Physics Department
PH 201
Course Assessment Spring 2010
Student Learning Outcomes
The results were acceptable with the majority of students performing at the good/excellent level. More
than 63% performed at the good/excellent level on all the outcomes with more than 70% achieving that
level on most.
General Education Objectives
The objectives addressed by this course are:
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write, read, listen and speak clearly and effectively,
use analytical reasoning skills and apply logic to solve problems,
use quantitative skills and mathematical reasoning to solve problems,
use information management skills effectively for academic research and lifelong learning,
integrate knowledge and skills in major field and across disciplines and
identify concepts and methods of the mathematical, physical and biological sciences and make
judgments about contemporary issues in science and technology
The results on the general education objectives are similar to those for the learning outcomes. The
weakest performances were on “use information management skills effectively for academic research and
lifelong learning” at 65% and “identify concepts and methods of the mathematical, physical and biological
sciences and make judgments about contemporary issues in science and technology” at 59%. This may
be due to the fact that this last objective is not directly addressed. The department has decided to study
this issue further before making any changes.
PH 201: Course Outcomes
Differentiate distance & displacement, Speed & velocity. Analyze 1-D motion with kinematic
equations
Use vectors, algebra, geometry and trigonometry to describe physical situations and to solve
physical problems in two dimensions.
Use Newton's laws to analyze situations in which an object remains at rest, or moves with
constant velocity under the influence of several forces.
Apply Newton's second law to an object subjected several forces such as gravity, pull of strings,
contacts forces including friction. Draw appropriate free body diagrams.
Draw force diagrams, apply Newton's laws of motion and use them to solve force and motion
problems.
Calculate the work done by forces acting on an object. Use work energy theorem to analyze
various physical situations
Utilize momentum, impulse and their relationship to solve problems; apply conservation of
momentum principle to solve collision problems in one and two dimensions.
Analyze physical properties of rotational motion including centripetal acceleration, torque,
angular momentum, rotational energy; and use them to solve rotation problems.
Apply the concepts of pressure, density, and buoyancy. Determine forces acting on an object
immersed partially or completely in a liquid.
Perform simple calorimetric calculations
Perform experiments as described in the rubrics and draw meaningful conclusions from data
and present them as part of a clear, well-organized lab report.
Identify and distinguish the various physical properties, how they are defined and
measured. Identify units, use the various systems of units, the SI system and conversion
between units.
Identify the various measurement methods and tools of physics and the concept of
scales. Identify and utilize the concepts of error and uncertainty and how they are used
to quantify the quality of an experiment.
Demonstrate proficiency in solving science problems.