Effective Practices
Design and assess introductory courses, starting from program-level and course-level student learning outcomes and student preparation
- 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 metacognitive 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.
- 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.
- Create for each course in the introductory sequence, using the knowledge and skills identified above in 1.a.iii and 1.a.iv.
- Include learning outcomes related to attitudes and beliefs about physics. See the section on Courses for Non-STEM Majors for guidance on how to build student trust by creating positive experiences in the study of physics.
- Include learning outcomes related to the social context and impact of physics. See the section on Courses for Non-STEM Majors for guidance on how to engage students in understanding and evaluating the impact of physics on society and the practices of physics and the social context in which it is embedded.
- Include learning outcomes related to communication. See the section on Communication Skills for guidance.
- Include learning outcomes related to computation. See the section on Computational Skills for guidance on how to develop technical computing skills and introduce computational physics skills in introductory courses for majors and non-majors.
- Be realistic about what can be accomplished in a single course, and consider the development of skills over the sequence of introductory courses. For example, recognize that teaching critical thinking skills and/or deeper conceptual understanding may require covering fewer topics.
- Discuss with stakeholders (e.g., faculty in physics, engineering, chemistry, or life sciences) , potential goals, and how they are connected to (e.g., as outlined in a ) to obtain consensus and understand concerns, particularly if material has been added or removed from courses.
- See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for detailed guidance on how to design and assess courses based on program-level and course-level student learning outcomes. 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.
- Conduct regular assessments of the introductory courses. Align assessments with institutional assessment activities (e.g., assessing , assessing general education requirements, and/or satisfying requirements of external accreditors) and the information your department needs to improve courses. See Programmatic Assessments below for details. Develop a dashboard or data tracking system for assessment results. Identify who (e.g., a course lead or introductory physics course committee) is responsible for conducting assessments and tracking results.
- Have a review meeting at the end of the course for all and to discuss how the course went and what might be improved.
- Document information gathered through assessments and discussions and use it to make adjustments and improvements in the course design, , and .
- Communicate assessment results and planned improvements to course stakeholders (e.g., faculty in physics, engineering, chemistry, or life sciences) and your administration.
- Dedicate specific time(s) for the whole department to discuss assessment and improvement of the introductory courses.
Design an introductory course structure to meet your department’s goals, students’ needs, and institutional constraints
- 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 Instructional Practices for guidance on how to understand and implement practices that support the diversity of students in your classes.
- 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.
- Promote the idea that courses and the curriculum belong to the department, so need to agree on the material that students should learn in each course.
- Establish an expectation that introductory courses will use research-based instructional practices and inclusive pedagogy and provide appropriate support. See 3 below.
- If appropriate, establish a course lead and/or course committee to oversee the introductory physics courses; set standards for content, instructional practices, assessment; and regularly engage all who are or will soon be teaching these courses.
- If you employ undergraduate instructional assistants or graduate teaching assistants, establish a process for their selection and training that integrates them into the course teaching team. See the sections on Undergraduate Instructional Assistants and Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for details.
- Nominate and for teaching awards within the institution and beyond.
- Discuss with in immediate subsequent courses, allowing them to scaffold their courses onto these outcomes.
- If appropriate (e.g., for large-enrollment classes), employ support staff to assist with administrative tasks, (e.g., drops and adds, accommodations for disabilities and missed classes and exams, and equipment maintenance and setup) to make best use of time.
- 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 allows for continuity and innovation while avoiding burnout, e.g., instructors should teach the same course no more than X and no fewer than Y continuous years, and/or course assignments are 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.
- 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 .
- Ensure that all course technologies meet to ensure your courses are inclusive of students with disabilities.
- 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.
- Communicate to students early in the course how their learning will be evaluated, and reinforce this throughout the term.
- Assign grades based on a fixed standard rather than relative to other students’ performance, to encourage collaboration and mutual support and to assure students that their grades are based on their mastery of the material.
- Provide opportunities for students to practice and receive feedback without having their performance impact their final course grades. For example, use worksheets, in-class concept questions, peer grading, or problems in which students use solutions to correct their own work. Grading some activities for participation rather than correctness or not grading them at all helps create a low-risk, low-stress environment and communicates that their purpose is to support student engagement and learning, and to assess student understanding to improve teaching, rather than to assign grades.
- Align the distribution of course credit with the importance of activities for student learning, e.g., give credit for pre-lecture readings and in-class participation.
- Consider grading structures that explicitly incorporate collaboration, such as small-group projects or worksheets with individual and group deliverables or .
- Build in features that give students judgment-free flexibility to deal with life’s difficulties. For example, provide multiple paths to earn a course grade by using a grading structure in which students do not need every point available to get a good grade and/or give every student a single no-questions-asked extension.
- Decide how and when to make homework, quiz, and exam solutions available to students. For example, wait to release solutions until students have had an opportunity to correct their work, provide scaffolding for students to create their own solutions, and/or use distribution mechanisms that discourage wide dissemination of solutions beyond the students currently in the course, e.g., an honor system and/or solutions posted inside a course management system in a format that is not easily downloadable.
- Ensure consistent grading across all course sections, by e.g., using coordinated questions and grading rubrics, setting common exam times or blocks while recognizing potential time conflicts for students, and establishing clear grading standards.
- See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for guidance on how to align assignments and assessments with course goals and structures.
Use research-based instructional practices and inclusive pedagogy in the introductory courses
- See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for guidance on how to use research-based instructional practices in classes, laboratories, and recitations, including recommendations for facilitating small groups; supporting the diversity of students in your class; and using particular methods, strategies, curricula, and tools for different learning environments and goals.
- 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 Instructional Practices for guidance on how to regularly assess student learning in your class. 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.
- 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 Instructional Practices for guidance on how to understand and implement 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
- See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for guidance on how to develop, promote, and institutionalize a departmental culture of scholarly and effective teaching and support all instructional staff in using research-based instructional practices, including providing appropriate professional development.
- Evaluate multi-term trajectories of instructors’ teaching rather than outcomes of single terms, to create a lower-risk environment that encourages to engage in iterative curricular development, implementation, and refinement.
- Support adjunct and part-time in these courses by understanding and valuing their roles in advancing student learning and providing them with adequate compensation and professional development.
- Ensure that your departmental culture allows instructional staff to make choices about research-based instructional practices that are a good fit for them (while still being effective for student learning), recognizing that instructors who embody authority and expertise (based on, e.g., race, gender, and/or age) have different instructional choices available to them than instructors who do not.
- 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.
Support students to maximize their learning
- See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices for guidance on how to support students in understanding and seeing the value of research-based instructional practices.
- Explicitly teach skills that go beyond physics content, including metacognition, study skills, epistemology of physics, qualitative reasoning, and problem-solving skills. See the section on Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices 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
- 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 Implementing Research-Based Instructional Practices 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.
- 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.