GOALS

Consonant with the liberal arts nature of Carleton, our department serves not only physics and astronomy majors, but also other science majors requiring a background in physics or astronomy, and non-science majors desiring an introduction to these subjects. We have goals for the knowledge we would like students to acquire, the skills they should master, and the experiences they should have in learning and doing physics. The following overview of these goals is adapted from the 1994 Departmental Statement on Goals and Assessment, which is available from the department.

To be a physicist is to have knowledge of certain core subjects, as well as acquaintance with more specialized areas. The core subjects include classical mechanics and special relativity, electricity and magnetism, quantum physics, thermodynamics, and methods of computational and experimental physics. Further study may be in advanced courses in the above fields, or in astrophysics, electronics, computational physics, statistical mechanics, or solid state physics. The most relevant topics are covered at a more elementary level, emphasizing classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and optics, in a series of courses generally taken by students majoring in other sciences. Topic coverage is selective, and a greater emphasis placed on the role of physics in our understanding of the universe, in a third series of courses ordinarily taken by non-science majors.

We expect our students, both majors and non-majors, to develop a number of skills while taking physics courses. Some of these are general skills: the ability to communicate clearly in written work and oral presentation; the ability to locate information through library research and other means; the ability to continue learning on a largely independent basis. Especially relevant to majors are skills in logical problem-solving and mathematical analysis, experimental design and the use of measurement apparatus, and the use of computers in modeling physical phenomena and for data acquisition and analysis.

The structure of our overall curriculum and of individual courses is designed to advance the goals outlined above. Core courses for potential majors are sequenced in a way that allows flexibility for first-year students undecided among majors, balancing the need for mathematical prerequisites with our goal of introducing a diverse body of knowledge at an early stage. Courses emphasizing advanced knowledge in specific areas are electives not required for the major and are usually taken by students bound for graduate school in physics, astronomy, or engineering. There are additional courses designed almost exclusively for other science majors and pre-med students, or for non-science majors.

Problem-solving skills are a key concern of every course, typically developed through regular problem set assignments. In introductory or non-major courses instructors and student tutors are available to support students as they learn physics problem-solving techniques.

A laboratory component is present in all courses for non-majors (Astronomy 110 has optional observing), and about half the courses for majors . In addition to providing a "hands-on" appreciation of various physical phenomena, the labs acquaint students with progressively more sophisticated apparatus and techniques of analysis.

Computing plays an important role throughout the curriculum for majors. Word processing, graphics display programs, spreadsheets, the C programming language, the symbolic math package Mathematica, the Labview programming package, and Internet access tools are introduced at appropriate times in the curriculum.

We strongly encourage students to engage in collaborative research with faculty, as research is the heart of the physics enterprise. Many of our students do this at some point in their Carleton career, whether with a faculty member on campus, or with a summer research program off-campus. An internship coordinator disseminates information about off-campus research opportunities, and many students take advantage of such programs. Students find that research experience allows them to integrate various physics topics and gives them practice as independent learners and productive members of cooperative research groups.