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

物理(13)物理教育研究表明，许多学生在离开大学物理入门课程时，对物理学的基本概念知之甚少。虽然许多研究都研究了缓解这一问题的课堂方法，但这个项目关注的是学生的课外活动，作为改善学习的补充手段。这个项目的目标是开发和测试一个免费提供的、可从互联网上访问的基于代数和微积分的入门物理教学软件的原型。该软件专注于学生的课外学习，可供教师(通过家庭作业)或学生(通过自学)用于补充课堂内或教科书中对基本物理概念的讨论。主要研究人员创建了一组有限的用于入门运动学和动力学的解释性/探索性/评估Java小程序。初步调查和实验表明，即使在目前的形式下，该软件也受到学生的欢迎，并对学生学习物理有所帮助。这个项目正在开发一个更完整的原型，包括：附加的小应用程序，以提供更完整的运动学和动力学原型；系统CGI软件，以简化学生登录和成绩记录的管理细节，并允许学生在线查看他们的成绩；教师指南，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。该项目应提供一幅清晰的图景，说明这种补充课内教学和课外学习活动的方法的有效性。然后，可以使用该信息来确定开发该软件的完整版的可取性。

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.