Funded by: Texas A&M Department of Physics and Astronomy
During the fall of 2014, the ERC conducted an external evaluation of the Discover, Explore, and Enjoy Physics (DEEP) program at Texas A&M University. DEEP was established in 2012 by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M. The goal of the program is to enhance undergraduate and graduate students’ learning and research experience by incorporating active/service learning and teamwork. A key component of DEEP is to encourage undergraduate student participation in high-profile outreach activities, such as:
- The annual Texas A&M Physics and Engineering Festival.
- Fall and spring DEEP Showcases, and
- TAMU Physics Shows
under the guidance of DEEP graduate mentors from the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Aerospace Engineering.
The evaluation addressed the following DEEP objectives:
- Increase undergraduate participants’ knowledge of physics and engineering concepts,
- Positively impact undergraduate student participants’ analytics and hands-on skills in conducting research,
- Enhance undergraduate student participants’ communication skills,
- Encourage undergraduate student participants’ teamwork skills,
- Improve graduate student participants’ leadership skills, and
- Increase graduate student participants’ team building skills.
Surveys and interviews were utilized with undergraduate students as well as graduate mentors to examine the impact of program activities on participants’ communication and teamwork skills.