Analyzing How Institutions Differentiate Introductory Physics Curriculum to Support All Students

Introductory physics courses form the foundation of many STEM programs, yet their structure, prerequisites, and intended audiences vary widely across U.S. universities. While some large institutions offer courses that serve a variety of majors and differentiate by math preparation, other large institutions offer a variety of introductory courses differentiated by major. To better understand these differences, this study focuses on systematically collecting and organizing national data on introductory physics courses. We are building a detailed database that compiles information on course prerequisites, content focus, and mathematical requirements particularly calculus and high school physics preparation to help us understand how physics curriculum is differentiated to better support students. In this presentation, we will focus on our analysis across all Big 10 universities, though we will share some anecdotes from our survey of other institutions as well.