Multimedia Network for Elementary Physics Laboratories

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The Physics Department is furnishing two dedicated computer laboratory rooms, each with 13 multimedia computer workstations and a portable capture workstation. The 26 workstations are being networked to a file server that contains a library of video clips. The department is also purchasing Pasco Science Workshop Interfaces, probes, dynamica tracks, and carts for MBL experiments. Video cameras, VCRs, laserdisc players, and video clips are available for students to do video experiments. Two student workstations are on an NT-shaped worktable with a primary group of four students collaborating on an experiment. Six worktables are placed in a U formation around a lab room so that the instructor can monitor students' progress at a glance. The Tools for Scientific Thinking curriculum for MBL experiments and Workshop Physics curriculum for video experiments are being adapted for the use of multisection elementary physics courses with large lecture sizes. These curricula encourage students to take an active role in their learning and construct physical knowledge from actual observation.