Home
Guide Overview
Introductory Courses for STEM Majors

Guide To Introductory Courses for STEM Majors

Version 2024.1

Description
Benefits
Effective Practices
Assessments
Resources
Evidence

Introductory courses for STEM majors may include calculus-based or algebra-based introductory physics course sequences, often with integrated laboratory experiences. These courses are often among the first required physics courses for students majoring in physics, chemistry, engineering, life sciences, and other disciplines. The guidance in this section can be used for physics programs that offer a single course sequence for all of these students, for programs that offer separate algebra-based and calculus-based sequences, and for programs that have specific tracks for students in different majors. See the sections on Introductory Courses for Life Sciences Majors and Courses for Non-STEM Majors for more specific guidance on creating courses for these particular audiences. See the section on Instructional Laboratories and Experimental Skills for more specific guidance on designing laboratory components of your introductory courses. This section provides guidance on developing and improving introductory courses for STEM majors to meet student, department, and institutional needs; and providing support for

and students, including students from

. Because the goals, needs, and resources of physics programs vary widely, the EP3 Guide does not address what content should be covered in a physics program or in particular physics courses. Instead, this section addresses how to engage in a collaborative process to determine

and the content that will help you meet those goals. The section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom provides general pedagogical guidance and the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department provides guidance on how to use a cyclic process to design, assess, and improve courses based on student learning outcomes.

Benefits

Introductory courses for STEM majors serve as gateways into physics and other STEM disciplines, and without careful attention, they may become barriers to entry, particularly for students from

. If well designed and taught, these courses can provide some of the best opportunities to recruit students into the physics major, to support student success and retention, and to influence future scientists, medical professionals, and science teachers through excellent instruction and a positive introduction to the discipline. See the section on Recruiting of Undergraduate Physics Majors for guidance on how to connect with students in introductory and, if appropriate, service courses in order to recruit them into a physics major. Introductory courses can help students develop an understanding of fundamental physics concepts and models and of how these concepts and models are used to analyze a multitude of situations. The content knowledge and skills built in these courses can serve as the foundation for the physics major and as valuable support for success in other STEM fields. Research-based teaching practices have been shown to effectively engage students in the introductory courses, promote reasoning, improve success and retention, and provide opportunities for involving students in instructional activities through roles such as learning assistants and teaching assistants. Introductory physics courses also typically provide a critical service to the institution by serving as required support courses for engineering, chemistry, life sciences, and other departments. Serving these external constituencies in a manner that supports, respects and contributes to their efforts can help your department build relationships with other departments and your administration.

The Cycle of Reflection and Action

Where are you and what are you trying to accomplish?

Who should be involved?

What will you do?

How did it go and what comes next?

To be intentional about change, a department must have a clear understanding of its present situation and a vision for what it would like to become. Our cycle of self-reflection questions will help your department start conversations and structure thinking about how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

The Cycle of Reflection and Action will help you put the EP3 Guide to work for your department.

Learn more about the Cycle of Reflection and Action and how it can help your department.

