Resources - Course Materials

We are believers in an open-source model of educational materials -- use what you need for your students. Please credit our work if you share your materials beyond your own classes, and do not use our materials for commercial purposes. If you modify them (or find bugs), please return the favor by sending us improved materials so we can keep updating. Contact Steven Pollock.

Many of our materials are  shared at Physport, an AAPT supported website well worth visiting:  www.physport.org/curricula/CUBoulder/   Most of our downloads there include assessments and solutions, so Physport will ask you to register once and verify your status as physics instructor. 

The links below contain "open" resources (no assessments or solutions).
For password protected links, which typically include some exams or homeworks with solutions, open the "CU Materials (password protected, for faculty only)" block below.
 
NOTE:  CU is changing servers at the start of 2025. Some links below will be (temporarily) broken. Please contact steven.pollock (at) colorado.edu if you need quicker assistance. 

Some of our introductory materials were inspired from and originated with Eric Mazur's Peer Instruction book, and expanded at CU by Michael Dubson, Steven Pollock, and many others. 
NOTE: Please seek appropriate permission if you want to use those in any public or commercial forum.

This is our introductory large-lecture course on Classical Mechanics, the first-semester course in introductory physics. 
Materials from Physics 1 for majors.   You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, homeworks and more). 
Here is a link to Prof. Dubson's typed up course lecture notes in pdf  (there are versions for an algebra-based course included as well.) 

This is our introductory large-lecture course on E&M, the second semester course in introductory physics. 
THIS LINK IS TEMPORARILY BROKEN. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, sound files and more).  
Here is a link to Prof. Dubson's lecture notes in pdf (there are versions for an algebra-based course included as well.) 

This is a large lecture course for non-science majors. 
Here are (very old) materials from S. Pollock You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, and more).(Thanks to Tom Murphy at UC San Diego for contributions)
NOTE: This collection is not research-based. It is also very old, caveat emptor. 

This is a large lecture course to introduce the physics of sound to non-science majors. 
Here are materials from S. Pollock .  You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, sound files and more). 
NOTE: This collection is not research-based. It is also very old, caveat emptor. 

This is a large lecture course to introduce the physics of optics to non-science majors. 
Here are  materials from B. Wilcox. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, lecture notes, syllabus, class activities and more).  NOTE: This collection is (mostly) not research-based.

Reminder: the collections below are open access, thus missing sensitive materials (exams and homework solutions).
Please see "CU Materials (password protected for faculty)" further down this page if you are a physics faculty member and want access to these additional materials. 

Some collections are research-based, largely developed through the CU-SEI  Science Education Initiative page

Here are materials from N. Finkelstein You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, sound files and more). 
Please also see our Physport page for more resources from the original SEI project.  

Note: our Classical Mechanics course is split into 2 semesters with an emphasis on associated mathematical methods interspersed, so the first term covers much less content than many other institutions' 1-term course would. 
The first semester was developed through the SEI project, the second semester is not research-validated 

Here are  materials from S. Pollock for semester 1. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, sound files and more).  This course follows Taylor's Classical Mechanics text roughly Ch. 1-7, with additional math methods added in. 

Here are materials from E. Neil for semester 2. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, sound files and more). Note that these materials were not part of any PER research project

Please also see our Physport mechanics pages for more resources. 

Note: Our Quantum course is split into 2 semesters, and follows a "spins-first" approach using McIntyre's text. 
If you teach a "wavefunctions first approach" (e.g. like Griffiths' text, see our  Physport quantum mechanics pages for more resources.

Here are  materials from S. Pollock for semester 1. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, and more).  This course follows McIntyre's Quantum text roughly Ch. 1-7.

Here are  materials from S. Pollock for semester 2. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, and more).  This course follows most of the remainder of McIntyre's Quantum text

Please also see our Physport quantum mechanics pages for for more resources, including some quantum-information (quantum computing) related topics. There are also older SEI pages for a "wave functions first" approach linked there. 

Note: Our E&M course is split into 2 semesters, and largely follows Griffiths textbook.

Here are  materials from S. Pollock for semester 1. (electrostatics) You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, and more).  This course follows Griffiths text roughly Ch 1-7

Here are  materials from S. Pollock for semester 2. (electrodynamics) You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, and more).  This course follows the rest of Griffiths text through relativistic dynamics. 

