Michigan State University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy was recognized by the American Physical Society with a prestigious 2022 Award for Improving Undergraduate Physics Education.

MSU undergraduate physics curriculum stood out for making significant improvements to its undergraduate educational experience and its ability to retain a high number of successful physics majors. Students, faculty and staff put countless hours into reforming the department’s introductory courses and integrating computation across its curriculum.

"The interconnection between research and teaching and the drive to excel at both is at the heart of the land grant mission of MSU,” said Steve Zepf, professor and chairperson of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “This department has a long history of innovation and success in its teaching and research missions. Its faculty are both top-ranked researchers making discoveries in many different fields of physics and astronomy, and developers and teachers of innovative curricula.”

The transformation of introductory physics courses at MSU has been ongoing for almost a decade. In 2014, Danny Caballero, Lappan-Phillips Associate Professor of Physics Education, and Paul Irving, assistant professor of physics education, re-designed the first introductory mechanics physics classroom, known as (P-Cubed). Instead of one professor lecturing, they created a group-based classroom where students learn from a community of teachers. Caballero and Irving demonstrated that this model was scalable and sustainable, taking P-Cubed from a 40-person class to three sections of 120 students, and the numbers are still growing.

To learn more, visit natsci.msu.edu