Computer-assisted Laboratories and Tutorials at the University of Maryland

该项目资助购买计算机和实验室设备，以改变该大学以微积分为基础的三学期工程物理课程的结构和目的。 这门课程每年为大约700名学生提供服务，其中大部分学生主修某种形式的工程。 学生在这门课程中经常发现这门课程令人困惑，未能建立强大的物理概念或物理模型与现实世界实验的关系的良好理解。 新课程的重点是概念的建立和实验和建模技能的发展。 这些新设备正用于建立三个新的微机实验室，配备计算机辅助数据采集系统。 一个实验室将是一个定性的小组学习（教程）环境类似于那些在美国开发。 华盛顿的计算机工具类似于Workshop Physics（Dickinson）或CUPLE Physics Studio（RPI）。 这些课程每周持续1小时，并在三个学期中的每一个学期进行。 学生们以四人一组的方式使用引导发现法。 另外两个实验是定量的，在第二和第三学期进行。 他们每周持续3小时。 学生们用手和使用计算机获取数据，并使用电子表格来模拟他们的观察结果。 重点是发展理解。 定性和定量实验室使用相同的计算机工具。 这两个实验室都使用苏格拉底式对话方法进行辅助学习。

This project funds the purchase of computer and laboratory equipment to allow a transformation of the structure and purpose of the calculus-based three-semester engineering physics course at the university. This course serves approximately 700 students per year, most of them majoring in some form of engineering. Students in this course often find the course confusing and fail to build either strong physical concepts or a good understanding of the relation of physical models to real-world experiments. The new course focuses on concept building and the development of experimental and modeling skills. The new equipment is being used to create three new microcomputer laboratories with computer-assisted data acquisition. One lab will be a qualitative group-learning (tutorial) environment similar to those developed at the U. of Washington but with computer tools similar to Workshop Physics (Dickinson) or the CUPLE Physics Studio (RPI). These sessions last 1 hour a week and are given in each of the three semesters. Students work in groups of four using guided-discovery worksheets. The other two labs are quantitative and are taken in the second and third semesters. They last for 3 hours per week. Students take data both by hand and using the computer and use spreadsheets to model their observations. The emphasis is on developing understanding. The same computer tools are used in both the qualitative and quantitative labs. Both labs use facilitated learning with Socratic dialog methods.