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Computation in Undergraduate Physics: What needs to change and what change can mean to computation in engineering courses.

Abstract

During the past year a concerted movement has begun within the undergraduate physics community to grapple with the challenges of integrating computation into its curriculum. Engineering has a stake in this process for at least two reasons: physics departments generally teach the service course in physics taught to engineering students; and the ways in which computation is viewed and used in engineering differs between the physics and engineering communities. This paper describes recent developments within the physics education community with respect to integrating computation, and attempts to outline the common challenges the physics and engineering communities face and the opportunities they have to cooperate to their mutual benefit in curriculum development efforts.

This paper starts tracing recent physics education developments using data from a national survey that was commissioned by the magazine Computing in Science and Engineering (CiSE). This publication is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Physics and the IEEE-Computer Society, hence its interest in working at the intersection between physics and engineering. The paper continues with a description of an effort by the Committee on Instructional Technology – the counterpart to CoED within the American Institute of Physics Teachers – at the summer 2006 meeting of the AAPT to take "next steps" informed by the survey results and focused on promoting discussions based on examples of current physics curricular practices. Finally, it frames an agenda for examining possible ways to change the first-year physics course, which is taught as a service to engineering students, within the context of perceived similarities and differences in the roles that computation plays between physics and the engineering disciplines.

This paper is meant to stimulate a cooperative dialogue and participation between engineering and physics educators in a process as thought and discernment move toward reformative action.

Introduction

This paper presents evidence that the use of computation in undergraduate physics nationwide falls below the need for it as judged by physics instructors themselves. This situation has a potentially greater impact upon engineering than on physics in as much as computation plays a more prominent role in engineering than it does in current physics professional practices. In addition, it is arguable that the ways in which engineers use computation are considerably different, not only in practice but also in concept, from those of physicists. It follows that engineering stands to gain from a greater presence of computation in physics curricula, but only one thoughtfully designed by a dialogue between both these communities.

The analyses and conclusions in this paper are based on the perspective of an experimental physicist who has gradually, over the years, been drawn into computation along a number of different paths. These include the physics professoriate and experimental applied research and development work conducted in a number of engineering fields – optical, bio-medical,

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Chonacky, N. (2007, June), Computation In Undergraduate Physics: What Needs To Change And What Change Can Mean To Computation In Engineering Courses. Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2648