Computerized Freshman Physics Laboratories: Learning ThroughApplications and Open-Ended Problems

越来越多的证据表明，在课堂上被动听讲，或者仅仅在实验室里验证自然法则，都是学习物理的低效方式。该项目是根据教育部1996年推出的克拉克森团队设计计划这一特殊实验室倡议的成功而对新生实验室进行改造的。目前，该计划只针对学业成绩优秀的学生(班上排名前10%的学生)。在传统的实验室环境中实施的项目的一些要素是：开放式问题、基于项目的学习、学生设计自己的实验的灵活性、基于团队合作的活动。这个项目让整个新生班级都能参与团队设计项目的积极体验。具体地说，通过将实验室实验的主要部分计算机化，学生在科学事业的各个方面都处于早期阶段。这有助于学生产生假设、设计实验以及分析、解释和展示数据的能力。设立实验站的目的是挑战学生在现实世界中遇到的问题，将重点从成绩转移到项目成功。这种方法使学生获得了使用最先进的数据采集系统开发理论模型和实验程序的重要经验，同时培养了技术创造力，并鼓励学生提高分析技能。

There is growing evidence that passive listening in class or the mere verification of the laws of nature in the laboratory are inefficient ways of learning physics. This project modifies the freshman laboratory based on the success of a special laboratory initiative, the Clarkson Team Design Program introduced in 1996 by the department. Currently the program targets only academically strong students (the upper 10% of the class). Some of the elements of the project being implemented in the traditional laboratory environment are: open-ended problems, project-based learning, flexibility for the students to design their own experiments, team work-based activity. This project allows the whole freshman class to participate in the positive experience of the Team Design Program. Specifically, students are engaged at an early stage in all aspects of the scientific enterprise through computerizing the major portion of the laboratory experiments. This facilitates students' ability to generate a hypothesis, design experiments, and analyze, interpret, and present data. The lab stations are set up with the intention of challenging the students with real world problems, shifting the emphasis from grades to project success. Such an approach allows students to gain important experience developing theoretical models and experimental procedures with state of the art data acquisition systems, while fostering technical creativity and encouraging students to sharpen their analytical skills.