Re: switching from quarters to semesters

[rshotwel@ivy.tec.in.us (Allen Shotwell)]

> Here in Utah the legislature recently mandated that all state institutions
> of higher ed switch from quarters to semesters.  The change-over is proving
> to be a nightmare.  As far as the physics curriculum is concerned the
> state-wide committee I serve on seems to be stuck on the introductory
> calculus-based university physics that most engineers have to take.
> Currently there are a variety of implementations across the state; here at
> Snow we teach one 3-quarter sequence (Fall-Winter-Spring) of 5 quarter
> hours each, including the lab (total of 15 quarter hours; 4 lectures per
> week, 1 two-hr lab per week).  We assume that we'll just keep on doing the
> same thing under the semester system and have two semesters of 5 semester
> hours each (including the lab), but the bigger schools in the state are
> having a bigger struggle.  One university is considering chopping up the
> course into 5 half-semester blocks, and different brands of engineers would
> take different subsets.
>
> Could those of you on the semester system tell me about your curriculum

My heart bleeds for you. We made the switch in 1989-90 and I agree with
other postings (I like quarters better). We run a first semester of
primarily mechanics and thermo and a second semester of e&m, waves, modern
phys. 

Not only does introductory physics slice up better under quarters, but our
faculty have found that 10 or 11 weeks is a natural break in our courses.
Under quarters, that natural rhythm corresponded to the end of the term.
Under semesters it just means you have six more weeks to try to keep the
class moving.
R. Allen Shotwell
Chair, Science and Math
Ivy Tech State College
Terre Haute, IN