Web-Based, Out-of-Class Learning of Conceptual Physics: A Kinematics and Dynamics Prototype

物理教育研究表明，许多学生在完成学院和大学水平的物理入门课程后，对物理的基本概念知之甚少。尽管许多研究都是在课堂上研究缓解这一问题的方法，但本项目侧重于学生的课外活动，作为提高学习的补充手段。这个项目的目标是开发和测试一个免费的、可在互联网上访问的代数和基于微积分的物理导论教学软件的原型。这些软件侧重于学生的课外学习，可以被教师（通过家庭作业）或学生（通过自学）使用，以补充课堂上或教科书上对基本物理概念的讨论。首席研究员创建了一套有限的解释性/探索性/评估性Java小程序，用于介绍运动学和动力学。初步的调查和实验表明，即使以目前的形式，该软件也很受欢迎，对学生学习物理有帮助。该项目正在开发一个更完整的原型，包括：额外的小程序，为运动学和动力学原型提供更完整的覆盖；系统采用CGI软件，简化学生登录和成绩记录的管理细节，并允许学生在线查询自己的成绩；讲师指南，描述原型并提供作业建议；由作者以外的教师对软件进行独立、正式的评估。这个项目应该提供一个清晰的画面，这种补充课堂教学与课外学习活动的手段的有效性。这些信息可以用来决定是否需要开发一个完整版本的软件。

Physics (13) Physics education research has shown that many students are leaving their introductory college- and university-level physics courses with little understanding of the fundamental concepts of physics. Whereas much of the research has studied in-class methods of alleviating the problem, this project focuses on students' out-of-class activities as a complementary means of improving learning. The goal of this project is to develop and test a prototype of freely available, Internet-accessible instructional software for algebra- and calculus-based introductory physics - software focusing on students' out-of-class learning that can be used by instructors (through homework assignments) or by students (through self-study) to supplement in-class or textbook discussion of basic physics concepts.The principal investigator has created a limited set of explanatory/exploratory/assessment Java applets for introductory kinematics and dynamics. Preliminary surveys and experiments indicate that even in its present form the software is well received by and helpful to students in learning physics. This project is developing a more complete prototype including: Additional applets to provide more complete coverage for the kinematics and dynamics prototype;System CGI software to simplify the administrative details of student logins and recording of scores, and to allow students to check their scores on-line;An instructor's guide describing the prototype and providing assignment suggestions;Independent, formal assessment of the software by faculty other than the author.This project should provide a clear picture of the effectiveness of this means of complementing in-class instruction with out-of-class learning activities. This information can then be used to determine the desirability of developing a full version of the software.