FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas physics department has been selected to receive a three-year, $246,895 grant from the Department of Education’s year 2000 FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education) competition. The funded proposal will financially support the development and implementation of "An Enriched Graduate Physics Education Methodology".

This grant, matched by $171,657 from the University of Arkansas and the state, will be used to develop new courses and educational approaches to graduate physics education that will act as a model for other universities with graduate physics programs around the nation.

FIPSE was founded in 1972 with a dual mission to improve both the quality and the accessibility of education beyond the high school level. Projects funded by FIPSE grants are intended to provide the seed capital for experiments in educational reform.

Dr. Ken Tolo, FIPSE Director, reported at the recent annual conference that in this year’s competition there were over two thousand proposals submitted. Only one hundred and twenty six of these proposals were selected for funding through FIPSE grants. The University of Arkansas grant was one of the very few grants awarded this year in support of graduate education development.

"This grant will allow us to create a physics graduate program with the same vigorous science learning as before, but with additional training in the how to effectively apply that science in the real world of rapid technology development." said Dr. Greg Salamo, project director for the grant. "This is one more step in creating the full range of state-of-the-art graduate educational programs at Fayetteville that will help attract high technology industry to our state."

Salamo, a University of Arkansas professor of physics, will direct the overall project and course development effort. His efforts will result in the creation of two new graduate courses that will first define and then build new state-of-the-art electronic and photonic devices based on current UA research results.

Professor Ken Vickers, director of the UA interdisciplinary microelectronics-photonics (microEP) graduate program supported by the National Science Foundation and Experiemental Programs to Stimulate Competative Research (EPSCoR), will direct the educational efforts under the grant. New physics graduate students entering this program will create an industry-like technology group that will be taught not only the traditional science of a graduate physics degree program, but also the interpersonal and teamwork skills necessary to immediately implement their science knowledge in the workplace on graduation.

"The education methods we will use have already been demonstrated in the microEP graduate program and will be modified to meet physics needs, but the new physics courses developed under this grant will be used by physics, microEP, and other engineering graduate programs’ students," said Vickers.

"Cross utilization of our educational resources between programs is one way to bring industrial type efficiency to the University" said Vickers. "In cases such as this, a primary course in one discipline can also be a strong elective in another graduate program. Overall, this allows faculty across the University more time to develop the next-generation courses in the new areas of knowledge needed by our students to excel as they enter the workplace after graduation."

Dr. Ronna Turner, office of research, measurement, and evaluation in the College of Education and Health Professions, will provide the long-term evaluation for the educational methods introduced under this grant. Under this evaluation, the students in the program will understand both their academic progress and their progress in developing effective workplace skills.

"We will evaluate students in this program while they are at the University, as they enter the workplace, and through their early career," said Turner. "But the early career success will be the true measure of the effectiveness of the educational methods supported by this grant, an evaluation component usually not included in grants such as this."

The first class of physics graduate students fully engaged in this program’s educational concepts will enter the University in the fall 2001 semester.

Further information about the physics department and its programs and information about FIPSE can be found on the following web addresses:

University of Arkansas, Physics Department

http://www.uark.edu/depts/physics

University of Arkansas, microEP Graduate Program

http://www.uark.edu/depts/microep

Department of Education, Fund for Improvement of Post Secondary Education

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/FIPSE