Fullerton College Program Review – Academic Programs
Program: PHYSICS
Year:
2009-2010
Cover Page
Title of Program, Division: Physics, Natural Sciences
List of persons participating in the review, including the Division Dean.
Statement of Preparation (and signatures of the Department Coordinator and Dean.
This program review was prepared by those listed in an open and collaborative
process. All full-time faculty in the program have had an opportunity to review
the report, and the report was made available to the division as a whole prior to
being submitted to PCC.
Date
I.
Program Description
A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY
One to two paragraphs regarding the scope and the purpose of the program including a
statement regarding evolution of the program over time, acceptable standards for retention,
GPA, etc.
The physics program is designed to meet the needs of physics majors and related science or
engineering majors. Our Physics 221-223 series is a calculus-based, three semester sequence
that meets the needs of 17 physics majors as well as about 83 engineering, computer science
and chemistry majors. Physics 210-211 is a two-semester, calculus-based sequence required
for transfers to UC’s, while Physics 205-206 is a trigonometry-based sequence required for
transfers to other schools. In addition, we offer Physics 130, Elementay Physics, a general
elective course with a minimum of mathematics that fulfills GE requirements.
The astronomy program offers an introductory astronomy lecture and a lab that are designed
to meet physical science general education requirement.
In the early 1990's, the physical science division at Fullerton College experienced a number of
problems, including absenteeism and a threat by Cal State Fullerton to stop accepting FC's
physics courses for transfer credit, due to low standards. In the mid 1990's, the physical
science division was merged into the life science division, and the full-time physics faculty
retired essentially en masse. All the present full-time physics faculty were hired after 1995.
Since then, the department has returned to traditional grading standards, with a concommitant
sharp drop in enrollment. In this period, the department has been gradually rehabilitating its lab
curriculum and facilities, which had fallen into decay.
Many of the physics faculty also teach astronomy. During the last decade, the astronomy lab
curriculum has been revamped, and the labs and lectures have gone from being staffed mostly
by part-timers to being taught almost entirely by full-time faculty.
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
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B. PROGRAM GOALS
Key instructional goals defined in terms of student learning outcomes and workplace
outcomes
As a result of participation in the program, students will have the following 5-7 skills and
knowledge sets:
1. Students will be able to understand and apply the fundamental concepts of physics.
2. Students will develop problem solving and critical thinking skills.
3. Students will develop skills in using computers in the laboratory for both data acquisition
and analysis.
4. Students will gain skill in writing formal laboratory reports and in reading scientific data.
5. Students will be able to apply scientific reasoning to future astronomical discoveries.
6. Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge about the motion of the sky, formation
and evolution of the solar system, stars, galaxies and the universe
7. Students will learn how to use modern planetarium software to simulate the motion of the
sky as viewed from different locations.
C. PROGRAM DEGREES AND CERTIFICATES OFFERED
Curriculum leads to the Associate in Arts Degree. This degree
requires 18 units of which 12 are in required courses; an additional
6 units must be chosen from the restricted electives listed
below.
Required Courses (12 units) Units
PHYS 221 F General Physics I 4
PHYS 222 F General Physics II 4
PHYS 223 F General Physics III 4
Restricted Electives (6 units) Units
CHEM 111AF General Chemistry 5
CSCI 123 F Intro to Programming Concepts in C++ 4
MATH 150AF Calculus I 4
MATH 150BF Calculus II 4
MATH 250AF Intermediate Calculus 4
MATH 250BF Linear Algebra and Differential Equations 4
Total Units: 18
PROGRAM DEGREES AND CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS
D. PROGRAM COURSES OFFERED
PHYS 130 F Elementary Physics (4)
Letter grade or Pass/No Pass option
Prerequisite: MATH 020 F
Three hours lecture, three hours lab per week. A survey of some of
the more important principles, philosophy, and phenomena of physics.