Effective Practices

Design and assess introductory courses to meet the needs of your students
1. Identify the groups of students that each introductory course sequence serves, e.g., physics majors, engineering majors, life sciences majors, pre-service teachers, and other students with interest in physics.
  Understand the range of backgrounds and preparation of students in your courses and consider how your courses will provide all students the opportunity to succeed. Refine your course design and student learning outcomes to include appropriate bridges to meet students where they are.
  Discuss needed knowledge and skills with departments your courses serve.
  List the content knowledge and skills (e.g., mathematical, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and
  skills) that you want your courses to teach for each major student audience you serve, e.g., future physics majors and pre-med students.
  Prioritize potential outcomes for the course(s), including conceptual understanding, the ability to use mathematics in context, the ability to design experiments, developing of scientific reasoning skills, and the ability to build and test models. Recognize that “covering topics” may be less valuable than building skills.
  Consider expectations and discipline-based thinking patterns that engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and life sciences students may bring to introductory physics (e.g., that biologists tend to work with emergent rather than reductionist models) and how these patterns may affect student learning. Decide whether and how to build on and/or disrupt these thinking patterns.
  Determine when in their college careers most students take these courses (e.g., most students in calculus-based courses may be first-year students while most students in algebra-based courses may be juniors or seniors), and take into account differences in student experience and expectations when designing your course and student support structures. For example, first-year engineering majors may need to learn how to deal with college-level workloads and issues like time management, while junior or senior biology students may be used to taking more initiative in their learning but may have negative associations with physics.
2. If you have a sufficiently large student population, consider dividing courses that serve multiple constituencies into separate courses or sections to better address each constituency’s needs.
  Ensure that all course sequences provide pathways into the physics major, e.g., by allowing different course sequences to fulfill physics major requirements.
  If dividing into separate courses or sections is not feasible, develop alternative activities within a course that students can choose based on their interests and needs.
3. Create
  for each course in the introductory sequence, using the knowledge and skills identified above in 1.A.iii and 1.A.iv.
  See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for detailed guidance on how to use a cyclic process to design, assess, and improve courses based on student learning outcomes including how to create learning outcomes for each course in the introductory sequence using the knowledge and skills identified above in 1.A.iii and 1.A.iv, design courses based on learning outcomes, conduct regular course assessments, and improve courses based on assessment results.
  See the section on How to Assess Student Learning at the Program Level for details on how to use learning assessment to improve your curriculum.
Design an introductory course structure to meet your department’s goals, students’ needs, and institutional constraints
1. Consider re-envisioning and restructuring these courses to maximize their impact, by, e.g., creating smaller sections, redesigning the curriculum to appeal to a wider range of students, implementing major pedagogical reforms, and/or using
  or
  .
  Ensure that there is high-quality instruction in introductory courses. See 2.D and 4 below for details.
  Discuss, among all
  and
  for the introductory courses, how course designs can unintentionally discourage or exclude students from
  . See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to understand and implement inclusive teaching practices that support the diversity of students in your classes.
2. Map pathways through the introductory courses for different initial mathematics preparations, e.g., determine when a student who takes pre-calculus in their first term can take their first physics course.
  If feasible, offer each course in the introductory sequence every term, including the summer, to allow more students to transition into the major and to give off-sequence students the flexibility they need to catch up.
  Coordinate with other departments to avoid time conflicts with courses (e.g., calculus, organic chemistry) that are commonly taken by students these courses serve or whom you want to recruit, including double majors.
  Consider adapting the calculus-based course sequence to make calculus a corequisite rather than a prerequisite, so students can see how math is used in physics early on, and so they can be exposed to physics earlier and have the opportunity to consider a physics major. This may require altering course content so that students who are taking calculus concurrently can still be successful. Collaborate with the math department to determine content flow and sequencing so that realistic physical situations can be used to synchronously motivate both calculus and physics.
  Have regular discussions with physics colleagues at peer institutions that have successful introductory course sequences to exchange ideas for how to structure these courses.
  If you are considering offering these courses online, carefully weigh the potential benefits and drawbacks. See the section on Online Education for details.
3. See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for guidance on how to develop and use a departmental structure to support high-quality, consistent, and efficient instruction.
4. Identify
  who can best manage the specific challenges and opportunities in these courses. Consider, e.g., instructional staff interest in these courses, measures of student success in courses they have taught, and peer teaching observations. Ensure that these individuals regularly teach these courses, serve as co-instructors or mentors to other instructional staff, and/or serve as course leads, without inappropriately narrowing their teaching portfolios.
