Paper Title
Making Significant Changes to General Physics Laboratory to Reduce The DWF Rate and Increase Interest in Stem Fields
Abstract
Many students in STEM and education fields are required to take the introductory physics laboratory sequence.
More precisely, all STEM students are required to take general physics lab I and many continue on to take general physics
lab II(PHY 123 and PHY 125) with the exception of Geo-environmental Studies students who may take another lab to fulfill
some of their allied field and general education course requirements. These courses serve as the experimental foundation for
understanding the fundamentals of physics developed in the general physics courses. They also serve as a crucial
introduction to the scientific method, collecting and analyzing data, technical writing, hands-on skills and work ethics, which
lead to goal-oriented and dedicated graduates capable of achieving the success they envision. In this paper we show how to
make significant developments to the general physics labs in order to reduce the DWF rate and increase interest in STEM
fields
Keywords - General Education, Physics Labs, new lab methodology.