Topics include mechanics, electricity and magnetism, wave phenomena,
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
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and modern physics. The course is intended for those with no previous
experience in physics. It is not open to anyone who has taken a collegelevel
physics course. The lab includes experiments in measurement,
mechanics, electricity, wave phenomena, and radioactivity. (CSU) (UC
Credit Limitation; no credit if taken after PHYS 205 F, PHYS 210 F or
PHYS 221 F.) (Degree Credit) AA GE, CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 205 F Physics for the Life Sciences I
(formerly College Physics) (4)
Letter grade or Pass/No Pass option
Prerequisite: MATH 141 F and MATH 142 F, both with a grade of “C”
or better
Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. This course
covers Newtonian mechanics, conservation laws, heat, and waves. The
lab portion of the course investigates these topics both qualitatively and
quantitatively, and includes the use of graphing and statistics, and propagation
of errors. This is the first half of an algebra-based two-semester
sequence (PHYS 205 F and 206 F) for students majoring in the life
sciences. This course satisfies a requirement for biology majors in the
CSU system, but not the UC system. (CSU) (UC Credit Limitation)
(Degree Credit) AA GE, CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 206 F Physics for the Life Sciences II
(formerly College Physics) (4)
Letter grade or Pass/No Pass option
Prerequisite: PHYS 205 F with a grade of “C” or better
Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. This course
covers electricity and magnetism, optics, special relativity, and quantum
physics. The lab portion of the course investigates these topics both
qualitatively and quantitatively, and includes the use of graphing and statistics,
and propagation of errors. This is the second half of an algebrabased
two-semester sequence (PHYS 205 F and 206 F) for students
majoring in the life sciences. This course satisfies a requirement for biology
majors in the CSU system, but not the UC system. (CSU) (UC
Credit Limitation) (Degree Credit) CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 210 F Physics with Calculus for the Life Sciences I
(formerly Physics) (4)
Corequisite: MATH 150AF
Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. This course
covers Newtonian mechanics, conservation laws, heat, and waves. The
lab portion of the course investigates these topics both qualitatively and
quantitatively, and includes the use of graphing and statistics, and propagation
of errors. This is the first half of a calculus-based two-semester
sequence (PHYS 210 F and 211 F) for students majoring in the life
sciences. This course satisfies a requirement for biology majors in
the UC system; the CSU system will accept either this sequence or
PHYS 205 F and PHYS 206 F. (CSU) (UC Credit Limitation) (Degree
Credit) AA GE, CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 211 F Physics with Calculus for the Life Sciences II
(formerly Physics) (4)
Prerequisite: PHYS 210 F with a grade of “C” or better
Corequisite: MATH 150BF
Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. This course
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
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covers electricity and magnetism, optics, special relativity, and quantum
physics. The lab portion of the course investigates these topics both
qualitatively and quantitatively, and includes the use of graphing and statistics,
and propagation of errors. This is the second half of a calculusbased
two-semester sequence (PHYS 210 F and 211 F) for students
majoring in the life sciences. This course satisfies a requirement for biology
majors in the UC system; the CSU system will accept either this
sequence or PHYS 205 F and PHYS 206 F. (CSU) (UC Credit Limitation)
(Degree Credit) CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 221 F General Physics I (4)
Prerequisite: MATH 150AF with a grade of “C” or better
Three hours lecture and three hours lab per week. Mechanics, vibrations,
properties of matter. The lab provides students with hands-on
experience working with the subject material. Required for majors in
physics and engineering. Recommended for majors in all the other physical
sciences. PHYS 221 F, 222 F, and 223 F are a calculus-based,
three-semester survey of introductory physics. High school physics or
PHYS 130 F is strongly recommended, and students must complete one
semester of calculus before beginning the sequence. (CSU) (UC Credit
Limitation) (Degree Credit) AA GE, CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 222 F General Physics II (4)
Prerequisite: PHYS 221 F and MATH 150BF, both with a grade of “C”
or better
Three hours lecture and three hours lab per week. Electrostatics, electric
and magnetic fields, simple DC and AC circuits, Maxwell’s equations in
integral form. The lab provides students with hands-on experience working
with the subject material. Required for majors in physics and engineering.