  Develop a course assignment policy that balances allowing for continuity and innovation against avoiding burnout. For example, instructors should teach the same course no more than X and no fewer than Y continuous years, and/or course assignments will be determined by a designated committee.
  Carefully monitor teaching assignments for inequities, particularly across demographics, seniority, and tenure-track/non-tenure-track status.
  Monitor the workload required to teach these courses and make adjustments if they are significantly more difficult or time-intensive than other teaching assignments.
  If appropriate (e.g., for large-enrollment classes), establish teaching teams consisting of, e.g., three to four
  members, to collaboratively teach the course.
5. See the section on Instructional Laboratories and Experimental Skills for details.
  Develop a clear list of goals for the courses’ laboratory components, based on research on the effectiveness of labs. Goals may include introducing topics, illustrating non-ideal conditions, developing experimental skills, introducing analysis techniques, placing a greater focus on skill development or conceptual understanding rather than illustration of concepts or over-reliance on cookbook instructions.
  Determine an appropriate balance of lab, lecture, and/or integrated courses and how these courses will be related. Consider the benefits (and costs) of course designs that have labs as stand-alone courses, that have labs associated with lecture courses, or that integrate laboratory and classroom instruction, for example, using
  or
  .
  When a lab course is associated with a lecture course, determine how the pace and content of the laboratory aligns with the overall course. For example, consider using labs to build and explore models using content knowledge introduced elsewhere or to conduct experimental investigations prior to other forms of instruction to engage students more authentically in constructing new models. Recognize that students may not be able to engage in lab as deeply if they don’t have the necessary content knowledge. Plan for the fact that depending on which day of the week a lab is scheduled, it may come before or after corresponding lectures.
  Consider the benefits and costs of different kinds of evaluations of students’ lab work, e.g., review of lab notebooks and lab reports, check-out interviews, lab exams, or
  .
6. Ensure that all course technologies meet
  to ensure your courses are inclusive of
  .
  Consider personal response systems like flashcards or mobile-based applications that allow real-time feedback and understanding of student knowledge.
  Consider using simulations (e.g., PhET, Physlets) to deepen student understanding and allow exploration.
  If you are using an online homework system, evaluate these systems based on their ability to support students’ conceptual understanding and provide immediate feedback, their user friendliness, their cost to students, and their consistency with course goals. Ensure that any online homework system is used consistently across all sections and perhaps in subsequent courses to maximize the use that students can get in exchange for their fees.
7. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to align assessment practices with course goals and use assessment practices that support student learning and equity.
Use research-based teaching practices and inclusive pedagogy in the introductory courses
1. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to:
  Understand and apply the key recommendations from physics education research,
  Support students in understanding, buying into, and engaging in research-based teaching,
  Facilitate students working together effectively in small groups, and
  Use particular methods, strategies, curricula, and tools developed through research.
  Consider using research-based instructional materials designed for introductory physics courses. See Resources below for where to find these materials.
  Use research-based physics assessment practices as appropriate. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to use research-based assessment practice. See Resources below for where to find assessments.
  Provide students the opportunity to learn concepts and develop skills in both individual and collaborative group problem-solving situations.
  Motivate students by using real-life, relevant, and/or cutting-edge contemporary research examples and making frequent connections with what students have learned in other courses. Include topics and examples relevant across demographic groups to improve inclusivity. For example, assuming familiarity with a particular sport may exclude some students.
2. Recognize that standard introductory course designs and expectations for workload may not meet the needs of many constituencies of students, e.g., first-generation college students, commuter students, students working full time, students raising children, and/or students from other
  .
  Recognize that students from
  may not interpret course practices and structures in the same way that students from
  do, and you may need to modify or reframe these practices and structures to be more inclusive. For example, consider asking students to collaboratively discuss pros and cons of different explanations rather than asking students to “argue for” or “defend” their answer, in order to better support students from cultures that value consensus building over confrontation; consider renaming office hours and tutoring as “free help sessions” or “student hours,” which may make them more inviting to first-generation college students. See v and vi below.
  Help
  realize their goals around inclusivity and student-centered instruction by connecting them with relevant campus resources and support. For example, suggest that instructional staff request feedback on course materials or classroom practices from your institution’s teaching and learning center or an expert colleague (in a context in which that colleague’s help is departmentally recognized as service or mentoring).
  Ensure that all students, particularly those with the least preparation, are provided with resources to support learning and taught how to learn from those resources. See 5 below.
  See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to understand and implement inclusive teaching practices that support the diversity of students in your classes.
  See the section on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for guidance on how to ensure that your classes are equitable and inclusive.
