Checking for Interdisciplinary Alignment: A Critical Assessment of General Physics

Physics Education Research emerged from a desire to improve physics classes, and to use research methods to do so. Still, to most effectively impact change requires an understanding of what improvement and success entails. Students take our courses for different reasons, expect different things from our courses, and have varying relationships to physics. At Pomona College, General Physics is not a pathway into the major but rather teaches physics to non-physics students, often for major, graduate school, or career requirements. Our assessment explores the alignment between the goals of different stakeholders – students, the physics department, and the other invested departments – and course outcomes. Surveys, including the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR), and qualitative interviews were used to solicit feedback. Preliminary results indicate a moderate shift toward more expert-like responses on the CLASS and a slight increase in CTSR scores. Interviews with professors focused on the role of General Physics relative to their discipline: how to cultivate stronger interdisciplinary ties; interviews with students focused on the experience of General Physics: what does, what doesn’t, and what could work well.