The Eastern Integrative Experience of an English major ...



The Eastern Integrative Experience

The College of Sciences

Department of Physics

|The EIU Experience |Integrative Elements |

|Physics Curriculum: In the introductory courses material is |The curriculum of the Physics Major has a significant amount of vertical integration. Each course builds on the |

|presented so that the students can get an overview of the subject |previous courses and uses material learned in those courses to further the complex connections within the subject. |

|matter. The students understand some of the mathematical and |Through this course structure the students learn the relationships between the different topics in Physics within the |

|physical concepts. Intermediate level courses introduce the |overarching framework of fundamental physical principles and mathematical techniques. |

|students to some of the mathematical and physical details of the | |

|subject. The students are also introduced to a wider variety of | |

|physical phenomena and their basic skills are used to help them | |

|understand the new material. At the upper level the students | |

|truly begin to see the overall complexity of the subject and the | |

|ways that the physical world around them functions. Finally, the | |

|Physics Seminar is a capstone course for the Physics Major. It is| |

|used to pull together all of the information and skills that have | |

|been taught. | |

|Required Courses outside of Physics: Math, Chemistry, and |Much of the mathematics that is taught in the math course is actually applied in the Physics course. There is also a |

|Geology/Geography courses are required of majors in Physics. |significant amount of overlap between the Physics courses and Chemistry courses that a Physics student might be |

|Different concentrations have different requirements. Students |taking. There are several topics that are covered in Chemistry and then later covered in Physics from a slightly |

|take Calculus, Differential Equations, Introductory Chemistry, and|different point of view. It is helpful for instructors to compare and contrast the information from the different |

|other courses. Computer programming is taught in Math and Physics|subjects. When a given topic is covered in more than one subject area it increases the importance and relevance for |

|and used throughout the technical parts of the curriculum. |the student and that increases the learning. This is horizontal integration. |

|General Education: The Physics Department offers General |Students taking General Education Physics courses learn about the basic physical principles that not only hold our |

|Education courses for other majors |world together but also orchestrate all interactions. From the smallest particle to the solar system and beyond, the |

| |students learn the relationships between objects in the physical world that they interact with constantly. Students |

| |learn about the scientific method and about mathematical relationships to help them to understand the principles |

| |presented. Physics, as a subject, is more about the approaches to problems than it is about facts. Therefore |

| |students in Physics learn more about how to put critical thinking to use to solve problems in creative and innovative |

| |ways. Problem solving and critical thinking are central concepts that are taught in Physics courses. The techniques |

| |and methodology learned in Physics classes are applicable in a variety of situations encountered throughout our lives.|

| |These courses add horizontal, cosmic, and global integration to the curriculum. |

|Physics Service Courses: The Physics Department offers service |The service courses are generally introductory courses. The service courses are also useful to the students in |

|courses for other majors. |helping them to understand the foundations of their own subject. For example a pre-med student taking introductory |

| |Physics would see an oscilloscope which is the basis for an EKG or an EEG. Similarly a Communications Disorders |

| |student that takes the Physics of Sound and Music would learn what sound waves are and how they react to different |

| |situations. This is information that they can take back to their major courses with new insights as to how to |

| |approach the sounds that they are working with. These courses serve the role of giving horizontal integration to the |

| |students in other disciplines. Because some of these courses are two semester sequences there is a certain amount of |

| |vertical integration that is taught with these courses. The material is also presented in a way that optimizes the |

| |cosmic integration for the student since the field of study covers everything in the cosmos. |

|Physics Upper Level Courses: Physics majors are required to take |Seminar is certainly a course that requires the student to make connections between several lower level courses. |

|several upper level Physics courses such as Physics Seminar and |Another course that forces students to reach back and make connections with previous courses and disciplines is |

|Advanced Lab. |Advanced Lab. In this course students must use techniques learned in the introductory labs as a practical matter for |

| |working with the apparatus and also in analysis of the data. Furthermore, the theoretical concepts that are explored |

| |in the Advanced Lab are often specific details of the theory that has been taught in the introductory and intermediate|

| |level courses. The Observational Techniques course is similar for students in the Astronomy concentration. The |

| |hierarchical nature of Physics lends itself well to global integration for the students. |

|Physics Tutor Program: Some students are asked to tutor lower |Teaching the subject to other students is an excellent way to force a tutor to organize and understand what they are |

|level students. The introductory courses are covered by this |teaching. These experiences are clearly global integration. |

|activity. Furthermore, some students are allowed to grade | |

|homework papers for the introductory classes. | |

|Teaching: The process of teaching and learning Physics is also |The culture of scientists is to be skeptics. It is important that nothing be taken for granted in the scientific |

|something that encourages students to consider their personal |world. Everything is tested against previous knowledge and concepts. Students are encouraged to not accept |

