Physics and Physical Science Department
Mission

To impart a sense of this great adventure and to transmit the concept that science is an exciting and necessary human activity.

To provide the critical thinking skills that are needed by those pursuing a profession in the sciences or related areas and to the student taking science courses for general education as well as for those majoring in the sciences.

To provide fundamental information in physics and the physical sciences and to illuminate their applications to areas as diverse as astronomy, geology, meteorology, engineering and the health sciences.

Additional Goals:

To kindle interest in science and to further the scientific literacy of non-science students through the general studies program.
To provide courses which examine science and the human condition for the University's honors program.
To provide students in the pre-professional area, particularly those of engineering, architecture, meteorology, oceanography and health, with the information and basic skills necessary to their technologies.
To prepare teachers in subject matter and in methods for the teaching of physics and physical science in elementary, middle and secondary grades.
To prepare students for careers in physics and physical sciences.
To prepare students for graduate work in physics or in academic areas for which physics or physical science serve as entry subjects.
To provide in-service instruction which will help to upgrade both the science content and the science methods for teachers already involved in teaching in the areas of physics and physical science.