Department of Physics and Astronomy - Minnesota State University Moorhead

Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Health, Science, & the Environment

Weekly Seminar (Friday, April 24 at 3pm in Hagen Hall 325)Investigating the Relationship Between Science Fair and Scores on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA-III) in Science - A School Level Analysis
by Richard Lahti, Ed.D. and Isaac Skalsky (MSUM)
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in science are exams that all public schools in Minnesota administer at the 5th grade, 8th grade and high school level. This study looks for a relationship between school participation in science fair and average MCA Science scores for that school. The analysis attempts to control for variables such as school poverty level, geographic region, and school size. Trends to date in this ongoing study will be presented. In addition, for those students thinking about doing science education or other research involving human subjects, a brief discussion of considerations when doing educational research (like what is an IRB?) will also be presented.

Department Opportunities

Be gainfully employed doing Physics at MSUM! Applications have opened up for learning assistant positions in the Fall semester of 2014. Please download and fill out the application here and give them to Joy Lindell in Hagen 307

Department News

Physics and Astronomy presented Expanding Your Horizons workshops: If you thought you saw rockets being launched in the parking lot last Saturday, you did. Faculty and students from the department of Physics and Astronomy presented Expanding Your Horizons workshops on April 12 for girls in 7th, 8th and 9th grade (more) (April 18, 2014)
Sigma Pi Sigma Inducts Three New Members: The MSUM chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma, the Physics Honors Society, inducted three new members during a ceremony on April 5. The inductees were chosen based on academic excellence, research and service to the community. (More) (April 7, 2014)
Our Physics Majors are Going Places... for the Summer!
- Kyle Salk (Sophomore) is going to University of Maine’s Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (March 28, 2014)
- Iwnetim Abate (Junior) has accepted an internship with IBM Research-Almaden located in Silicon Valley in San Jose, CA (March 28, 2014)
- Loza Tadesse (Sophomore) will be a summer research assistant at an MIT summer biotechnology research program (March 27, 2014)
- Laura Herzog (Sophomore) has accepted a summer research position at University of Wyoming Depart of Astronomy (March 21, 2014)

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide excellent undergraduate instruction in physics and astronomy. In lower division courses, faculty use lecture demonstrations, cooperative learning methods, hands-on activities, and field trips to develop a broad working knowledge of physics. In upper division courses, in addition to the above methods, students learn through cooperative projects, research with faculty, and hands-on instrumentation and computation projects.

About the Department of Physics and Astronomy

The MSUM Physics and Astronomy program is a student-centered program. We provide students with educational opportunities in the classroom and outside it in order to improve their preparation for a career using physics.

We have facilities including a nanotechnology and robotics lab, a student-built NMR machine, and the Paul P. Feder observatory.

Our faculty have high quality research programs in space physics, robotics, extragalactic, galactic, and solar system astrophysics, and physics education. Our undergraduate students participate in these research programs and gain experience to prepare them for careers in physics and related fields.

Contact Information
Office: Hagen Hall 307
Phone: (218) 477-2141
Email: lindellj@mnstate.edu

Send ground mail to:
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Minnesota State University Moorhead
1104 7th Avenue South, Hagen Hall 307
Moorhead, MN 56563

An interactive campus map of Minnesota State University Moorhead is available to find Hagen Hall.