  See the section on Departmental Culture and Climate for guidance on how to ensure that your classes and curriculum create an inclusive and student-centered environment for all.
Support instructional staff to provide effective classroom instruction in the introductory courses
1. See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for guidance on how to develop, promote, and institutionalize a departmental culture of scholarly and effective teaching and support all instructional staff in research-based teaching, including providing appropriate professional development.
2. Establish a department repository of vetted materials (e.g., syllabi, notes, clicker questions, interactive lecture demonstrations, activities, assignments, rubrics, and exam questions) to support the sharing and continued use of materials that work well in your department, minimize preparation time, and promote long-term sustainability. Ensure there is a person or group responsible for curating and maintaining this resource.
  Encourage continuous refinement and improvement of shared course materials as new
  bring fresh perspectives.
  Promote the use of freely available course materials (e.g., open source education resources) to minimize costs for students. See Resources below.
  Recognize that course materials that work well for one
  member may not work well for others. Ensure that individual instructors have the autonomy to be creative and use materials that allow them to express their expertise and identities, to the extent possible, while still maintaining course consistency, meeting
  , and using practices consistent with research in physics education.
  Encourage, incentivize, and reward faculty and staff who maintain and organize resource repositories. Recognize that someone will need to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to ensure that these repositories are functional and beneficial, and that dedicating faculty and/or staff time to this work will pay off by reducing redundant development and improving instructional quality and alignment.
Support students to maximize their learning
1. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to support students in understanding, buying into, and engaging in research-based teaching.
2. Explicitly teach skills that go beyond physics content, including
  , study skills,
  of physics, qualitative reasoning, and problem-solving skills. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for guidance on how to understand and implement practices that support different goals.
  Connect students to departmental and institutional resources (e.g., teaching and learning centers, study centers, physics or mathematics clinics) that can help improve their study and/or quantitative skills. Teach students how to use these resources.
  Ensure that adequate office hours (sometimes called “free help sessions” or “student hours”) are offered and broadly advertised, and that course
  explain to students the function and value of office hours and discuss them in class. Post office hour times and locations on instructional staff office doors, course web sites, and other locations where students are likely to see them. Make office hours more accessible by having the office door open or meeting in neutral and/or larger spaces such as empty classrooms, common spaces, or lobbies in locations students are likely to frequent. Consider hosting some office hours that students can attend remotely.
  Recognize and address barriers that may hinder students from seeking assistance (e.g., stigma, time constraints, lack of awareness of resources) by building a supportive culture and infrastructure. For example, build student confidence in the classroom, normalize asking for help inside and outside of the classroom, and ensure that office hours and other supports are convenient for students to access and attend.
  Prepare all
  to respond productively to student questions and facilitate discussions. See the section on Undergraduate Instructional Assistants for details.
Establish and sustain institutional support for your introductory courses
1. Ensure that the number and expertise of the
  ,
  , and support staff (see 2.C.vii above) for these courses are appropriate to the course design and operation.
  Provide all
  teaching these courses with opportunities for professional development around physics teaching and learning. See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for details.
  Recognize that successfully using active learning may require additional
  . Find ways to involve undergraduates in assisting in the classroom, e.g., through a model such as
  or a
  . See the section on Undergraduate Instructional Assistants for details.
2. Identify spaces, equipment, and facilities that are available or that are needed, and that are consistent with pedagogical requirements. These may include classroom features (e.g., reconfigurable furniture, whiteboard walls or tables, room to move between groups of students), classroom technology (e.g., projection system(s), wifi, computers, clickers), student access to technology outside of class (e.g., appropriate devices and internet bandwidth), lab and demonstration equipment, support facilities (e.g., demonstration equipment storage and preparation, shop facilities), and support personnel (e.g., lab manager, shop staff).
  Consider how the physical space of your classrooms could be improved to create more compelling learning experiences, e.g., by moving from tiered lecture halls to a level classroom with tables and chairs or adding shared computers to your classrooms.
  Acquire and maintain necessary resources for these courses. Frame requests in terms of improvements in student learning outcomes and documented needs. For example, argue that expanding classroom space will accommodate enrollment demand for a room used eight or more hours daily by three departments. Consider partnering with other departments to advocate for and share renovated teaching spaces.
  Advocate to establish budgets or institutional support adequate to sustainably maintain necessary spaces, equipment, and facilities for these courses.
  See the section on The Physical Environment: Encouraging Collaboration and Learning for more details on how to best use existing, modified, and new spaces to support student learning.
  See the section on How to Be an Effective Chair for guidance on how to manage and advocate for resources.

