groups

Teaching Emphasis

Evaluation Annual interviews Rank and status reviews

Departmental Teaching Discussions Outstanding full-time faculty teach general

education and service courses Student involvement as TA’s Collegial environment for constructive

formative and summative evaluation of each other’s teaching

Introductory Courses

taught in large sections (100-300) taught by our best full-time faculty mostly taken by engineers, other majors

in our college, and potential physics majors

seen as critical to attracting and keeping majors many decide on a physics major their

freshman and sophomore years

Calculus-Based Physics

Algebra-Based Physics

General Education

Physical Science 100

Transition Courses

Introductory labs taught early in their experience to give them tools needed for undergraduate research

Modern Physics class first one with mostly physics majors emphasis on professional development encouragement to seek research

experiences connections with other majors

Upper Division Courses

variety, taught frequently (large department)

enrollment 25-35 standard texts and sequences: math

physics, computational physics, labs, thermal physics, optics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics

specialized courses: astrophysics, acoustics, solid state

special topics (rare): biophysics, chaos

Faculty Mentoring

Undergraduate Research Experiences Many start in first and second year Students recruiting students SPS Research night

Inviting students to lunch Faculty accessibility

Office hours Open door policy

Undergraduate Research

Senior Thesis, Honors Thesis, Capstone Experience, or Student Teaching required of all graduates.

Most get department, college, or university support

Assessment Alumni survey: overwhelming majority said it

was a good or excellent experience Exit interviews: very challenging, but often a

defining undergraduate experience Requires a lot of faculty time

Senior and Honors Theses

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Capstone Projects

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Undergraduate Majors by Program

BS Physics

Astronomy

Applied: Selected Options

Applied: Computer Science

Physics/PS Education

Applied Physics*

Physics Education

Used to complain about the preparation of our entering students

Realized, we were training most of their teachers

Allies and colleagues student preparation recruitment

Great TA’s Stimulate department discussion of

teaching

Relationships

strong support from college and other departments

good cooperation with College of Education gave us an FTE to hire teacher education

specialist we help them a lot with supervising student

teaching and many committee assignments students get strong reinforcement from

faculty about choice of secondary teaching (class and research groups)

these are sometimes some of our best students (Carolyn Evans)

Decision on Physics Education Major all of the students I interviewed made

final decision about major after coming to BYU

majors some from other physics majors many from other departments (flexible

entry) introductory courses matter a lot

pedagogy engagement

Departmental Support

full-fledged students (Spring Research Conference Award winners)

rewards for excellence in tutoring labs, etc. mentoring (teaching and research groups) “every way we can”

facilitate late entry into major ask students and TA’s for opinions on teaching personalize courses to their interests (paper

topics, for instance) students need to feel valued, cared for, and

assisted

Cultural Helps

service-oriented school strong culture of teaching

department missionary experience

strong emphasis on families secondary school teaching often a good choice

for students who want to spend f a lot of time with families

momentum (word of mouth) many different reasons for making choice

Other Factors

Methods class taught by someone with classroom experience

Shared core courses One physics teacher responsible for whole

group Excellent relationships with local schools Weekly “group meetings”

build apparatus talk about salaries discuss job opportunities answer questions

Change of Culture

Five years ago we averaged a couple of physics graduates a year

Major change hired good people shift in department culture concerted effort

Now average about 12 physics education graduates a year

5% of total U.S. physics education graduates in 2006

Alumni Survey—Recruiting

Personal enrichment (91%) Reputation of faculty (29%) Reputation of program (36%) Interest in subject area (100%) Influence of family (39%) Influence of other students (13%) Influence of faculty members (20%)

When Students Chose Major

Before college 53% Freshman year 21% Sophomore year 14% Junior year 4% Senior year 1%

Why Students Chose Major

Direct interest in subject (53) Understanding how things work (48) Indirect Interest

Math (23) Other field(4) Flexible/Broad major (17)

Difficulty Challenge/Intellectual Stimulation (22) Aptitude (10)

Choosing a Physics Major

Disciplinary Characteristics Fun(13) Religious/Aesthetic Reasons (10) Problem solving (9) Hands-on (8) Fundamental, logical, concrete, meaningful, creative

surprises Financial

Career good (4) Scholarship (1)

RecruitingInfluence of Others High School Course/Teacher (23) College Course

Introductory Course (14) Caring Faculty (2)

Family (6)

Why Students Kept Major

Continued interest in subject (69) Community: Professors (28), Students (11) Inertia/Perseverance (23) Challenge/Reward/Growth/Prestige (23) Research Experiences (10) Job/Career (8) Broad Subject, Options (7) Aptitude (6) Still fun (5)

Other Reasons to Stay

Predictable subject (“not art”) Like learning new things Organization of Department or Major Increased understanding Enjoy math or problem solving Family encouragement Want to help world or community Religious motivations Scholarship requirement

Summary

Many factors lead to a strong department

Department culture and relationships important result from intangibles passing these on to the next generation

Count the cost Play to your strengths Physics education defines our future