I believe the aim of a college or university education is to encourage and stimulate the student to expand, first in vision and then in comprehension. In expansion he or she will begin from the familiar, but through exposure to new ways of looking at the world and considering its meaning, begin to see further than before.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." W. Shakespeare
Extending perspective then raises a challenge to comprehend the new. The greatest task for preparing students to live successfully is not job training, but mind training. With experience in meeting and creating new ideas, students are truly learners, ready to wrangle the diverse and rapid challenges of their world.
Physics is a ready-made laboratory for this education. Studying physics is especially valuable to non-technical students. The combination of mental flexibility and precision encouraged in even an introductory course will not only expose them to a uniquely successful form of reductionism, but also serve them well in thinking, writing, and speaking with clarity. For majors, progress from Newtonian through less mechanistic concepts of modern physics parallels personal development in levels of knowledge from textbook solutions to creative, open-ended research.
Learning styles vary, and teaching must be constantly innovative to engage every student and encourage their growth and flexibility. In the education process, creative people develop structure in thinking, and strictly methodical thinkers are encouraged to think creatively. Yet, in all of this, clarity in communication is vital. Writing should be taught and discussed across the curriculum. Learning should be invigorating in its challenge, and ultimately FUN. To that end, physics has the advantage of really spectacular toys.
Playing with toys - encompassing all of natural phenomena - is the motor and drive of the study of physics. From the beginning, a student's experiences in the world should both prompt and reward classroom study. Undergraduates benefit from participation in cutting-edge research, while teachers use it to bring vigor, relevance, and fresh perspective to classroom discussion.
At Kettering:
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At The College of Wooster:
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At BYU, as a graduate student:
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