Jeffrey E. Chamberlain, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chairman
Department of Physics

Education: Truman State University, B.S. 1990 (magna cum laude); University of Missouri-Columbia, Ph.D. 1995

Courses: College Physics; Modern Physics; Introduction to Engineering; Analytic Mechanics; Astronomy

Research Interests: Robotics, computer data acquisition, spectroscopy

 It would not be surprising to find Professor Jeffrey E. Chamberlain playing with LEGO® in his laboratory. What better way to explore the science of energy and motion.

 “Physics can be fun,” Chamberlain says. “It’s the basis of engineering and technology. I might bring in a toy to demonstrate a theory or I’ll just leave a toy in the lab to see what students do with it. I especially like toys with hidden magnets and ones that create optical illusions.”

Chamberlain’s interest in physics began in high school when he took his first physics class.

“It was the most difficult class I had ever taken but I had an affinity for the material,” he says. “I liked the blending of math and science. And I liked that physics may not provide all the answers but it allows you to ask the big questions, such as are we alone in the universe? You get to think big.” 

After graduating magna cum laude from Northeast Missouri State University in 1990, Chamberlain attended the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Mizzou he worked on the growth and analysis of corrosion resistant films and diamond. During his first year he achieved the first successful scanning tunneling microscope images of buckminsterfullerene, a soccer ball shaped molecule containing 60 carbon atoms. Following graduate school, he was an assistant professor of engineering physics for five years at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. He joined Illinois College in 2000 as an assistant professor, attracted, he says, by the college’s liberal arts tradition.

In 2004, Chamberlain was named chairman of the physics department. He has helped revitalize the department’s course offerings and updated its laboratory equipment in the Parker Science Building. He created a freshman seminar for non-majors entitled, “Physics for Poets” and an “Introduction to Engineering” course for first-year engineering majors. He also revived an astronomy course for which he designed new lab activities and multimedia presentations.

“When you teach physics, much of the action is on the chalkboard,” says Chamberlain. “With astronomy, you have pictures and animations that allow you to play with the latest technology.”

Another change under Chamberlain has been the creation of a robotics program. Using LEGO® and other micro-controller kits, students build robots as part of special topics courses and summer research projects. Building robots has become an important component of the freshman Introduction to Engineering course.

Chamberlain believes the best thing he can do for his students is to help them learn to solve problems on their own. He points out tricks and techniques along the way but in the end, he says, they are in charge of their own learning.

“Physics is a difficult discipline and the only way to learn how to solve problems is by solving them,” he says. “You can’t sit in class and watch me do it. You have to experience the frustration, put in some effort and figure out what works. I want my students to explore real world problems and make educated decisions.”

In addition to his teaching duties, Chamberlain is a writer and expert reviewer for publishers who create standardized tests. His projects have included test item writing for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System and the California Standardized Testing and Reporting system.

 

   

 

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