Dartmouth's new Integrated Math and Physical Science program is enabling 46 freshmen, who are primarily interested in majoring in engineering, math or the physical sciences, to concentrate on and better understand the links between math and science.
Physics and Astronomy Professor Delo Mook, who is the head of IMPS, said the program was made to help students transfer knowledge between courses.
"The faculty realized that many students were having difficulty transferring what they had learned in their math courses to their physical science courses," Mook said.
The program, which was initiated this fall, requires freshmen to take two science classes each term of their freshman year.
The students take Math 8, 13 and 23 Fall, Winter and Spring terms respectively, according to the course syllabus. A combination course composed of the material taught in Physics 13 and 14 and Chemistry 6 and 10 is also taken each term.
At the end of the year, seven credits are received for the six classes -- three credits for math, one for physics and three for chemistry. An extra credit is received for the Chemistry 10 course.
Although students are required to complete all of the requirements of the program during freshman year, they will not be required to continue their studies in the areas of math or physical science as upperclassmen, Mook said.
But he said the majority of IMPS students will continue to pursue their education in these areas.
Mook said the concept of IMPS began a year ago when the math department proposed a grant to the National Science Foundation.
IMPS, one of the components of the grant proposal, was part of an effort to improve and spread the instruction of mathematics into other areas of the curriculum, such as the physical sciences, Mook said.
"The students are being followed very carefully ... and they will be followed after they leave the IMPS program to see how well they do compared to students who have taken their science and math in the ordinary way," Mook said.
"Student feedback is very important," he said. "We solicited feedback from students, and it seems to be going pretty well."
Mook said it is possible the course will be open to more freshmen and upperclass students as well in the future.
Students in the program said IMPS does a good job of integrating math and science courses.
"The science teacher sits in on the math lesson, and the math teacher sits in on the science lesson. I'm sure they interact outside of class so that they can plan their lessons accordingly," said Gregory Rutkowski '00, a potential engineering major.
Students also agree that taking IMPS has other advantages.
Potential engineering major Lauren Scopaz '00 said because the program includes all of the prerequisites for the engineering and physical science majors in the first year, it allows students to take other electives later.
Freshman Michael Koss, who hopes to major in applied mathematics, said "there's definitely a work ethic you learn from this class."
"You really have to stay on top of your work," he said. "[IMPS] will give me good organizational skills to keep up with my work."
But despite its advantages, many students complained about the difficulty of the IMPS curriculum.
Kate Winters '00, who plans to major in engineering, said the program "requires so much work. I feel as though we are working so much harder than many other students."
Study sessions occur frequently and BlitzMail has become a useful tool in everything from solving physics equations to teaching each other how to work with Mathematica, Eric Greenberg '00 said.
Mathematica is a new computer program which solves problems by plugging in mathematical equations, Koss said.
"So far, I'm a little regretful that I took this class," Adam Dansiger '00 said. "I was thinking about majoring in the science, math or engineering field. After my experience with IMPS, I may find social science a lot more interesting."
