Phys21 Case Studies - AAPT Summer 2017

Editor's Notes

• #2: I was commissioned by JTUPP committee to develop and write case studies to accompany the Phys21 report. Extreme privilege and I continue to be inspired by what these programs are doing. This was one of my favorite projects this year, and would love for someone to hire me to do more work like this. I’ve used what I learned many times in advising several STEM departments and am excited to share it. - WHO IS DEPT CHAIR / WHO LEADS CHANGE IN DEPT / WHO ISN’T IN EITHER BIN 3 main points: You should be intentional about your strategies, including strategic planning and creating shared vision. Leading change in a department requires setting clear goals, and getting faculty on board with your vision. There are transportable strategies, but also elements of each institution’s approach that helped them arrive at those strategies and implement those effectively. Knowing your local strengths and opportunities (SWOT) helps you get there. Talk flow: Methods, what we did. Strategies that fit with each recommendation. Some cool stuff to try. But this fits within a broader vision for each institution. These were impressive.
• #3: Ranges from 5-45 faculty, 10-50 degrees granted. Used a variety of existing documentation, including AIP Career Pathways project (which used some of the same case studies), and interviews with 3-5 faculty leaders, almost always including the chair. Only reported activities as significant when there was at least some agreement among the interviewees – looked for triangulation of opinion. That way it wasn’t just PR on the part of the chair. Carthage: 5 faculty, private, 10 BS LaCrosse: 10 faculty, 4 year college, 27 BS Florida State: 43 faculty, public, 30 BS St. Mary’s: 5 faculty, public honors and 4 year liberal arts, 13 BS Davis: 46 faculty, public research, 40-50 BS
• #4: There were lots of transportable strategies, but these were supported by unifying themes or approaches that made the department’s strategies cohesive. http://fastlubeplus.com/car-maintenance/essential-tools-keep-car http://www.vickygrahamproductions.com/productions/strong-arm/
• #5: There were lots of transportable strategies, but these were supported by unifying themes or approaches that made the department’s strategies cohesive. http://fastlubeplus.com/car-maintenance/essential-tools-keep-car http://www.vickygrahamproductions.com/productions/strong-arm/
• #6: There were lots of transportable strategies, but these were supported by unifying themes or approaches that made the department’s strategies cohesive. http://fastlubeplus.com/car-maintenance/essential-tools-keep-car http://www.vickygrahamproductions.com/productions/strong-arm/
• #7: There were lots of transportable strategies, but these were supported by unifying themes or approaches that made the department’s strategies cohesive. http://fastlubeplus.com/car-maintenance/essential-tools-keep-car http://www.vickygrahamproductions.com/productions/strong-arm/
• #8: Not all JTUPP strategies, Preparing diverse students and recruiting, positive Ss experience.
• #9: 3 MIN Goals great, but how do you use them to drive curriculum? ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE. LaCrosse, Program goals Ss no practice or assessment of some, like communication Committee matches program level goals <-> courses, but lets faculty choose how to assess- Present results in daylong retreat Results: Ss give talk in upper div course, rubric, then capstone course talk Eric Gansen quote Carthage also took assessment results seriously. Program goals, improved them over time, strategic planning, Julie quote. --------------------------------------------------- they revised program level learning goals and ended up with a good set of goals. But found that their students weren’t being given opportunities to practice all these skills, like communication, and they didn’t have opportunities to assess them. Assessment commttee determines which courses provide best assessment of those goals. Faculty are allowed to choose how to assess the goal, and then all results are presented in a daylong retreat focused on formative discussion. This led to students giving a talk in an upper level course, having it assessed on a rubric, and then giving a talk in a capstone course. But needed learning goals first to drive this. GOAL REVISION. At Carthage, they found their goals were too vague the first time around, but it got them to a place where they could talk about goals more clearly. https://stemcell.ny.gov/ethics-committee