Programmatic Assessments

Evaluate which of the above Effective Practices you are implementing and track the results of implementing them.
Determine which students and majors each of these courses serves; review or create
that align with your departmental mission and the needs of these students. Periodically evaluate whether these outcomes remain aligned with your departmental mission and students’ needs. See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for guidance on developing and assessing course-level student learning outcomes.
Determine the characteristics of students in these courses, e.g., background, intended major, and previous experience with physics, through demographic analysis and surveys.
Determine the math skills of students entering these courses using a research-based assessment, e.g., the Basic Skills Diagnostic Test (BSDT), the Precalculus Concept Assessment (PCA), or the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI). Use the results to assess whether your
are appropriate and what level of math support the courses will need to provide. See the PhysPort Assessments database for an extensive collection of such assessments.
Use multiple measures to assess your
, including pre- and post-tests; presentations; projects; and designated in-class conceptual questions, homework, and exam questions chosen for their relevance to particular outcomes. When appropriate, use rubrics tailored to each outcome. Course grades and
are also beneficial in evaluating how students progress through your curriculum. See the section on How to Select and Use Various Assessment Methods in Your Program for guidance on how to assess student learning.
Assess gains in student conceptual understanding by giving a research-based conceptual assessment at the beginning and end of the term. See the PhysPort Assessments database for an extensive collection of such assessments, including the Next Gen Physical Science Diagnostic (NGPSD), the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE), the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA), and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM).
Assess shifts in student attitudes and beliefs about science by giving a research-based survey on students’ beliefs, epistemological thinking, or understanding of the nature of science at the beginning and end of the term. See the PhysPort Assessments database for an extensive collection of such surveys, including the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), the Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX), the Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG), and the Sources of Self-Efficacy in Science Courses-Physics (SOSESC-P).
Use multiple measures to evaluate teaching quality, including peer observations,
self-evaluation or reflection on their teaching, measures of student learning (see above), and student evaluations. See the section on How to Select and Use Various Assessment Methods in Your Program for guidance on how to assess teaching effectiveness, using multiple methods and recognizing the limitations of each method.
Assess students’ perceptions of the relevance, coherence, and effectiveness of these courses and their pedagogy through surveys, focus groups, or interviews, with questions structured around your
. See the section on How to Select and Use Various Assessment Methods in Your Program for guidance on how to use student feedback forms for formative assessment and how to use surveys, interviews, and focus groups to learn about your students.
Compare the success of students in different introductory courses or course sections by tracking enrollment,
, and measures of student learning. Account for differences that may be caused by scheduling, differences in grading, or normalized grading schemes. See the section on How to Select and Use Various Assessment Methods in Your Program for guidance on how to track department metrics.
Assess the success of these courses in recruiting by tracking which introductory courses physics majors and minors took and surveying them about their reasons for choosing the major or minor.
Assess how well these courses prepare students for future courses, both in your department and in other departments these courses serve, by tracking passing rates in those courses and surveying students and
in those courses about student preparation.
Survey staff advisors and faculty in other departments with large populations in your introductory courses for STEM majors about how well those courses are meeting their students’ needs.
Disaggregate all data by demographics and major to determine whether these courses are serving all groups. Look for patterns of inequity in enrollment and success in these courses and in follow-on courses, as well as patterns of inequity in persistence in STEM majors. Determine whether any of these courses differentially recruit certain kinds of students to or exclude certain kinds of students from the physics major. For guidance on how to collect and analyze demographic data respectfully and protect anonymity, see the Guidelines for Demographic Questions in the supplement on How to Design Surveys, Interviews, and Focus Groups.
See the sections on Recruiting of Undergraduate Physics Majors and Retention of Undergraduate Physics Majors for further assessments of how your introductory courses may be impacting recruiting and retention.
See the section on Instructional Laboratories and Experimental Skills for further assessments of how well your courses are supporting these skills.