Recommended for majors in all the other physical sciences.
(CSU) (UC Credit Limitation) (Degree Credit) CSU GE, IGETC
PHYS 223 F General Physics III (4)
Prerequisite: PHYS 222 F with a grade of “C” or better
Three hours lecture and three hours lab per week. Thermodynamics,
mechanical and electromagnetic waves, geometrical and physical optics,
special relativity, and an introduction to quantum mechanics including
wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle, the atom, and the nucleus.
The lab provides students with hands-on experience working with the
subject material. PHYS 221 F, 222 F, and 223 F are a calculus-based
three-semester survey of introductory physics. Required of majors in
physics and most majors in engineering. Recommended for majors in
all the other physical sciences. (CSU) (UC Credit Limitation) (Degree
Credit) CSU GE, IGETC
E. PROGRAM FACULTY
Liliana Barabas
Ben Crowell
Brendan O’Neill
George Sherman
Indicate number of adjunct faculty: 1
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
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E. PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE
N/A
II.
Program Key Performance Indicators
See attached data sheet from institutional research to the report.
III.
Program Outcomes Analysis
A. REPORT ON STATUS OF PREVIOUS REVIEW OUTCOMES ANALYSIS
One of our goals listed in our 2002 program review was to hire a full-time instructor to take
charge of the astronomy labs, which had been taught entirely by part-timers. Lili Barabas was
hired shortly afterward, and she has developed a new, standard astronomy lab curriculum that
is being used in all our lab classes. Astronomy labs and lectures are now being taught by two
full-time faculty with degrees in physics (Barabas and O'Neill) as well as by the division's dean,
Bruce Cordell, who is an astronomer. The biggest remaining problem is the lack of computers
in the room (currently 418T) in which the astronomy labs are taught.
A goal from 2002 that has been partially achieved was to finish rehabilitating our Physics 222,
223, 206, and 211 labs, which, like much of our physics lab curriculum, had decayed in quality
in the early 1990's. We have acquired enough equipment to allow our students to perform an
electron diffraction experiment as a hands-on lab, rather than a demonstration carried out by
the instructor. Some improvement has also been achieved in the lab curriculum used for
thermodynamics and relativity, but this has been carried out mostly on a shoestring budget by
building equipment or fixing up old equipment that had been gathering dust for decades. We
still do not have enough lab curriculum to cover all the topics in Physics 223 at an appropriate
level of depth, and not much progress is being made on this front, since 223 is currently being
taught by a part-timer. Brendan O'Neill has developed new lab curriculum for Physics 221,
much of it using computer-aided data acquisition. George Sherman has written and published
a short textbook covering the mathematics portion of Physics 222 that has been used in
several sections now with good success..
One of our long-term goals from 2002 was to develop software for computer-aided instruction,
to give immediate feedback to students on their work. Ben Crowell has developed and
implemented open-source software for this purpose, and has described it in an article in the
November 2003 issue of The Physics Teacher. Except for the lack of computers in 418T, the
technological infrastructure goals described in the 2002 review have mostly been met. The
computers in rooms 416T and 419T, although old, are currently sufficient for our purposes, but
we need to come up with a long-term plan for replacing computers on a reasonable cycle.
Our previous program review described our ongoing efforts to improve success and retention
in physics classes. As in the previous review period, we have found that it is difficult to improve
success while maintaining high standards. Virginia Roundy, who is now retired, created two
new late-start prep courses, Physical Science 50 and 51, for students who lacked sufficient
preparation to succeed in our transfer-level physics courses. These courses never attracted
more than one or two students, and were always canceled due to low enrollment. They have
now been deleted from the catalog. The factors leading to the failure of this effort are probably
similar to the factors that have plagued us in earlier attempts. Students are in a hurry to finish
their requirements, and many have unrealistic assessments of their own preparation and
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
Page 5
prospects for success. The situation in physics also differs from the one in chemistry, which
has successful late-start prep courses of this type. The chemistry department administers a
placement test that measures students' preparation in chemistry. In physics, on the other hand,
we are concerned with mathematical preparation, and we do not have any objective measure
of mathematical preparation that we have been able to show correlates strongly with success
in physics.
