Introducing Research-Based Curricula to Rochester Institute of Technology

《科学探索》是一门面向非理工科学生的实践性物理课程。在我担任美国国家科学基金会科学、数学、工程和技术教育（PFSMETE）博士后期间，科学探索利用对常见自然现象的研究和学生主导的小组项目来激发对传统上对物理学相当冷漠的人群的兴趣。活动使用复杂的计算机工具来获取、显示和解释数据。我想把这门课程带到一个新的永久性机构——罗切斯特理工学院。虽然RIT是一所技术机构，但它拥有大量将从科学探索中受益的学生，包括成像科学，商业和社会科学的学生。影像艺术与科学学院的教师们已经表达了对科学探索的兴趣，特别是涉及人体运动的项目，因为这些项目与学习计算机动画的学生有关。为了在RIT成功提供科学探索，必须购买计算机传感器（例如力传感器，温度探头和光传感器）。这个提议中大约有一半是用于我们现有实验室中目前没有的设备。新材料成功实施的必要条件是教师的支持。为了促进研究型课程的实施，我想开始一个关于物理导论课程教师目标的新项目。RIT在工程和影像艺术方面有着卓越的全国声誉。因此，绝大多数在RIT学习物理入门的学生都不是物理专业的。重要的是要理解为什么其他院系要求这些学生上物理课，以及他们希望他们的学生从这门课上学到什么。传统的答案，包括“如何思考”和“解决问题的能力”，太模糊了，没有用处。最近在物理教育方面的工作试图揭示“如何思考”到底是什么意思，也就是说，我们物理界认为这是物理粗糙中最基本的钻石。通过使用这项研究的思想和词汇，我希望能够更好地描述其他部门对物理学的看法。这将使物理系能够更好地满足大多数学生的需求，并使引入诸如“物理探索”之类的新课程变得更容易。

Explorations in Science is an activity-based physics course for non-science majors. Developed during mytenure as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education (PFSMETE), Explorations in Science uses the study of common, natural phenomena and student-directedgroup projects to stimulate interest in a population traditionally quite apathetic towards physics. Activitiesuse sophisticated computer tools to take, display, and interpret data. I would like to bring this curriculum tomy new, permanent, institution, the Rochester Institute of Technology. While RIT is an institution oftechnology, it has a significant population of students who will benefit from Explorations in Scienceincluding students of imaging science, business, and the social sciences. Faculty from the College ofImaging Arts & Sciences have already expressed interest in Explorations in Science, particularly theprojects dealing with human body motions as these are relevant to students studying computer animation.To successfully offer Explorations in Science at RIT, computer sensors (e.g. force sensors, temperatureprobes, and light sensors) must be purchased. Roughly half of this proposal is for equipment that are notcurrently available in our existing labs.A necessary condition for the successful implementation of new materials is faculty support. To facilitatethe implementation of a research-based curricula, I would like to begin a new project on faculty objectivesfor introductory physics courses. RIT has a national reputation of excellence in engineering and theimaging arts. Therefore, an overwhelming majority of students taking introductory physics at RIT are notphysics majors. It is important to understand why other departments require these students to take physicsand what they want their students to take from the class. The traditional answers, including "how to think"and "problem-solving ability," are too vague to be useful. Recent work in physics education has attemptedto uncover exactly what is meant by "how to think," i.e. what we the physics community see as thefundamental diamond in the physics rough. By using the ideas and vocabulary from this research, 1 hope tobe able to better characterize how other departments see physics. This will allow physics departments tobetter suit the needs of the majority of their students and make it easier to introduce new curricula such asExplorations in Physics.