Implementing and Sustaining Curricular Reform in a Large Introductory Physics Course at Georgia Tech

 

Michael F. Schatz
Thursday, January 21, 2016
3:30pm refreshments (219 JFB)
4pm lecture (102 JFB)

 

A novel physics curriculum, Matter and Interactions (M&I), was introduced into Georgia Tech engineering physics courses in Summer 2006; today the curriculum is taught to approximately one thousand students each semester.  The M&I curriculum places a special emphasis on computation, a cornerstone of modern science and engineering that, paradoxically, is rarely encountered in introductory STEM courses. We will highlight some key issues associated with implementing the M&I curriculum; in particular, we will discuss challenges associated with integrating computation into large-enrollment introductory courses, including efforts to measure the impact of computational curricular materials on student learning. We will also describe efforts to measure the new curriculum’s impact using both standardized assessment tools (concept inventories) and in-depth student interviews (think-aloud protocol studies).  The presentation will discuss barriers to implementing and to sustaining reform curricula in university physics courses.