Another effort at improving student success in physics was an attempt to implement discussion
sections for the 200-level physics courses. We created a one-unit companion course for
Physics 221. This course was offered twice, but never attracted significant enrollment, and is
no longer being offered. Cypress College does offer such a class, but we do not seem to have
been able to get it off the ground at FC.
In the mid-1990's, CSUF and Fullerton College received federal grant money to develop a new
physical science course for preservice K-8 teachers. The course was developed by CSUF
faculty using discovery-based pedagogy. When it was offered at Fullerton College, faculty felt
that it was not a success, and it was discontinued. Due to a desire to make FC into a magnet
for preservice K-8 teachers, the administration asked us to try offering such a course again,
and this was listed as one of our goals in our 2002 program review. Ben Crowell and Ted Chan
developed back-to-back 8-week physics and chem courses using somewhat more traditional
pedagogy than had been advocated by CSUF. The course was taught in spring 2007, with
seven students enrolled. When it was offered again in fall 2007, only four students signed up,
and the course was canceled. It appears that the demand for such a course has been vastly
over-estimated. The course is no longer being offered.
The Al's Place tutoring center discussed in our 2002 review no longer exists. The full-time
faculty teaching 200-level physics courses currently do most or all of their office hours in the
physics classrooms, in order to be as available as possible to their students who need help
with problem solving. The GPS2 tutoring center began offering physics tutoring this year, and
anecdotal reports from students indicate the quality of the tutoring there is very good. The new
building will have a room that can be used for tutoring.
SUMMARY OF DATA
The number of sections we offer has remained relatively constant over the past four years,
with small fluctuations between 24 and 26 sections of Physics and 11-13 sections of
Astronomy offered every year.
Program resources: FTE faculty has varied slightly between 7.4 and 8.8 for Physics and
between 2.2 and 2.6 for Astronomy (ESC 116).
Efficiency: In Physics WSCH/FTEF has improved from 250 in 2000-2001 to 354 in 2008-2009,
and our fill rate has gone from 59% in 2000-2001 to 91% in 2008-2009. In Astronomy class
size is higher, at 50 seats, resulting in a WSCH per FTEF ranging between 780 and 840.
Success: has been between 69 and 75% for the last four years in both Physics and
Astronomy, which is higher than the college average and the retention rate is also high,
ranging between 75 and 80%.
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
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B. IDENTIFICATION OF TRENDS
The new science building will have a tutoring room for Physics students and an observation
deck for Astronomy, contributing to program improvement.
D. IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM PLANS
1) Buy computers for astronomy lab.
2) Work on the lab curriculum for Physics 223.
3) Offer online astronomy classes once as the astronomy lecture curriculum goes through the
approval process.
4) Offer Honors Astronomy class once the curriculum is approved.
E. LONG-TERM PLANS
Drawing from data, external influences, trends in the discipline, and college goals/initiatives,
identify concrete activities the program needs to engage in to modify the program. Can
activities be accomplished in 3-5 years?
1) Introduce a 1 unit weekend observational astronomy field trip class.
2) Develop closer ties with local amateur astronomer’s clubs from the area (Orange
County, Yucca Valley etc)
REQUEST FOR RESOURCES
1) Computers for astronomy laboratories.
2) Extend the part time position of our lab tech to full time in order to better serve the
needs of the program.
Program Review Response Form
PCC Approved March 6, 2002; External review rubrics removed 8/11/09 WSC
Page 7