Want to major in engineering or physics? What to look for when you are selecting a university

For a future engineer or physicist, learning the basic physics and mathematics is an important step.  But you learn to be a professional in the research laboratory, working with a group on the cutting edge.  As you can tell from some of our recent posts, we believe research participation is an indispensable core component of learning to be an engineer or physicist.  And you shouldn’t have to wait until your senior year to be involved in research – many of our students are able to get involved during the summer following the first year.

But you have to learn the basic science – and learn it with deep understanding – to become a strong professional engineer or physicist.  So when selecting a university at which to study engineering or physics, look for one where the Physics Department and other academic departments in which you’ll be involved have adopted teaching models that give students the best opportunity to learn well.

The Studio Physics Program at FSU is an example of such a model.  FSU Physics faculty adopted the SCALE-UP instructional model developed originally by physicists at North Carolina State University.  The model deemphasizes lectures and focuses on collaborative laboratory and problem-solving exercises.  The FSU Studio Physics Program serves about 200 students each semester in its two specialized classrooms, one of which is shown below.

Fortunately for Florida students, the state’s public university system is a national leader in adopting this sort of advanced pedagogy in physics.  Florida A&M University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of West Florida all offer highly interactive introductory physics courses.