On the Prevalence and Nature of Computational Instruction in Undergraduate Physics Programs across the United States

TL;DR

This study surveys US physics faculty to assess the prevalence and characteristics of computational instruction in undergraduate physics, revealing increased faculty experience but limited formal integration into coursework and interactive methods.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive national data on computational physics teaching practices and highlights gaps between faculty experience and formal instructional integration.

Findings

More faculty have computational teaching experience than a decade ago

Few departments have formal computational physics programs

Computation is mainly used in homework and projects, not in interactive classroom methods

Abstract

A national survey of physics faculty was conducted to investigate the prevalence and nature of computational instruction in physics courses across the United States. 1246 faculty from 357 unique institutions responded to the survey. The results suggest that more faculty have some form of computational teaching experience than a decade ago, but it appears that this experience does not necessarily translate to computational instruction in undergraduate students' formal course work. Further, we find that formal programs in computational physics are absent from most departments. A majority of faculty do report using computation on homework and in projects, but few report using computation with interactive engagement methods in the classroom or on exams. Specific factors that underlie these results are the subject of future work, but we do find that there is a variation on the reported experience with computation and the highest degree that students can earn at the surveyed institutions.