Modernization of the Physics Program at an Undergraduate Women's College

该项目将使物理教学中使用的设备现代化，并支持新创建的物理辅修课程。它不仅为学生提供现代物理学实验室体验所需的仪器，而且还将通过将合作和探究性教学方法纳入入门课程来改变物理学的教学方式。为了达到创造和维持学生对物理的兴趣以及提高学生对物理概念的理解这两个相互关联的目标，我们将实施一系列新的实验室练习，通过直接的计算机数据采集和数据分析为学生提供即时反馈，从而积极吸引学生。这种方法将包括在所有科学和数学专业的物理入门课程中，以及宇宙学的新通识教育课程中，将显著影响学生对物理科学的理解和欣赏。该项目直接支持和扩展了1994年开始在自然科学和数学学部其他学科实施的新的、基于探究的课程，这些课程强调动手和协作解决问题作为一种学习方式。物理教学的现代化将补充和平衡生物和化学实验研究的最新进展，这些研究是由这些领域最近增加的现代设备和实验室经验获得的。

This project will modernize equipment used in the instruction of physics and support a newly created physics minor program. It will provide not only instrumentation required to provide students with laboratory experiences in Modern Physics, but also to change the way physics is taught by incorporating collaborative and inquiry-based pedagogical methods into the introductory courses. To achieve the interrelated goals of creating and sustaining student interest in physics and improving student understanding of concepts in physics, we will implement a series of new laboratory exercises designed to actively engage students by providing them with immediate feedback through direct computer data acquisition and data analysis. This approach, which will be included in the introductory physics courses required of all science and mathematics majors as well as a new general education course in Cosmology, will significantly impact students' understanding and appreciation of the physical sciences. This project directly supports and extends new, inquiry-based curricula implemented in other disciplines within the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics beginning in 1994, which emphasizes hands-on and collaborative problem solving as a way of learning. Modernization in the instruction of physics will complement and balance recent advances in the experimentally-based study of biology and chemistry attained by the recent addition of modern equipment and laboratory experiences in these areas.