We are currently developing curricula that effectively embed computation and experimentation in five required Physics courses that span our sophomore and upper-level offerings: PHYS 225 Applications of Modern Physics, PHYS 331 Theoretical Mechanics, PHYS 341 Electricity and Magnetism, PHYS 347 Optics, and PHYS 431 Quantum Mechanics. We hope that through continued exposure, our students will embrace computation as a particularly useful tool in their arsenal, and that they will learn to effectively communicate technical ideas.

The goals of our curriculum development are:

(1) to embed computation using MATLAB in large and small ways throughout the curriculum, from simple tasks such as plotting functions, to sophisticated tasks such as simulating the dynamics of a complex system.

(2) to connect the theory and idealized physical systems presented in lecture with real systems through the use of computer simulation and validation experiments.


Click on the "Courses" links at left to learn more about the materials we are developing for each of the courses.

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