Florida Institute of Technology - Ad Astra Yearbook (Melbourne, FL)

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242 PHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCES | In the beginning F.I.T. was founded to serve the education needs of the then-new space program; consequently physics and what was originally called space technol- ogy were among the charter members of the small group of disciplines around which F.I.T. (Brevard Engineering Col- lege) was founded. The first degrees in Space Technology were awarded in 1961 and the first degrees B.S. in Physics were awarded in 1966. In 1967 Dr. R.K.C. Johns came to head the Space Technology Dept. and Dr. J.G. Pot- ter was brought from Texas A M to head the Physics Department. At this period F.1.T. formally became a full university un- der its present name. In 1071 Space Tech- nology became Space Sciences and Me- chanical Engineering, still a single depart- ment, but the new name reflected a grow- ing divergence of interests of the faculty. Finally in 1973 the Mechanical Engineer- ing group became a full-fledged depart- ment, and Physics and Space Sciences were joined to form a single department with Dr. H.P. Weber acting head. Dr. J.H. Blatt became head of the department in 1974, being succeeded by Dr. J. Burns in 1976. A Chapter of the national “Society of Physics Students” was formed at F.I.T. in the mid 1960’s and has recently received national honors for achievement and growth. The department added the Ph.D in Physics in 1977 and presently also offers B.S. and M.S. in both Physics and Space Sciences. In 1981 a graduate program in Space Tech- 2 nology was initiated for off-campus presen- tation at KSC and has rapidly become the largest off-campus graduate program in science and engineering. The departmental observatory was established in 1974 and has grown steadily since. Current research in the department is quite varied. It includes a study of the earth’s magnetoshpere as revealed by aurorae through measurements from the ISIS polar orbiting spacecraft, and a study of long term variations in the earth’s magnetic field attempting to deduce periodicities in these variations and correlations with such other periodic phenomena as the sunspot cycles. The department has reserved space aboard two small self-contained shuttle payloads (so-called Get-Away Specials). One of these will carry an instrument to spectroscopically measure the total carbon dioxide content of the earth’s atmosphere on a global basis. A simplified ground- based version of this instrument is also be- ing developed to be used at fixed sites. A project is beginning with the Florida Solar Energy Center to measure, categorize, and provide a statistical model for cloud cover for use in design of solar energy collectors. In solid state surface physics the energies and angular distributions of photoelec- trons and secondary electrons emitted from surfaces are being measured precisely to provide information about energies and distributions of electrons in solids in the vicinity of surfaces or interfaces, a subject of importance in modern solid state elec- trohics. A study is underway on peculiar, and as yet unexplained, a regular diurnal variations in the period of a massive tor- sional pendulum whose period is measured to a precision of 2 parts in 10 million. Finally, the Navy is supporting research on a new type of underwater sound projector for potential sonar applications and re- search on mechanisms of energy loss is viscoelastic materials such as rubbers and elastic polymers. For the near future the Department plans several revisions of its undergraduate space-sciences program to update its course offerings in areas in which recent large advances in knowledge about the So- lar System have been made by space explo- ration. The Department plans to place more em- phasis upon research and to attempt to better focus its presently diverse research activites. In its prime mission of providing basic physics instruction to all students in science and engineering, the Department plans to upgrade sophomore lab equip- ment over the next three years. Once the new teaching auditorium in the new Li- brary becomes available, some changes in the method of teaching the basic physics courses will become possible and plans for these changes are being made. Right: Dr. Burns, Head Left: sitting | to r Dr. Blatt, Dr. Jin, Dr. Sharber, Dr. Potter standing | to rc Dr. Osbourne, Mr. Sawyer, Dr. Strother, Dr. Burns, Mr. Mercer, Dr. Venkateswarlu.

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SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES ioe 08 f Top | to cr: Dr. Corman, Head; Dr. Bernabe, Dr. Farber, Dr. Gabrenya, Bottom | to r: Dr. Gutman, Dr. Harrel, Dr. Webbe, Dr. Wolf, not pictured: Dr. Elmore, Dr. Honaker, Dr. Philpot. 24)

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The Science Education Department offered its first program in 1970. This program was created largely to meet the needs of local secondary science teachers and led to a Master’s Degree in Science Education. The following year, an undergraduate pro- gram was initiated to train future science teachers at the secondary level. As the De- partment grew, a Ph. D. program was ad- ded in 1974 and the Ed. S. program in 1978. Since its inception in 1970, the sci- ence Education Department has awarded over 100 graduate degrees and approxi- mately 50 undergraduate degrees. Presently, the Science Education Depart- ment includes a media room, a resource center, and a conference class room. The media room houses not only a complete set of A-V equipment (including a closed cir- cuit video tape system) but also a profes- sional slide copier and copy stand for use by all departments. The Resource Center houses a complete library of curricular ma- terials for secondary science education as well as a host of journals and an extensive set of article files. The Center also houses three microcomputer systems and science laboratory equipment for use by interning teachers. A Resource Center Coordinator maintains the Center. Current research in the Science Education Department includes work in Computer Assisted Instruction and in Individualized Instruction. Special courses and programs in both areas are regularly offered. Two of the microcomputers in the Resource Cen- ter (Apple II) were obtained through Na- tional Science Foundation grants for the education of teachers. The faculty of the Science Education De- partment All teach both science courses as well as science education courses at F.I.T. The Department has always been very sci- ence oriented and as such is part of the School of Science and Engineering Gra- SCIENCE | EDUCATION Below left: Dr. Fronk, Head Below right: | to r Dr. Horton, Mr. Richmond duates of the various programs are current- ly employed in all levels of education from secondary school through university. Some are also involved in science-related indus- tries. Graduates can be found all over the United States and a host of foreign coun- tries. The United States is presently suffering a science and math teacher shortage. Cerain- ly part of the future of the Department will involve training as many new teachers as possible. The future will also see more work with computers and computer assist- ed instruction. The Science Education De- partment will continue to serve science and math teachers through graduate programs and special summer programs. With the growing national concerns for science and math education, the future should see an ever growing Science Education Depart- ment. 243