COURSE FACT SHEET FOR DEPARTMENTAL PROGRAM REVIEW

1. Title, Course, Number, and Credit Hours. (Explain credit load of course if it is in some way unusual.)

Electromagnetic Theory; PHYS 304 (ENGR 320); 3 credit hours.

2. What is the catalog course description for the course?

Static and time-dependent electric and magnetic fields.Ferromagnetic materials, Maxwell's Equations, Boundary value problems, Transmission lines, wave guides and radiation. Prerequisite: Physics 253. Three lectures per week. (Same as Engineering 320)

3. What are the prerequisites or other background required of students for this course? Are these requirements adequate?

The only prerequisite for this course is Physics 253 (the elementary course for electricity and magnetism). This requirement is adequate for all students since, by this time, all students should have taken mathematics 191, 192, and 201.

4. How does this course fit into the departmental program?

This course is required of all physics and engineering physics majors. It is the only undergraduate course designed in-depth study of the electromagnetic theory using partial differential equation. It is required of the physics major.

5. At what type of student is this course aimed? What gaps or needs in the curriculum is this course intended to fill?

The course is aimed primarily at physics or engineering physics majors. It is also suitable for advanced engineering majors. It teaches students the fundamental theory of electromagnetic waves.

6. How is this course important to a particular field of study?

This course teaches students the most important subject matter and mathematical skills most vital to the students understanding of physics and will be widely used in all other branches of physics.

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?

This course differs from all other courses in electricity and magnetism by its level of difficulty and sophistication. No other courses in the catalog in this area of physics use the method of partial differential equations which are the only correct mathematical method to study electromagnetic waves and their physical properties.

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.

This course has no similarity to any other courses in the entire physics and engineering curriculum.

9. When, how and by whom is this course taught?

This course is taught by demand. It has three lecture periods per week. Dr. Yang has been the usual instructor for this course. Dr Burns was the most recent instructor.

10. Are the current holdings of the O'Keefe Library adequate to support this course or are additional materials needed?

The current holdings of the O'Keefe Liobrary are adequate to support this course. Dr. Yang, the usual course instructor, has done extensive research and has published important and widely quoted (among researchers) papers in this area. He has been using his publications as supplementary material for the course. Additional materials may be helpful but not essential. The physics department has computers and software to help students tackle complicated and difficult problems encountered in this course.