Project COMPACT (Career-Oriented Materials for Physics and Contemporary Technology )

COMPACT项目将开发、测试和推广一种新型的面向应用的综合物理入门课程软件。该材料旨在满足广泛的受众，包括：（1）参加科学，技术和工程课程的两年制大学生，（2）寻求科学和技术素养的非科学专业学生，以满足工作场所的需求，以及（3）高中学生采取物理-特别是那些在技术准备或职业教育课程。 该软件将有一个多层次的结构和灵活的格式，以适应学生在科学和数学的基础差，那些有一些代数和几何知识，以及先进的学生。 该项目的材料，从我们现有的原型开发，采用“学习情境为重点”的方法，而不是传统的领域为中心的方法，让不同背景和能力的学生在学习物理，科学和技术。目标是让学生参与探索与其职业目标相关的学习环境。每节课将从探索阶段开始，学生将看到应用物理学的真实的世界示例。然后，他们将进入理论阶段，在那里他们将被介绍与示例相关的基本物理概念和定律。学习周期将以“应用”阶段结束，在这一阶段，他们将学习一种系统的、专家式的方法来解决科学和技术问题。 最初的软件包将侧重于三个广泛的面向职业的主题。它将包括八个相互关联的组件：（1）仿真，虚拟实验，（2）问题解决导师，（3）评估工具等，以及问题、测试和问题的集合。 教师可以使用自己的经验或整合各种课程资源（包括Web上提供的资源）来修改和扩展开放式的问题、解决方案、测试、查询和引导性问题集合。

Project COMPACT will develop, test, and disseminate a new type of application-oriented, integrated curriculum software for introductory physics. This material will be designed to address a wide audience including: (1) two-year college students enrolled in science, technology and engineering programs, (2) non-science majors seeking scientific and technology literacy in anticipation of workplace demands, and (3) high school students taking physics--in particular those in Tech Prep or vocational education programs. The software will have a multilevel structure and flexible format to accommodate students with poor backgrounds in science and mathematics, those with some knowledge of algebra and geometry, as well as advanced students. The project materials, developed from our existing prototypes, employ a "learning situation-focused" approach rather than a conventional domain-centered approach to involve students of various backgrounds and abilities in learning physics, science and technology. The goal is to engage students in exploring learning situations associated with their career goals. Each lesson will start with an exploration phase where students will see a real world example of applied physics. They will then enter a theory phase where they will be presented with the underlying physics concepts and laws related to the example. The learning cycle will be completed with an "application" phase where they will learn a systematic, expert-like approach to solving scientific and technical problems. The initial software packages will focus on three broad career-oriented themes. It will include eight interconnected components: (1) Simulation, Virtual Experimentation, (2) Problem Solving Tutor, and (3) Assessment Tool, etc., as well as collection of problems, tests, and questions. Teachers can modify and expand an open-ended collection of problems, solution plans, tests, queries, and leading questions using their own experience or incorporating diverse curriculum resources, including tho se available on the Web.