National influence and evaluation of college physics courses—Is there any?

A survey is made of 24 years of this Journal’s seeking evidence of physics courses with national stature, courses with extensive evaluation, and evidence of national, regional, or multi‐institutional study of college physics teaching. During this period there were 85 course or laboratory reports, but the majority (59) occurred in the last four years. Few contained extensive evaluation reports, only two achieved national stature, and the outlook for large‐scale study and evaluation of physics programs looks bleak. There may be cause for optimism, however, in the editorial policy change for the American Journal of Physics discussed in the September 1973 issue. Evidence that a change may already be occurring is offered in this article.