|
Physical Society Colloquium
Dr. Peter Williams
Department of Physics In the academic year 1996-97, Acadia University began a program under which incoming students lease a notebook computer for use in classes and labs. This presented us with an opportunity to implement a studio approach in our introductory calculus based physics course. The studio approach dispenses with the traditional three-hour lecture and three-hour lab format. In its place are two, two-hour studio sessions which combine the functions of lecture, tutorial, and laboratory in one unique setting. With the instructor acting more as a mentor or guide than a lecturer, the students are actively and directly involved in the learning process. Incorporating lab exercises and problem solving into the course establishes a powerful link between these activities and the course content. The computer is used for the acquisition and analysis of data which can be collected either from sensors or digitized video. In this talk I will describe our experiences with studio based teaching of introductory physics.
Monday, March 1st 1999, 15:30 |