COURSE FACT SHEET FOR PHYSICS DEPARTMENT PROGRAM REVIEW
1. Title, Course, Number, and Credit Hours. (Explain credit load of course if
it is in some way unusual.)
College Physics II, Physics 204, 4 credit hours
2. What is the catalog course description for the course?
For majors in Biology, the health sciences and the liberal arts. Principles of
electricity, magnetism, optics, modern physics and elementary particles. Three lectures
and one laboratory each week.
3. What are the prerequisites or other background required of students for this
course? Are these requirements adequate?
Physics 203 is a necessary and sufficient prerequisite.
4. How does this course fit into the departmental program?
This course is a service offering, primarily for biology, physical therapy and
chemistry majors. It completes the algebra-based presentation of physics at the introductory
level.
5. At what type of student is this course aimed? What gaps or needs in the curriculum
is this course intended to fill?
This course is aimed at biology majors with pre-professional concentrations and
for chemistry majors.
6. How is this course important to a particular field of study?
The foundations for contemporary instrumentation found in the health science professions
is developed in this course. Many of the newest technical advances apply some concept
of physics studied in this course.
7. How is this course different from any other courses in the catalog or why must
the material covered in the course be treated separately instead of being incorporated
into another course?
The content of the course is similar to that covered in a pair of courses (Physics
253 and 254).
8. If this course is similar to another course in the catalog, explain why both
courses should exist or suggest whether something should be dropped or changed.
The course is necessary to complete the introduction to physics for science majors.
The course is less mathematically demanding than Physics 253 and 254.
9. When, how and by whom is this course taught?
The course is taught annually. There are three lectures and one laboratory-discussion
period per week. Dr. Burns is the present instructor for the course.
10. Are the current holdings of the O'Keefe Library adequate to support this course
or are additional materials needed?
The facilities of theO'Keefe Library are adequate to support this course. The
word processing facilities are used in writing lab reports. Some computer assisted
learning materials are held on reserve in the O'Keefe Library. Periodicals such as
Scientific American and Physics Today are used for outside reading assignments.