Resources

See Resources in the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for resources for teaching introductory physics and beyond.

See Resources in the section on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for resources for using inclusive pedagogy and equitable practices in introductory physics and beyond.

The ComPADRE website includes a variety of resources for implementing research-based practices in physics classes, including:

PhysPort: Resources based on physics education research that support teaching. Includes overviews of research-based teaching methods and materials, open-source curricula, expert recommendations, and assessments for introductory physics courses. PhysPort features an expert recommendation on how to develop
Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes
Statements describing what students should be able to do as a result of completing a particular course. Outcomes emphasize the integration and application of knowledge rather than coverage of material, and are observable, measurable, and demonstrable. They use specific, active verbs (e.g., “solve,” “describe,” and “calculate”) rather than “understand.” Course-level student learning outcomes are often abbreviated as course-level SLOs and are also known as course-level learning goals. Examples include:
Solve the Schroedinger equation in one dimension for commonly encountered simple potentials
Describe physical situations that correspond to simple potential energy curves
Calculate the electric field or potential due to a system of charges using Coulomb’s law
Course-level student learning outcomes are generally specific to the knowledge and skills addressed in individual courses, in contrast to program-level student learning outcomes, which focus on overall program outcomes. For instructional staff, these learning outcomes clarify what the course will deliver and unite course content with course-level assessments. Specifying course-level learning outcomes in individual course syllabi is often a requirement for accreditation of your institution, or of the institution itself. Assessment of course-level student learning outcomes through course assignments or examinations should be aligned with assessment of program-level learning outcomes, when possible. See the section on Supporting Research-Based Teaching in Your Department for guidance on how to use a cyclic process to design, assess, and improve courses based on student learning outcomes. For examples, see the PhysPort expert recommendation How do I develop student learning outcomes for physics courses?
with examples from an introductory physics course.
The Physics Source: A collection of resources for introductory college-level physics courses. It includes curricula, curricular support materials, reference materials, and pedagogical and physics-education-research-inspired content and their research justifications.

Several books provide overviews of how to implement research-based teaching in introductory physics courses:

E. F. Redish, Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite, Wiley (2004): A book introducing physics
to the implications of physics education research, the cognitive basis for research-based teaching, and teaching methods and tools to improve physics instruction. Available as a free pdf from PhysPort.
R. D. Knight, Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching, Pearson Education (2004): A book introducing physics instructional staff to interactive teaching and the implications of physics education research, with examples of lessons, activities, and demonstrations for the physics classroom, and suggestions for teaching specific topics in physics.
A. B. Arons, Teaching Introductory Physics, Wiley (1996): A book with a comprehensive exploration of pedagogical issues in student learning of physics. Includes a detailed discussion of student physics learning problems and strategies for addressing these topic by topic, a collection of very challenging open-ended homework problems, and a guide to a nontraditional sequence in physics teaching.
J. P. Mestre and J. L. Docktor, The Science of Learning Physics: Cognitive Strategies For Improving Instruction, World Scientific (2020): A book introducing physics instructional staff to research on the teaching and learning of physics.
E. Mazur, Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual, Prentice Hall (1997): A book introducing Peer Instruction, a method for integrating discussion of conceptual questions into lecture classes. Includes a large collection of questions for use in introductory physics courses.

Evidence

See Evidence in the section on Implementing Research-Based Teaching in Your Classroom for evidence of the benefits of active learning in introductory physics and beyond. See the Evidence in the section on Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion for evidence on the benefits of inclusive pedagogy.