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Re: who really "knows his/her stuff"?



Yes, I would call the PhD a research degree, and I acknowledge that many
PhDs do not continue doing research after they receive their degrees. I
also know that some people get a PhD that maybe shouldn't, but this is
not supposed to be the norm, so I am ignoring this.

So,what are the proper credentials for teaching physics in colleges and
universities? I still maintain the PhD is the proper degree.

If a person obtained a BS/BA in physics, unless they did a senior
project or an independent study they have not performed laboratory
experiments other than cook-book experiments. Even if they did perform
"research" the project would most likely be a small piece of a larger
project, and the student would not have been "in charge" of very much.
Also, research done by undergraduates is typically short term; maybe one
year, and often only one semester.

If a person obtains an MS in physics, whether or not this increases
their research experience depends on whether it was a course-work
masters or a thesis masters. People doing a course-work masters don't
need to step into a physics lab at all; therefore, by the time they have
the MS their lab experience is often no more than it was when they got
the BS/BA.

If a person earns a thesis masters, then we are getting to the point
that I would consider them for college teaching. I have known a couple
persons who received thesis masters for projects that were better and
more complicated than persons who did the PhD, although the MS theses
were much shorter in time span, usually one or two years rather then the
four to six years common for the PhD.

When a person does PhD research over a 4 to 6 year time span, this is a
life-altering experience. At a minimum they should have demonstrated
they are capable of having been in charge of a major piece of physics
research, and they saw it through. Even if they never do research
again, they have the bragging rights to say "I've been there, done
that."

But it's more than just having the bragging rights. It also represents
a mind set. People who have been in charge of a major work and have
figured out, pretty much on their own, how to get through all the
hurdles, pitfalls... and have celebrated the highs and well as
experienced the depression when nothing is working... these people have
been changed for life. They bring something into the college classroom
and into the college lab that others cannot bring. I believe this is
the "something" we are looking for in a college professor, even if that
professor does not engage in cutting edge research anymore.

I am sure there are some BS/BA physicists in industry who get to be in
charge and have these kinds of experiences. My son dropped out of
college after two years, so he has no degree, and he is working in a
research lab where his talent was recoginized and he is redesigning some
major instrumentation for his company. He is getting some of the
experiences I got in graduate school. But these are exceptions.

I suppose that when we hire college professors we could be on the
look-out for the exceptions... but that is so difficult. I think we
have to play the averages. If we have PhD applicants, that is where we
are most likely to find the kind of person we are looking for. We're
not looking for the degree... we're looking for the person with the
proper experiences and the proper overall view of science. Having the
PhD does not guarantee this, and that's why we have letters of
recommendation and interviews. But having the PhD certainly increases
the chances that what we're looking for is there.

I think the above is the philosophical reason for hiring PhDs for
college teaching. It is what I most want to pay attention to. The
other part of the story is what prospective students and their parents
expect. Some have said that what they expect is good teaching. Of
course they do. But they still want to see that PhD. Would you pay
money to a really good "teacher" to give your daughter piano lessons if
the teacher could not play piano, or could not play piano well?
Wouldn't you want the teacher to be able to say, "No, not quite like
that... listen to this" and then the teacher would play the passage for
your daughter?

There is the suspicion, right or wrong, that the BS/BA, or MS, or EdD
teaching college physics is like the piano teacher that can't play, or
can't play well. Whether we like it or not, that suspicion is there,
and it affects enrollment, and we have to have enrollment to pay our
salaries.

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu