Computer Based Physics Laboratory

阿肯色州学院在实验物理实验室创建了一个由9台微型计算机组成的网络计算实验室，并为一年级和二年级的理科专业学生创建了一门新的实验物理课程。这些实验室的目标是通过使用专题课程同时教授实验物理和计算机在科学中的应用，特别强调使用计算机接口传感器研究振荡和共振系统。最重要的物理定律适用于振荡器，因此课程中宽度的收窄很小，而深度却大大增加了。所使用的实验练习是以这种方式选择的，以使学生将注意力集中在确认、分析和解释结果上；因此，我们取消了许多标准的实验室练习，这些练习只是为了证明讲课内容的正确性。这种方法的动机在于教职员工相信，教授科学的实验方法是最重要的任务，因此，实验室不应该仅仅被用来支持理论教学。学生必须能够观察和体验物理现象，以发展和提高他们的观察意识和推理能力。学生使用计算机收集和分析数据，对数据进行误差分析，准备结果的图形演示，将结果与软件模拟实验和基于理论的计算进行比较，并准备他们的实验室报告。

Arkansas College has created a computing laboratory consisting of a network of nine microcomputers located in the experimental physics laboratory, and the created a new experimental physics curriculum for first and second-year science majors. The goal of these laboratories is to teach experimental physics and computer use in science concurrently by use of a thematic curriculum with special emphasis on the study of oscillatory and resonant systems using computer interfaced sensors. Most important physical laws apply to oscillators, so the narrowing of breadth in the course is minimal, while the depth has been greatly increased. The laboratory exercises used have been chosen in this way to focus the students attention on confirmation, analysis, and interpretation of results; therefore, we have eliminated many standard laboratory exercises which served only to demonstrate the correctness of material covered in the lecture.The motivation for this approach lies in the faculty's belief that teaching the experimental method in science is a most important task, and therefore the laboratory should not merely be used to support the teaching of theory. Students must be able to observe and experience physical phenomena in a way that develops and enhances both their senses of observation and their reasoning ability. The students use the computers to collect and analyze data, perform error analysis on the data, prepare graphical presentations of their results, compare their results with software simulations of the experiments and with calculations based on theory, and prepare their laboratory reports.