Physics Laboratory Computerized Data Acquisition and Analysis

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The primary goal of this project is to help beginning physics students make the transition from high school to college physics instruction. The student are being helped to take responsibility for his/her own learning by providing physics instruction in an environment with a heavy emphasis on direct observation and active student involvement. The already well- integrated laboratories at Jamestown Community College are being enhanced by the addition of computer data acquisition systems at each lab bench. Students, working in pairs or threes, are using this equipment to verify the laws of physics, by directly measuring force, motion, temperature, displacement, magnetic fields, etc., and by using computer tools such as spreadsheets, mathematical and graphics packages, and data acquisition software designed by Tools for Scientific Thinking at Tufts University. Furthermore, a powerful mathematics and graphing program called Mathematica is also being used to help students deal with difficult mathematics concepts. Via this project the college is building the laboratory resources necessary to move gradually toward a heavily observation-based approach to introductory physics, consistent with the nature of physics as an observation-based discipline. Nine Macintosh IIsi computers, equipped with Vernier U.L.I. data acquisition boards and analysis software, are being networked to a Quadra 900, which runs Mathematica 2.0, which was purchased earlier. This project has been designed in consultation with faculty at several colleges and universities. This cooperation should enhance the chances of project success and replication.