  We present a study of active learning pedagogies in an upper division physics
course. This work was guided by the principle of deliberate practice for the
development of expertise, and this principle was used in the design of the
materials and the orchestration of the classroom activities of the students. We
present our process for efficiently converting a traditional lecture course
based on instructor notes into activities for such a course with active
learning methods. Ninety percent of the same material was covered and scores on
common exam problems showed a 15 % improvement with an effect size greater than
1 after the transformation. We observe that the improvement and the associated
effect size is sustained after handing off the materials to a second
instructor. Because the improvement on exam questions was independent of
specific problem topics and because the material tested was so mathematically
advanced and broad (including linear algebra, Fourier Transforms, partial
differential equations, vector calculus), we expect the transformation process
could be applied to most upper division physics courses having a similar
mathematical base.
