Revitalizing Physics Program through Computational Physics Minor at Marshall University
Explore the innovative solution of introducing a new Computational Physics Minor at Marshall University to address the decline in Physics Majors, attract new students, and adapt to the changing demands of science and industry. This strategic plan aims to enhance job market readiness and engage a diverse range of students in cutting-edge computational modeling for various applications.
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A COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS MINOR AT MARSHALL UNIVERSITY Revitalizing the Physics Program Maria C Hamilton, Marshall University, Huntington, WV PICUP 2021 Virtual Capstone Conference, Aug. 11-13, 2021
THE CHALLENGE Recent steep decline in the number of Physics Majors Loss of faculty positions in the Physics Department Urgent need for a strategic plan towards long-term 1. Attracting new students into the major 2. Curriculum updates 1. to accommodate both the change in the current number of majors and faculty, 2. with potential to accommodate future growth in both students and faculty
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION New Minor in Computational Physics Dramatic increase in the use of computer modeling in science and industry Job market for scientists and engineers with good computing simulation skills. This addition in the curriculum will fill a needed gap: science and engineering students avoid taking classes in computation computer science students do not have the background in mathematics and science needed to simulate natural processes. Adapts to a range of skills necessary from the instructors, who can learn numerical analysis, and computer programming while teaching the students.
THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT New Minor in Computational Physics Dramatic increase in the use of computer modeling in science and industry. Flight simulation Weather forecasting Spread of infectious diseases Artificial Inteligence Job market for scientists and engineers with good computing simulation skills. Our own physics majors will be better prepared for the job market Attract Engineering, mathematics, or computer science majors to add a minor in Physics to their course of study, or even a second major in physics.
THE BACKGROUND I use computer modeling as part of my research in computational astrophysics, black holes, neutron stars and gravitational waves. As head of the curriculum committee, I introduced areas of emphasis in Applied Physics, and Biomedical Physics. I teach two elective, writing-intensive classes in Biological and Medical Physics that are counted as electives for the Biology students, and increased the number of biology and chemistry students who add a minor in Physics. I introduced a junior/senior level course in Computational Physics, which, during the PICUP 2020 Virtual workshop, I redesigned around a more accessible, project-based curriculum (thanks to Larry Engelhardt)
CURRICULUM PLAN The backbone of the new minor will be 3 classes in Computational physics, 100 level, introductory class for freshmen, and even senior high school students 300 level, for a mixed population of junior students, not limited to physics 400/500 level, for senior/master students in physics and mathematics Sophomores will take the regular College or University physics classes. Propose a new introductory (100 level) class, in computational physics, entitled Physics Playground in Python (inspired by Danny Caballero s P^3) designed for science freshmen, or even senior high school students. Redesign the 300-level class in Scientific Computing to accommodate science (math, chemistry, biology, etc.) and engineering students.
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH For the 100-level class, Hello World to have fun, and enter the world of computing. Introduce students to Jupyter notebooks, Python and VPython, Teach them to write a first computer program and how to create visualizations, Simulate simple problems from the bouncing ball to the planetary system. For the 300-level class, Two Bites at Every Apple to work on projects from different perspectives. Python coded examples in Jupyter notebook, from physics, chemistry, biology, engineering. Focus on algorithms and numerical methods, assuming limited familiarity with programming. Students with different backgrounds will pair up to compare and match their solutions. For the 400/500-level class, Win-day-one to tackle complex physics problems, and learn how to break them down in specific components. Will focus on numerical simulations, first with Python, and will continue with elements of C++. Examples will be drawn from upper-physics classes, quantum mechanics, or astrophysics. The knowledge of the workflow of a numerical simulation will be built around those problems.
THANK YOU https://www.compadre.org/PICUP/resources/ https://github.com/BrynMawrCollege/TIDES/ https://jupyter4edu.github.io/jupyter-edu-book/ https://physics.byu.edu/courses/computational/home Christopher J. Burke, and Timothy J. Atherton (arXiv:1604.06122). Paul W. Irving, Michael J. Obsniuk, Marcos D. Caballero (arXiv:1607.04455, arXiv:1709.05493 ).