• #10: 5 MIN MULTIPLE PATHWAYS: Carthage: Ss graduate in 4 years even if don’t take physics first year. Intro courses offered every semester same time, take Fa/Sp, easy switch if misplaced Carthage policy of excitement first, math second, and supports Ss with weak math. Nonmajor courses (Good Vibrations, Cosmology) geared to get students to think about majoring in physics; and if decide in Sophomore year they can enter the major. “We treat everything as a recruiting opportunity” said Kevin Crosby. LaCrosse algebra or calculus based course fulfills major requirement. Physics content early even if math placement doesn’t qualify. Recruits 10 students/year from algebra based course. MULTIPLE DEGREE TRACKS Align with faculty areas Expliicitly recognizes many career pathways and helps recruit students even if not highly used LaCrosse finds 3-2 attractive for career options, but Ss switch from 3-2 into physics once they realize career options in physics --------------------------------------------------- Carthage lets students graduate in 4 years even if don’t take intro physics the first year. Each intro course is offered every semester at the same time, so students can enter in Fall or Spring and switch between courses if misplaced. Carthage also supports students with weak backgrounds in math: Excitement first, math second. They give lots of non-majors classes as entry points, lke Good Vibrations and Cosmology and Intro Astro, to get people who hadn’ thtought about physics. LaCrosse allows algebra or calculus based intro course to count towards major, so get into course even if math placement doesn’t qualify them for calculus based course. Also helps recuit students. FLEXIBLE DEGREE. Even if not used, considerd strong recruiting mechanism. 3-2 are very popular because seen as better career options, but at LaCrosse sometimes students switch to physics. Diverse faculty pool allows many concentrations. http://www.jobboom.com/career/the-multiple-paths-of-engineering/
• #11: 8 MIN INTRO COURSE (Many benefits, Ss learning, community, Ss/faculty, retention, teamwork) - St. Mary’s attended NFW, 20 techniques Carthage, Florida, Lacrosse – lab/lecture. Strong cohorts, simplifies scheduling. MAJORS COURSE (benefits to create strong cohort, not lost in large pool, and offer tailored content and support) St. Mary’s, physics interested, not honors. More mentoring and coaching. Embedded careers curriculum. Content consistent with other course for first semester so Ss can switch. FCI gains in both. Davis, separate smaller honors course. Combined lab/recitation makes flexible time. Better cohort, tailor content to majors, get into 20th century topics earlier. --------------------------------------------------- INTRO COURSE . At St. Mary’s most faculty have attended the AAPT NFW, and are familiar with a wide variety of innovations, and could name about 20 techniques tried throughout the curriculum Carthage Florida and LaCrosse: Studio lab/lecture course.. At Davis, they redesigned the intro labs, supporting their ability to do investigations later in the major. Creates good cohort building. Multiple benefits to intro course. Student learning, community, student/faculty, retention. MAJORS. St. Mary’s offers separate course, not restricted to majors, and not honors course. Strong cohort for physics students, otherwise in big pool. More mentoring and coaching, with embedded careers curriculum. Content consistent with other course for first semester so students can switch. Resulted in FCI gains in both. At Davis, majors advised to take separate intro honors course, smaller, combined lab/recitation. Tailored to majors and better cohort, gets into 20th century topics earlier. https://cei.umn.edu/support-services/tutorials/active-learning-classrooms
• #12: 11 MIN SUPPORT: St. Mary’s offers a calculus support class since it’s hard to be in intro physics + calculus. Work on problems in groups, told this is normal and not remedial. Florida offers Physics Problem Solving, Discovering Physics, Communication in Physics, giving 3 talks and getting feedback.
• #13: CAREER: - LaCrosse, Davis,and Florida give 1-credit seminars, sometimes in Fall and Spring. Introduce to career options, build community in cohort, and invite physicists from the university and outside to talk about their careers. At Florida, they write a resume and have it critiqued at career center. Very popular, and all students can drop in, sometimes required for freshmen. - St. Mary’s career curriculum in 3rd semester course. Research internships, write letter. Time intensive, commitment to major. --------------------------------------------------- LaCross gives one credit seminar in Fall and Spring. Introduces to career options, and community building, goood for retention. Davis does a similar thing, with one focusing on career prpearation, and the other bringing in physicists to talk about their careers. Both are popular. At Florida, a single seminar (Discovering Physics) is required, learn about career options and write resume and have it critiqued at career center. St. mary’s has career curriculum embedded in 3rd semester of intro course, including researching internships and writing letter. It’s pretty time intensive, so also serves as a gauge of commitment to th major. They also get more internships due to writing an application. Image from AIP Career Pathways Toolkit.