|experiences. |everything blindly and repeat it by rote. The steps taken in Physics are designed to follow from all of the previous |

| |steps in a logically consistent manner. Students check the work of the professor and measure the results against |

| |their expectations and notions. When there is a contradiction between what is presented and what is expected the |

| |culture of the Physics Department is for students to question. This helps to deepen understanding for the student. |

| |These experiences are designed to enhance the global, personal, and cosmic integration for the students. |

|REU: The Physics Department also encourages our students to |These experiences give the students summer employment in their chosen field to help them to understand their career |

|participate in summer internships and Research Experiences for |choice. It is also helpful as a personal growth process because the students gain independence and also see new ways |

|Undergraduates. |of looking at their subject. Students that participate in the REU program and in other internships come back to EIU |

| |with added knowledge and experience which they can apply to their coursework here. They also have been known to |

| |present the work that they undertook thereby sharing the experience with others. This enhances global, personal, and |

| |cosmic integration for the students. It also makes use of vertical and horizontal integration. |

|Mentoring: The Physics Department uses mentoring as an effective |Mentoring in research gives the student a chance to see how science is really done. Textbooks have problems that have|

|way to give students an integrative experience. |solutions. Research is more open ended. The questions posed for research may or may not have solutions. It is the |

| |journey that teaches the lessons. Students learn how to approach problems and how to think critically about each and |

| |every detail of a research project. These experiences are designed to promote global thinking by using more of the |

| |student’s past experiences to problem solve an open ended problem. |

|Physics Presentations: Mentoring also often includes presentations|The process of doing the research, preparing the presentation, going to the conference, and presenting the paper |

|at local, regional, and national conferences. |incorporates many aspects of the student’s preparation. This process is very helpful in developing well rounded and |

| |competent scientists. This leads to cosmic integration and personal integration. |

|Appreciative Advising: Advising has long been a part of the |One cannot advise a student in Physics without knowledge of the overall goal of the student because the electives that|

|integrative experience for Physics students. The most recent |are taken are dependent on the particular interests and goals of the students. The Physics Department uses |

|push, appreciative advising, has been part of the academic |appreciative advising as part of the personal integrative experience for the students. |

|advising for Physics majors for decades. | |

|Professional Organizations: The extracurricular activities of the|The local chapter is a registered student organization that meets weekly. During those meetings the faculty advisor |

|Physics Department are another direction where we already |has opportunities to present the students with information about their career choices. Graduate school information is|

|accomplish some integrative experience. The Society of Physics |often a topic of discussion. The SPS is a good forum for presentation of internship materials with discussions of the|

|Students is a national professional society that we encourage our |pros and cons involved. The Astronomy Club is another organization that can accomplish some of the same goals. Both |

|majors to join. The Astronomy Club is another organization that |of these clubs offer networking opportunities that can aid the students both in their coursework and beyond college. |

|we encourage some students to join. |This can help in personal integration. |

|Community Service Activities: The Physics Department also tries |The Observatory holds monthly public viewings and students are on hand as volunteers to help out. The Pre-Engineering|

|to give their students values that include community service. |program holds engineering competitions in the fall and WYSE Competition in the spring. Students are asked to help out|

| |at both of these functions. These help to develop personal integration and also five the students an opportunity to |

| |see the way Physics fits into the world thus enhancing cosmic integration. |

|Role Models: The Physics Department faculty is also a resource |Jie Zou is active in research and also in community service through such avenues as Women in Science and Math (WISM). |

|for students in developing their integrative experience. Each |Amit Joshi, though in his first year at EIU, has already been active as a researcher and mentored a student. Cherie |

|faculty member is a role model for the students. Therefore the |Lehman is an innovative teacher, working with U of I on pedagogy projects (SoTL) but she is also an active leader in |

|activities of the faculty are important. |Physics Education serving on national boards in that area. Jim Conwell is active in the Astronomy Club and works |

| |tirelessly to make the Observatory a community resource and showpiece. He is also supported in some of those efforts |

| |by Dave Linton who has contacts that give him exclusive access to high resolution astronomical images for display. |

| |Steve Daniels is active as a student mentor and also shows community involvement through leadership positions in |

| |community school organizations and the local Rotary. Len Storm has worked with the Pre-Engineering program for many |

| |years and has developed significant student involvement in that program. Don Pakey has been reaching out to the |

| |students through his role as Faculty Advisor to the SPS and mentors students as well. There are other examples of the|

| |pursuits of the faculty that indicate that the students have well rounded role models. Through these role models the |

| |students can see the importance of Physics as a subject and as a career. The varied nature of the activities of these|

| |role models also helps the students to see the integration of Physics, professional career, and life. |

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