The Michigan State University M.S. and Ph.D. Online Degree Programs in Beam Physics

Founded in 1855, Michigan State University offers 200 areas of study in 14 colleges to more than 40,000 students, including 8,000 at the graduate level. Recognizing the Internet as an effective medium for sharing knowledge without traditional time and place constraints, MSU began using the Internet to deliver instructional programs to an international audience in 1995. Since then, MSU has become one of the leading “cyber universities” in the United States, and distance education is one of the priorities for the future direction of the university.

Today, students from around the world attend MSU’s Virtual University. It allows participants to attend classes and do their homework anywhere in the world as long as they are connected to the Internet. Our beam physics online degree programs operate within this framework.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory are home to approximately 60 faculty and 130 graduate students. There are a broad range of research programs and graduate-level specializations offered, including accelerator and beam physics. It was recognized that, due to specific circumstances, this sub-field of physics is a prime candidate for methods of distance education. As a response to this need, a first virtual beam physics course was launched in the spring semester of 1997, at an introductory graduate level. Building on the success of this initial offering, we expanded our curriculum with additional specialized accelerator and beam physics courses. These Internet-based courses formed the backbone of the degree programs launched in 1998. In the following sections we will provide more details about this program.

Both M.S. and Ph.D. programs require regular admission to Michigan State University. The Ph.D. program requires passing a graduate exam in four core subjects in physics at the appropriate level. For the M.S. degree, a total of 30 credits is needed. For the Ph.D. degree, in addition to the completion of a sequence of courses in beam physics, the completion and successful defense of a dissertation is required.

In order to provide the flexibility necessary for a successful distance education program, we are offering a variety of alternative methods to earn credits:

• Virtual interactive beam physics courses.

• Courses at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School.

• Courses in residence at MSU.

• Master’s thesis, up to 12 credits.

• Up to nine transfer credits from other universities.

Credits for suitable courses with a minimum of 3.0 grades are accepted from accredited U.S. and foreign universities. While the Web-based courses can be started at any time, the Particle Accelerator School courses are usually offered in two-week blocks twice a year. Thesis work may be started at any time, with the approval of the participant’s advisor, which could be any MSU faculty, in residence or remotely, or mutually agreed mentors at national laboratories or universities in cooperation with MSU faculty. Participants not interested in a full degree, or who wish to explore the program before seeking admission, may enroll in individual courses for credit or noncredit, or may earn a certificate. These enrollment options are designed to meet the educational and credential needs of participants throughout the world.

In addition, there are a variety of possibilities for financial assistance. First of all, out-of-state degree candidates will receive scholarship support to reduce their tuition obligation to the level of Michigan residents. Some financial aid is available for students regularly enrolled at an accredited U.S. university or foreign universities. Furthermore, the Virtual University Beam Physics Tuition Fellowships, as well as teaching or research assistantships during any period of residency at MSU, are awarded on a competitive basis. Participants from the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago can formally register for the course through the CIC Traveling Scholars program.

Following our successful “Introduction to Beam Physics” (PHY861) course, started in the Spring Semester of 1997, we developed two other more advanced Internet-based beam physics courses under the same guiding principles: “Nonlinear Dynamics” (PHY962A) and “Particle Accelerators of the World” (PHY962B). Further beam physics offerings include the courses at the Particle Accelerator School (PHY962C), and a Seminar in Beam Physics Research (PHY962D). Further courses are under development.

The prerequisites are the following: undergraduate level physics for PHY861, and PHY861 for the PHY962 level courses. PHY962A is the logical continuation of PHY861 at a more advanced level, while PHY962B is a showcase of major accelerator laboratories of the world, and is currently being expanded to a two-semester version. Lectures are presented through live videoconference sessions originating from the respective sites by leading local experts. PHY962D consists of topics for self-study and seminars drawn from current research in Beam Physics, and it is arranged by mutual interest.

Regarding the technical aspects, for the newer courses we followed the guidelines of our first online course. The lecture notes are posted on the Web, usually in Postscript and PDF formats. Occasionally, HTML, DVI and Microsoft Word, or combinations thereof, are also available. Most of the lecture notes, as well as homework problems for PHY962B, are provided by the guest lecturers. The textbook for PHY962A is Modern Map Methods in Particle Beam Physics, by Martin Berz, and it is also posted on the Web. As a novelty, we upgraded to Real Video from the Real Audio format used for PHY861, and we are planning to re-record the PHY861 lectures in the near future. The Real Video files of the live lectures are available on the Web for stream-downloading. The base for PHY962A was videotapes recorded in connection with a course delivered at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School in January 1998. The live PHY962B lectures during Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 have been encoded into Real Video format by our local TV studios WKAR.

Another element is the discussion board. In order to facilitate communication between the students and us, this form of open communication turned out to be very useful. We encouraged the students to post questions and/or suggestions to the board instead of sending e-mails directly to the organizers. The benefit of this approach is that it cuts down the volume of e-mails received from the students by avoiding repetition of questions. Students’ privacy is maintained, as it is possible to post anonymously to the discussion board.

Taking into account the large size of the Real Video and lecture notes files, as methods of delivery we also retain the CD-ROM method for participants in regions with slow or expensive Internet connections. These contain basically a mirror image of our Web server that contains the course-related pages, including all the lecture notes and video files. However, only few CD-ROMs have been requested.

