Light Inquiry Through Experiments: Project LITE

物理学(13)本项目继续在第9950551号奖项下开始的工作。该项目正在开发、评估和传播以光、光学、颜色和感知为中心的教育设备、软件和课程材料。该项目的重大创新是在大学理科课程中引入了关于光的“家庭实验室”。这些以探究为基础的量化实验室体验是为学生设计的，让他们在自己的家里表演。其中许多活动利用了计算机的独特特性，允许学生使用廉价的光学材料来操纵、探索和研究来自显示器的光。在精简项目的“概念验证”阶段(由国家科学基金会奖9950551号资助)，研究人员对其中一些家庭进行了初步的开发和测试。家庭实验室的基本教育目标是鼓励个性化的动手(和“看着看”)学习。家庭实验室的使用还试图缓解许多大型、入门水平的非专业大学理科课程所面临的主要资源问题，这些问题源于实验室空间、设备和助教的有限。波士顿大学正在开发和测试项目精简材料。个人家庭实验室的全国性影响正在扩大，将它们纳入社区大学、大学和高中的天文学、生物、化学、地球科学、物理和心理学课程，以及服务前教师的科学课程。家庭实验室对远程教育、家庭学习和成人继续教育也很有用。

Physics (13)This project continues work begun under Award No. 9950551.The project is developing, evaluating, and disseminating educational devices, software, and curriculum materials that center on the nature of light, optics, color, and perception. The major innovation of the project is the introduction of "homelabs" about light into college science courses. These inquiry-based, quantitative laboratory experiences are designed for students to perform in their own homes. Many of these activities take advantage of the unique properties of computers, allowing students to use inexpensive optical materials to manipulate, explore, and study the light coming from their monitors. In the Project LITE "proof-of-concept" phase (funded through NSF Award No. 9950551), the investigators conducted the initial development and testing of a number of these homelabs.The basic educational goal of the homelabs is to encourage individualized hands-on (and "eyes-on") learning. The use of homelabs also seeks to alleviate a major resource problem faced by many large, introductory-level, non-majors university science courses, arising from the limited availability of laboratory space, equipment, and teaching assistants.Project LITE materials are being developed and tested at Boston University. The national impact of individual homelabs is being extended by integrating them into community college, university, and high school courses in astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and psychology, as well as into science courses for pre-service teachers. The homelabs are also useful for distance education, home learning, and adult continuing education.