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Re: undergrad physics course sequence



I think that most schools have an "Independent Study" course option, which
might be used for the sort of thing that you are thinking of (one or two
really good students who could go much farther than the pack). That's
certainly how I got my introductory gas dynamics as an undergrad at
Washington State U. I regret not having gotten some basic GR that way, too
(both nuclear physics and modern optics were taught as formal courses, and
if my memory isn't too fuzzy, nuclear was required). Of course, that was
the "good ol' days." Today, perhaps "Independent Study" has become equated
with "Research," rather than research being just one possibility.

I have a question for those of you who teach physics in small undergraduate
schools where faculty resources preclude teaching the entire menu of
possible physics courses: How do you decide which courses (beyond the intro
level) to offer? And what do you do when you have one or two really good
students who really could benefit from advanced topic X but obviously the
administration won't let you offer a course for two students even if you
wanted to?

A related question for anyone who has taken any university physics courses:
Did you get to take all of the courses you would have liked to if your
school(s) had offered you anything your heart desired? For instance, how
many physicists on this list have never had a course in say general
relativity or modern optics or
nuclear physics? Most undergraduate curricula do not include such courses.
...


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Stephen D. Murray
Physicist, A Division
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
phone: (925) 423-9382 FAX: (925) 423-0925
email: sdmurray@llnl.gov
web page: http://members.home.com/murraysj/
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