• #14: 15 MIN COMMUNITY:. St. Mary’s Also offers Emerging Scholars, students meet 1/week to work on challenge problems and discuss elements of major, like study habits. : Davis has quarterly lunches for women in physics and weekly discussions. UNDERGRAD RESEARCH. LaCrosse, 27 grads, about ¼ do undergrad research though only 10 faculty. Faculty given 3-credit teaching load for supervising. Helps with recruitment at small institution. At Florida, students interview faculty in 1st year seminar and present it, so know research oppportunities, and undergrad poster sessions. At Davis, the Advanced Lab course includes authentic investgiation and a PhysRev style writeup. --------------------------------------------------- Image from AIP Careers Toolkit.
• #16: 18
• #17: 5 FACULTY, 10 BS. Clear sense of mission. They want to encourage diverse students to pursue physics, including those not getting PhD. Entire program is intentionally designed to support this goal. With focus on student experience. Required to create strategic plan, mission statement, SWOT. Rather than pro forma, treated it seriously and got a lot out of it. Actively recruit through outreach and nonmajor courses, several concentrations for diverse students, 3-2 program, flexible entry points into degree, and creates strong student cohorts so they persist. Thinks all the time about student experience, assesses results, and creates changes. High initiative won admin support through faculty lines and funding. http://bestwalkingfeet.com/good-comfortable-shoes/for-standing-all-day/
• #18: 21 MIN St. Mary’s was also very intentional. 5 FACULTY, 13 BS. “We want students to apply to St. Mary’s because of the physics program” said the chair, quotingthe mission. They set high standards, and is very open to trying new ideas. (1) “You have to be willing to say yes more than no”. Tried new order for introductory course even though it came from junior faculty. And he hates hearing “we tried that and it didn’t work.” It might work now. (2) And says not to worry about the budget. He tried many things on a shoestring budget, “I had to go the administration, hat in hand.” - Charles Adler. If it’s successful you’ll find a way to fund it. “Nothing succeeds like success.” said Adler. So take data to justify success. (3) And because everyone trying it, easier. And faculty review process looks for evidence of reflective teaching, and they take FCI data so they can argue for student learning if a faculty member’s evaluations drop whiel they experiment with something new.. Experimented a lot with program and curriculum, adding aluni event, using PER techniques, offering scholars program. All ideas were gleaned from elsewhere (national reports, other universities, conferences). Continual infusion of new ideas, and willingness to try them. These reports were also used to convince administration for example to add student space. https://es.pinterest.com/pin/562598178424461466/
• #19: Long-term chair, since 1990s so had a consistent vision which led to many structures. Chair discusses program continually with faculty, admin, and other departments. Biology majors weren’t taking physics courses, talked to chair, and designed a new course to serve biology majors. Engages in national efforts like PhysTEC. Made department visible to administration and community Lacrosse chair is well-trusted by admin. Makes admin look good by putting physics in the news, good contact with local media, highlights community efforts (service learning project, distinguished lecture series). Produces credit hours and student enrollments that admin wants. In exchange he usually gets what he wants from admin. http://activistsjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2015/05/day-754-how-effective-is-your.html
• #20: 24 MIN At large universities, hard to solve as departent as a whole. But an active and well respected committee can do a lot. Engaged in their own learning. Go to conferences. Bring back ideas, make recommendations. Engaged in advising and teaching intro courses. Well-connected to students. Strategic teaching assignments for intro course with strong teachers Supported by broader faculty. Florida State – committee suggested offering additional courses, and faculty agreed that they were critical. Only approved as required once data suported their effectiveness. Davis – Dedicated instructors advisors, also on committee, gives committee sense of what is happening with students, what’s working or not, and keeps students on track. Continuity and coherence. https://xbrl.us/data-quality/committee/