Light Inquiry Through Experiments: Project LITE

Project LITE是一个为期两年的概念验证项目，涉及材料开发，课程教学和波士顿大学的学生学习评估。 该项目的目标是开发一套综合教育材料的原型-独特的带回家的实验室实验，书面指南，基于网络的软件和演示-旨在澄清光，光学，颜色，该项目的主要创新之处在于开发了（并将其引入一系列大学课程）一套“homests”--使用廉价的原始设备和现有的商业和工业光学材料进行实验。 这些基于探究的定量实验室体验是为学生在家中或宿舍中使用而设计的。 该项目还开发了易于实施和廉价的演示，为个人和教室使用的光。 目前正在结合家庭作业和示范制作书面材料和网络软件。 这些材料正在波士顿大学为非专业学生开设的两门物理学和天文学入门课程中进行试点测试。家庭教师和演示的基本教育目标都是鼓励个性化的动手（和亲眼）学习。 由于实验室空间、设备和教学助理的有限性，许多大型的、介绍性的、非主要的大学科学课程面临着一个主要的资源问题，使用“homests”也是为了缓解这一问题。通过整合到初级学院、大学和基于标准的高中科学课程中，可以扩大个人homests在未来的国家影响，这些课程包括天文学、生物学、化学、地球科学、物理学、化学、生物学、和心理学，以及入职前教师的科学课程。 这个为期两年的试点项目最终将全面开发一套完整的关于光和光学的教程、演示和基于网络的软件。 调查人员正在为扩大编写材料和大规模传播所编写的材料奠定基础。 他们还在确定其他学院和大学的潜在合作伙伴和测试地点，以及适当的出版商和设备制造商。

Project LITE is a two-year proof-of-concept project involving materials development, course instruction, and student learning assessment at Boston University. The project's goal is to develop a prototype set of integrated educational materials--unique take-home laboratory experiments, written guides, Web-based software, and lecture demonstrations--which aim to clarify the nature of light, optics, color, and perception.The project's major innovation is the development (and introduction into a range of university courses) of a set of "homelabs"--experiments employing inexpensive original devices and existing commercial and industrial optical materials. These inquiry-based, quantitative laboratory experiences are being designed for use by students in their homes or dormitory rooms. The project is also developing easily implementable and inexpensive demonstrations about light for both individual and classroom use. Written materials, as well as Web-based software, are being developed in conjunction with the homelabs and demonstrations. Materials are being pilot-tested in two introductory physics and astronomy courses for non-majors at Boston University.The basic educational goal of both the homelabs and the demonstrations 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, non-major university science courses owing to the limited availability of laboratory space, equipment, and teaching assistants.Future national impact of individual homelabs could be extended by integration into junior college, university, and standards-based high school science courses in astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and psychology, as well as into science courses for pre-service teachers. The two-year pilot project should ultimately lead to the full-scale development of a complete suite of homelabs, lecture demonstrations, and Web-based software concerning light and optics. The investigators are laying the groundwork for expanded development of materials and for the large-scale dissemination of resulting materials. They are also identifying prospective partners and test sites at other colleges and universities, as well as appropriate publishers and equipment manufacturers.