Re:

["Paul Camp" <pjcamp@coastal.edu>]

I have a hard time understanding why this is even relevant, though. 
Presumably, the goal of an engineering school in requiring physics is 
*not* to turn their students into physicists but to prepare them 
intellectually for upper level engineering work. I don't see how this 
changes my goals in an intro course, whether it is terminal or not. 
In either case, the reasoning techniques they learn are a great deal 
more important than the specific information they take away with 
them. And in either case, really coming to grips with the most 
fundamental principles of physics takes precedence over covering 
the broad range of modern physics.

Yes, for most students this is probably a terminal course. But so 
what? How does that change what I should expect them to come away 
with? This is worth discussing.

> It was written
> _____________
> Just a word of caution in response to Paul and Dennis' remarks:  Study
> after study has shown that we (in Physics) treat our courses as if they
> were NOT the terminal course.  Yet the reality is, that more often than we
> would like, they are the last real physics course a student will ever take.
> (Dykstra:  do you have a reference?)
> _______________
>
> Why on earth do we need a reference, or even a bunch of studies, it strikes 
> me that this has been the experience of all of us (or nearly all of us). A 
> doubt there will be little disagreement with the above statement, even 
> without a reference.  A question is, what if anything to do about 
it.  
> Joel
> rauberj@mg.sdstate.edu

Paul J. Camp                   "The Beauty of the Universe
Assistant Professor of Physics  consists not only of unity
Coastal Carolina University     in variety but also of 
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