The unifying back-end of the VUBeam program is the WebCOSY system for course management. It is a Web-based database application that allows the management of virtually all aspects of the program, the courses, and the students. Initially, the system was conceived as a replacement for the CAPA homework system, but it has grown into a sophisticated interactive Web-based tool for homework and course management.

The WebCOSY system consists of a CGI back-end that is written entirely in Perl, and it is divided into the student interface and the administrative front-end. Both parts interact by using the common database back-end of the system. The whole system can be used and administered entirely using the HTML front-end, and it allows personalized problems for students. This includes, but is not limited to, personally randomized numerical and multiple-choice problems that are instantaneously graded by the system. Moreover, the system allows the submission of COSY Infinity input files (COSY is a special purpose code for general nonlinear dynamics as well as specific beam dynamics problems) that are processed on the server, and the output of the runs is made available to the users and graders for review. This execution back-end distinguishes the WebCOSY system from other Web-based interactive homework systems, as it allows the automatic processing of arbitrary user-supplied input by appropriate programs, and the redirection of the output to the Web front-end. To illustrate how the WebCOSY system fits into the general framework of the VUBeam program, consider how a fictitious student “John Doe” progresses through the system from the moment of first registration to eventual graduation with a M.S. degree. It should be noted that this outline assumes that the academic staff of the VUBeam program has already defined homework problems and courses within the WebCOSY system (which can be done by using the intuitive Web interface).

John hears from the VUBeam program through posters, flyers, e- mail, or word of mouth and decides to enroll for the M.S. online degree program: he registers for Physics 861 by filling out an online registration form.

The personal data of John Doe are sent by e-mail to the university officials, and the VUBeam professors and TAs. The data of his registration are automatically processed by the WebCOSY system: a record is created for John Doe in the database and it is made available to the people involved. After John’s data have been reviewed, he is given access to the Physics 861 Web pages and homework problems, and an e-mail with the relevant information is sent to him.

During the course of the semester, John works on the problems and his grades are recorded in the system. All updates to the administrative records of John Doe (like approval of transferred credits and successful completion of non-VUBeam courses) are made through the WebCOSY interface and are stored in his record. At the end of the semester, the teaching assistants grade John’s submitted COSY problems, a final grade is determined and stored in his record, and an e- mail with information about the grade is automatically sent to him.

After successfully completing Physics 861, the process repeats with the other courses of the program (Physics 962A, Physics 962B-I and Physics 962B-II), and John’s progress toward his M.S. degree is constantly recorded in the WebCOSY system. Once John has successfully completed the courses, he works on the other degree requirements, and information on his progress is stored in his record. After receiving his M.S. degree in beam physics from Michigan State University, John’s account in the WebCOSY system will be closed, but his record stays available for future reference.

This outline illustrates that the WebCOSY system is an integral part of the VUBeam program, and that it facilitates coordination between various individuals that in some cases have never even met in person in the distance education setting: the administrative staff of the VUBeam program and the university, the academic staff of the lecturer, and the student. An important aspect of this collaborative group work approach is that there is no need for instructors or teaching assistants to be located at the Michigan State University campus: it is possible to employ advanced VUBeam participants as teaching assistants for the lower-level courses.

Users and course organizers alike have been highly satisfied using the WebCOSY system. Students praise the system for its easy-to-use interface and the ability to work on homework assignments at their convenience. Additionally they like the instant feedback and gratification on submitted answers and the well-tested problems of the system.

The program already has served more than 200 course participants from a large number of locations, most of which are listed in Table 1.

Currently there are nine M.S. and eight Ph.D. students enrolled, and several additional applications are currently pending. Although course work can be started at any time, the deadlines for all homework submission usually coincide with the end of semesters to be able to report grades on time. We are accepting applications up to the starting date of semesters for the respective semester. For the Fall 2000 semester we had more than 20 applications.

We are considering as dropout the fact that no homework has been solved by the time the deadlines passed. According to this definition, the average dropout rate is highest for PHY861 (approximately 15%), it decreases for PHY962B (less than 10%), and there is virtually no dropout for PHY962A, which is probably the most difficult course of the curriculum at the present time. The statistics reflect the situation for all the students enrolled. If we consider only the degree students, there is no dropout whatsoever. We intend to look more deeply into the dropout question in the future. For example, it is conceivable that part of it is due to cultural differences between the United States’ and other countries’ style of handling homework for graduate students. However, compared to some other distance education programs, our rates seem more favorable, probably because this is a highly specialized program, and most of our students are inherently self-motivated.

The grades obtained by the online students are similar to the grades of students who took the traditional versions of the same courses, but perhaps a tad lower. Also, we asked for feedback on the clarity of formulation and level of difficulty of the problems. The reaction was limited, which we take as a good sign. Nevertheless, it helped us to fine-tune some of the homework problems. The amount of work involved on our side increases drastically around deadlines. That is why for PHY861 we group the homework problems into three sections, each section with its own deadline. Other than that, a significant amount of time is invested, sometimes in a few “high maintenance” students (similar to the famous 80/20 rule—20% of the students require 80% of the attention).

In conclusion, we reached a stage of development where most of the processes involved flow smoothly. Although we plan logistical enhancements and upgrades of the WebCOSY system, no major changes are expected in the near future. On the medium time scale, with the growth of the program and eventual graduation of the graduate students and departure of postdoctorals, there is a need to find ways for smooth transitions. All together, we believe that we managed to create a successful program that will stand the trial of time, and from which hopefully many students will benefit.