Upgrading the Lab Experience for Physics Majors

Joyner Hampden-Sydney College是一所位于弗吉尼亚州的四年制文理学院，提供生物学、化学、物理学和跨学科领域的自然科学学士学位课程。物理系物理系的学生人数异常庞大，超过30%的学生选修了物理课程，这在很大程度上要归功于各级积极的实验室项目。本项目将对继导论课程之后的四门课程的实验室进行升级。选择的区域是核、低温和x射线荧光。在这四门课程中使用所要求的设备，预计将增加我们在入门课程结束后的学生中对专业的保留率。我们还预计，从这些入门课程中毕业的专业人数将会受到可衡量的影响：鉴于我们目前3%的比例，毕业生中物理专业人数占5%的目标似乎并非不合理。（如果达到5%，我们的主要生产率将是全国平均水平0.5%的十倍。）要求的设备也将在下午晚些时候提供给我们当地两所高中和当地社区大学的学生。

9452227 Joyner Hampden-Sydney College, a four-year liberal arts college in Virginia, offers baccalaureate programs in the natural sciences in biology, chemistry, physics, and interdisciplinary areas. The physics department maintains an unusually large enrollment in physics with more than 30% of the student body enrolled in a physics course, due in large part to an aggressive laboratory program at all levels. This project will upgrade the laboratories in four courses which follow the introductory course. The areas selected are nuclear, low temperature, and X-ray fluorescence. The use of the requested equipment in these four courses is expected to increase our retention of majors among students coming out of the introductory course. We also expect a measurable impact on the number of majors coming out of these introductory courses: a goal of 5% physics majors in a graduating class does not seem unreasonable, given our present 3% ratio. (At 5%, our major productivity would be ten times the national average of one-half percent.) The requested equipment will also be available to students in our two local high schools and in the local community college, on a late-afternoon basis.