December 14, 2004

Undergraduate Program

• Status of the Plans for a BA Physics Degree

• Status of AST/PHY277 “upgrade”

• Three similar ‘seminar’ courses: PHY104 Opportunities in PhysicsPHY200 Physics TodayPHY311 Connections in Science

Topics for Discussion

Bachelor of Arts in Physics

Where we left last time:

• Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously questioned • A closer look to other institutions advised

What has been done since:

• Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs • Twelve responses have been received and compiled

Status of Plans for Bachelor of Arts in Physics

Last year’s discussions crystallized in concrete proposal

This year’s discussion has questioned advantages ofinstituting a B.A. in Physics:

• Prospective clientele is not clear• It is doubtful that it’ll attract more students • It may reduce the number of B. S. Physics majors who take the B.S. track• It may require the introduction of new courses, which is not a good “economics” decision• It is not clear how much other institutions have benefited from a B.A. program

Proposal: Take a closer look one more time to more institutions, before settling issue definitively

Institution BS creds BA creds BS grads BA grads Comments

Case Western 60 36 17 3 BS includes various tracks

Connecticut 36 24 7 3 Florida 18 7 Recent program;

wild fluctuations in numbers; their guess: no net gain

Iowa 46 28+12 (sci) 10 1 Montana No BA New Hamphsire 22 courses:

math/phy/che 14 courses: math/phy

10 1 Penn State No BA

Purdue No BA

Rochester 8 upper div. courses

5 upper div. courses

18 6 Numbers include phys. and phys/astro majors

Toledo 30 5 3-year-old program. Total current enroll.

Vanderbilt Only BA; no BS

Wash. Seattle 55/yr! No BA; thinking of one.

Rutgers 48 (Prof) 33+9 (Appl).

27 + 18 23 12 BA for hs teaching, patent-law arguing

A Survey of Other Institutions

1. Do you have (or did you have in past) a BA or 'General' degree

program in place?

2. How many credits are required in physics for the BA and the BS?

How many credits in related disciplines for each?

3. Do you have courses that are specifically tailored for the BA

outside those offered for the BS degree? What are they?

4. On average, how many physics majors graduate per year in the

BS and BA tracks? In your estimation, how many of those with

the BA degree would not have enrolled in the BS if the BA

were not available?

5. If you have a web page that describes the requirements for BS and

BA, could you give us the link?

Questionnaire

Bachelor of Arts in Physics

Where we left last time:• Advantages of a B. A. in Physics seriously questioned • A closer look to other institutions advised

What has been done since:• Questionnaire sent to Mid-west Physics Chairs • Twelve responses received and compiled

What we propose:

• Shelf plans for BA in Physics, for now • File gathered information • Revisit decision in 5 years, if appropriate

What we found:

• The BA program marginal as a recruiting tool• Benefits of BA program not significant

Chair’s note: The suggestion to table the institution of a BA degree was accepted.

AST/PHY277: Computation for PHY and AST Majors

Where we left last time:

• Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277 well received • Syllabus to be completed

What has been done since:

• A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew) has drafted a detailed syllabus

AST/PHY 277: An Introduction to Un*x Computing

Prepare Physics and Astronomy majors for modern scientific computing, with value well beyond their undergraduate years.  

Computer LiteracyComputer ProgrammingNumerical Methods

Main Areas

CharacteristicsMandatory for AST and PHY majors3-credit courseTaught once a year (Fall semester)Will need a TA, for extensive grading and “help in the field”Limited numbers of seats (25 to 30 max)

Objective

AST/PHY277: Computation for PHY and AST Majors

Where we left last time:

• Proposal of mandatory, 3-credit AST/PHY277 well received • Syllabus to be completed

What has been done since:

• A small committee (Swesty, Jacobsen, Drew) has drafted a detailed syllabus

What will happen, if syllabus is approved:

• “New” AST/PHY277 forwarded to CAS Curriculum Comm.• CAS Curriculum Comm. will review case in January• If approved, new AST/PHY277 will start in Fall ’05

• Introduction to Unix– basic file manipulation commands

– editing files

– working remotely

• Introduction to Fortran 90– integer & floating point arithmetic

– real & integer variables and expressions

– basic conditional & loop structures

– static arrays

– basics of subprograms

• Rudimentary numerical techniques– Trapezoidal rule integration

– Basic least-squares fit

– Newton-Raphson iteration

– Euler's method for ODEs

• Computer literacy– more extensive tour of Unix

– graphics & visualization applications

– makefiles

– LaTeX

– HTML

– IDL/Mathematica/Maple/Matlab

– symbolic manipulation

• Programming – Complex variables & strings

– Formatted I/O

– allocatable arrays & dynamic memory allocation

– All of F90 & procedural parts of C++

– pointers in F90, C, C++

• Numerical Methods– Greater detail of numerical integration,

root-finding, ODE methods– Intro to Monte-Carlo methods

In 1-credit course we teach: In 3-credit course we could add:

AST 277/PHY 277

The faculty enthusiastically endorsed making “Computation in Physics and Astronomy” a required 3 credit course for first offering in Fall 2005.

Three Comparable Seminar Courses

PHY104 Opportunities in PhysicsStony Brook faculty, alumni and other physicists discuss their current projects and their careers, and relate their activities both to basic undergraduatethe introductory physics curriculum and to areas of on-going research

PHY200 Physics TodayIntroduces students to the excitement of current topics in physics research. Students are introduced to researchers from the University and Brookhaven National Laboratory who are conducting research at the forefront of a variety of subfields of physics. Literature search and presentation skills are developed .

PHY311 Connections in ScienceA selection of the interrelations between physics and other scientific and technological fields, using modern examples from engineering, Investigation of the application of physics to other scientific fields including medicine, biophysics, chemistry, engineering, and applied mathematics, among others. The course is taught as a seminar and includes guest lecturers, tours of laboratories, and discussion of classic and current research projects.

Three Comparable Seminar Courses

F04 S04 F03 F03

PHY104 7 13

PHY200 5 6

PHY311 9 9

Enrollment:

ProposalLeave PHY311 as it isConsolidate PHY104 and PHY200

The undergraduate curriculum committee proposes:

1. Make PHY277 a requirement for PHY major (it already is for AST)

2. Expand AST/PHY277 syllabus and make it a 3-credit course

3. Encourage students to take AST/PHY277 in Sophomore year

4. Encourage upper-division instructors to include numerical problems in their assignments

The faculty voted to amalgamate PHY104 and PHY200 into PHY200 starting as soon as possible.