摘要:

A conference held in Denver, Colorado, during August, 1961, was concerned with the need for bringing about an immediate improvement in the quality of education offered by four-year colleges to their physics majors. The roles that the introductory course, the intermediate courses, the laboratory, undergraduate research, and independent work should play in undergraduate physics majors were discussed at considerable length. Among the chief recommendations made at the conference were: the introductory physics course, using the concepts of the calculus, should begin in the freshman year, preferably in the first semester; all courses, particularly the intermediate ones, must place increasing emphasis on the analytic nature of physics, and the courses must be organized into a sequential arrangement that utilizes the growing maturity of the student in both physics and mathematics; the thoroughness and depth of the laboratory work should increase with the developing skill and insight of the student and should culminate with work at or near the research level; research and independent work are important to the intellectual development of the student and should be strongly encouraged.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941961

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Introductory courses for students who expect to become physics majors must furnish the background for the intermediate courses at the same time that they serve as a test of the student's ability and interest. If these things are to be accomplished better than in the past, changes should be in the direction of doing in better ways what is already being done, rather than in the direction of some of the radical departures from current practice that have been suggested. Some of the suggestions that have been made are discussed, and it is concluded that they will not result in better preparation.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941962

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

If we are to improve the preparation of physics majors, in keeping with the needs of the times and with the improved preparation that students in increasing numbers will be bringing from their high schools, we must decide on what parts of physics are most important. It is suggested that our courses must pay greater attention to phenomena and less to mathematical formalism. Specific suggestions about the ways in which courses in mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, atomic and nuclear physics, and thermodynamics can be modified to accomplish this are given.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941963

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

An important function of the laboratory in undergraduate physics instruction is considered to be the illustration of the way in which the interaction of theory and experiment results in the growth of physical science. When existing practices are measured by their degree of success in fulfilling the function, many are found to be deficient. On the other hand, experiments under way in various departments of physics suggest ways in which the laboratory can be made a unique tool for instruction. A set of general requirements for good experiments is proposed and the problems of their application are discussed.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941964

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Present demands, which result from the growth of physics in content and depth, will be satisfied only if we use our teaching time more effectively. The movement of material previously taught in graduate school into the undergraduate curriculum can be allowed for if we take full advantage of improved preparation in the high schools, particularly in mathematics. It is suggested that intermediate courses might be organized about problems that are connected by common principles and methods, rather than about the particular “quasi-sensory” groups of phenomena that have determined the subject matter in the past, and that stronger emphasis be placed on physical content, rather than mathematical manipulation.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941965

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The difficulties in making the physics laboratory truly a part of the education of students are considered. The tendencies toward the use of less standardized equipment and toward allowing more freedom to the students are resulting in improvements, but they, in turn, introduce new problems—those of cost, of the preparation of laboratory assistants, and of the prevention of over-specialization at an early stage. Among the activities that offer hope for the improvement of our laboratories are the work of the AAPT Committee on Apparatus, especially the Apparatus Drawing Project. Broad specifications of the requirement for good instructional apparatus and laboratory instructions are outlined, and instructors are encouraged to engage in a continuous process of change in their laboratories. Finally, some of the educational achievements of well-run experimental work are listed and discussed.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941966

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The nature of physics is such that no one can separate its subject matter from the research activity that has generated our knowledge. Hence research experience and independent study are essential parts of the education of any physicist. Arguments are advanced for including activities of this sort in the undergraduate program, and ways in which this can be done are discussed.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941967

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

College physics instructors may well question whether their traditional lack of attention to the preparation of teachers is not an evasion of responsibility. In particular, they may ask whether they are giving sufficient attention to the achievement by the student of anunderstandingof science. Recently suggested or proposed changes in certification requirements fail to recognize the essential fact that almost all high school science teachers must teach two or more different sciences, and it appears certain that basic changes in curricula, rather than the prescription of certain traditional courses, are needed if we are to prepare teachers of the tenth through twelfth grades.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941968

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

About 250 physics departments that offer an undergraduate physics major but do not have a Ph.D.-level graduate program replied to a general questionnaire dealing with departmental programs and practices. Results presented here are derived primarily from those sections of the questionnaire dealing with various aspects of the curriculum for physics majors: the introductory course taken by physics majors, intermediate level courses, the role of independent study and research, and specific degree requirements, together with some estimates as to further (post-baccalaureate) education and eventual careers of graduated majors.Some more general data on physics major enrollments and faculty sizes, derived from publications of the American Institute of Physics, are also included.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941969

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Far down the road the light is green, and you hurry toward it at or above the legal speed limit, hoping to reach the intersection before the light changes. While you are yet a short distanced0feet away, traveling with a high velocityv0, the light turns yellow. You are now faced with an instantaneous decision: shall you tramp hard on the brakes and decelerate at your maximum rate ofa− ft/sec2, or press the gas pedal to the floor and accelerate at your maximum ratea+ ft/sec2? You may not stop in time; if you elect to make a run for it, that faltering engine may not get you through before the yellow light turns to red. If the yellow-light duration isTseconds, and the intersection issfeet wide, then you may successfully choose either alternative if(v0T+12a+T2−s)>d0>12(v02/aminus), but if the left or the right inequality is reversed, you will not be able to run through or to stop, respectively. If both are reversed, a violation of the law is probable. The discussion presents the range of values of safe and unsafe combinations of the six basic parametersv0,d0,s,T,a−, anda+.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1941970

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1962

数据来源: AIP