OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Beginning last fall, the School of Physics has embarked on a program to overhaul its introductory courses, PHYS 2211 and PHYS 2212, in order to help students develop better problem-solving skills and understanding of key concepts.

The changes include enforcing attendance at lectures and labs, narrowing the curriculum, and the use of Personal Response Systems that enable students to answer questions during lectures and during labs. While the changes are a step in the right direction, the school has not yet proven whether or not the new methods will positively improve the students' learning experiences.

It is clear from the performance of last semester's PHYS 2211 and 2212 classes (albeit without the mandatory attendance requirement) that the department has a long way to go. Based on the Fall 2004 grade distributions on the Course Critique database, the School of Physics had the highest percentage of students with D's or F's in its courses and lowest grade point averages when compared to all other introductory lab science courses. GPAs in PHYS 2211 and PHYS 2212 averaged 2.17 and 1.93. Approximately 25 percent of PHYS 2211 students received a D or F, while 34 percent of students in PHYS 2212 received a D or F. In CHEM 1310 and CHEM 1311, the average GPAs were 2.73 and 2.28. The introductory biology classes had GPAs of 2.64 and 3.14, respectively.

It is not likely that the newest changes will do much to help these numbers. Showing up to a lecture doesn't guarantee understanding. Professors should not force students to attend large lecture classes. It should be up to the student to decide how much responsibility he or she takes for his or her own grade.

Instead of fixing the core problem (large lectures and recitations that adversely affect students' ability to learn complex material) the school is simply placing the blame for poor performances on students' attendance patterns and problem-solving skills.

The school should instead examine the "chemistry model"-having small recitations once a week with a lab TA to go over homework and concepts. The chemistry department handled over 1,400 students last fall. Its lecture sizes are comparable to physics lectures, but its recitations have 20-30 student and conducted by TAs instead of the professor.

Physics recitations are conducted once a week by professors in a large 200-person lecture. Undergraduate TAs who hold mandatory problem solving-skills workshops could instead teach a weekly recitation that would answer students' questions about homework and lecture material.

Unless basic changes are made to the classroom environment, it is unlikely that the overall situation will improve.