Please also see our Physport E&M pages for for more resources, (including a compressed one-semester version designed by our former postdoc C. Baily.)

Note: Our thermo course is one semester, and largely follows Schroeder's textbook.

Here are  materials from B. Wilcox. You can browse at this link, or find the "download" tab near the top to get a zipped download of all the materials. (Contains sub-folders with concept tests, class activities, pre/post tests, and more).  Note that these materials were not part of a PER research project  

Teaching and Learning Physics materials. THIS LINK IS TEMPORARILY BROKEN. This is a joint graduate/undergraduate course to introduce students to te research field of PER> Materials developed by Noah Finkelstein, with some supplements from Steven Pollock and updates from B. Wilcox. The folder contains many references and materials from other authors. (Contact Noah.Finkelstein (at) Colorado.edu for more) 
 

Our secure materials (with assessments/solutions) are shared through Physport, an AAPT supported website well worth visiting.  Our page there is:   www.physport.org/curricula/CUBoulder/   
Downloads require registering with Physport (once) to verify your status as physics instructor.   

For more background on the materials, you can also visit our CU Science Education Initiative pages. 

Please contact steven.pollock (at) colorado.edu for questions/comments/suggestions.

(Coming. For now, please see the "open" links above on this page, almost everything is there except exams)

Note: All tabs below will link you to our Physport compilation page.    
 

Please also see our Physport page for links. There are two downloads there: the older (original) SEI course, and an updated version from N. Finkelstein in Fall 2022

Downloads include concept tests, lecture notes, homeworks, in-class activities, assessments, and more. 

Notes: Our Classical Mechanics course follows Taylor's texbook. It is split into 2 semesters with an emphasis on associated mathematical methods interspersed, so the first term covers much less content than many other institutions' 1-term course would. 
The first semester materials were developed through the SEI project, the second semester is not research-validated 

Please also see our Physport Classical Mechanics pages for links.

There are several downloads there under the Classical Mechanics 1 tab: 
The older (original) SEI course, and 
an updated set of materials building on these, from S. Pollock, E. Neil, and M. Dubson in 2023.
 
There is also a separate collection for Prof. Neil's second semester course back in 2016, these are not associated with any PER research at all. 

Downloads include concept tests, lecture notes, homeworks, in-class activities, assessments, and more. 

Note: Our Quantum course is split into 2 semesters, and follows a "spins-first" approach using McIntyre's text. 

Please see our  Physport quantum mechanics pages for links to materials (and, to other useful Physport Quantum pages) 

There are several downloads available there: 
the older (original) SEI course which was following a "wavefunctions first approach" (using Griffiths' text). 
We also have links for QM1 and QM2 materials following the "spins first approach") (using McIntyre's text) from S. Pollock, B. Wilcox, and others 

Downloads include concept tests, lecture notes, homeworks, in-class activities, assessments, and more. 

Note: Our E&M course is split into 2 semesters, and largely follows Griffiths textbook.

Please also see our Physport E&M pages for links to all materials. 

There are multiple downloads available there:
SEI materials for EM1 (first half of Griffiths)
SEI materials for EM2 (2nd half of Griffiths) 
There is also a compressed one-semester version designed by our former postdoc C. Baily.

All downloads include concept tests, lecture notes, homeworks, in-class activities, assessments, and more. 

Note: Our thermo course is one semester, and largely follows Schroeder's textbook.

Please see our Physport page for materials (look towards the bottom of the page for the "Thermal Physics" section) 

Download includes concept tests, lecture notes, homeworks, in-class activities, assessments, and more. 

CU Science Education Initiative front page (from here, you can access resources for several of our middle and upper-division courses) 

STEMclickers Resource Page Part of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiatives effort to provide resources (written guides and short videos to help instructors start using Clickers and Peer Instruction)

Physport.org is an excellent AAPT site with many research based assessments.
Physport has curricular materials:  Open-source curriculum collection. 
Physport has CU materials for a spins-first Quantum course, and some materials to include  Quantum Information in Quantum classes. 

For intro level, see also Eric Mazur's Peer Instruction book