Microcomputer as a Learning Tool in the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory

计算机作为实验仪器的使用正迅速成为本科物理实验室的标准。然而，重要的是，计算机不能仅仅用于机械化的数据收集和分析，实际上取代了实验室里的学生，使他成为一个被动的代理人。这个项目将开发使用计算机的创新方法，让学生在实验室中有更深层次的智力体验。使用市售的计算机接口，学生将学习如何使用计算机硬件和软件。然后，他们将被鼓励设计各种标准的本科物理实验室，使用计算机来获取数据，然后分析数据。这些计算机将与飞机轨道和光反射传感器以及现有的传感器和传感器相连接。受资助机构将从非联邦来源获得等额的NSF奖励。

The use of a computer as a laboratory instrument is fast becoming a standard within the undergraduate physics laboratory. It is important, however, that the computer not be used to merely mechanize data gathering and analysis, virtually replacing the student in the lab and leaving him as a passive agent. This project will develop innovative ways to use the computer to allow the student to have a deeper intellectual experience in the lab. Using commercially available computer interfaces, the students will be instructed in the use of the computer hardware and software. They will then be encouraged to devise variations of standard undergraduate physics labs using the computer to acquire the data and then to analyze the data. The computers will be interfaced with airtracks and photo- reflective sensors, as well as existing transducers and sensors. The grantee institution is matching the NSF award with an equal sum obtained from non-Federal sources.