Laboratory Enhancements To The General Physics Program

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The Physics Department of Muhlenberg College is developing a workshop physics approach to the General Physics course. The courses meet exclusively in the laboratory where students explore topics by performing a large number of computer assisted experiments. Students learn by doing, while formal lectures have been abandoned. In the past students generally played a very passive role in lecture courses and with this approach students are more involved in the learning process. They make the decisions on what variations of the basic experiments to perform, allowing students with different interests to explore different aspects of the topic being studied. The course is structured around the computer interface Series 6500 system from Pasco Scientific, which also has a wide variety of compatible equipment specifically designed for the introductory lab. We are phasing the new course in for all general physics students over a two to three year period.