1. Implementing Effective Microcomputer-Based Laboratories (MBL) in Introductory College-Level Physics Courses Workshop

2. Building a Better Understanding Of Physics And Developing Effective Problem Solving Skills In Introductory College-Level Physics Courses Using Conceptual Exercises and Overview Case-Studies (CE/OCS) Workshop

3. Constructing and Integrating Microcomputer Simulations in Introductory College-Level Physics Courses Workshop

The Objectives of these Workshops are to:

provide community college physics teachers with knowledge of, and solid experience with, recent major advances in the applications of microcomputers and cognitive research in physics education;

identify the appropriateness and the role of these workshop ideas in meeting the needs of community college students and faculty; and

develop or revise, share, and incorporate sui able materials into community college physics courses and programs.

Workshop Materials:

As a result of attending one of these workshops, participants will receive free access to PINET's electronic mail system as well as a computer bulletin board system at Joliet as part of the networking follow-up system. Additionally, newsletters will be provided to aid in the exchange of ideas and materials related to the workshops.

Workshop Schedule:

Workshop Fees:

Meals and Lodging:

Meals will also be provided from Thursday noon through Saturday afternoon. Pre- and post-workshop expenses will be the responsibility of the participant or their college.

Travel to the Workshop Site:

Stipends:

Eligibility and Selection of Participants:

Participants will be selected from the pool of qualified applicants based on the following criteria

those who appear to be most likely to benefit directly from the workshop(s) in terms of using workshop materials, as evidenced by administrative support and/or personal interest statement;

those who teach significant numbers of women, minorities, and the physically disabled;

those who have some full-time teaching experience at the two-year college level (at least three years preferred )

those who seem to be able and likely to help other community college teachers become familiar with the workshop information;

those who will balance out the geographic distribution of the participants;

those who are most enthusiastic about the workshop(s), as evidenced by their date of application.

Follow-up workshop participants will be selected from previous workshop participants on the basis of their experience and application of previous workshop contents.

This program is open to all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or educationally unrelated handicaps.

Application Selection Dates:

Mail applications to: (or fax (815) 773-6671)

Lead by

Workshop Description

These tools give students immediate feedback by presenting data graphically in a manner that can be easily and immediately understood. The ease of data collection and presentation afforded by MBL tools invites students to ask and answer their own questions. Thus, students acquire more readily an understanding of the scientific principles and concepts which underlie their experiences and an increased competence in the use and interpretation of graphs.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will use MBL tools to explore methods of learning physics selected from areas involving force, motion, sound, heat and temperature, radiation, and light. Examples of the use of microcomputers in physics for simulation, numerical problem solving, real-time data collection and display, and for the analysis and modeling of data will be presented.

The primary emphasis of this workshop will be on applying MBL tools (available for Mac and DOS systems) to teach physics effectively to community college students. There will be extensive discussions on how to use these tools in community college courses, and tactics to overcome problems at community colleges. In addition, this workshop will be concerned with the application of the research findings in cognitive science and physics education as applied to students¹ learning of introductory physics, particularly in the context of the use of the microcomputer and community colleges.

Professors

Ron Thornton & Priscilla Laws

Workshop led by

Workshop description

During this workshop, participants will become familiar with several active learning techniques for enhancing conceptual understanding and problem solving skills of students. Participants will have an opportunity not only to be exposed to the most recent cognitive physics education research findings, but will also have an opportunity to develop in a collaborative group of two-year college educators their own new materials for their students.

Three approaches - using a uniform format, cognitive task analysis, and conceptual demonstrations - to developing conceptual exercises (CE) will be presented, and exercises using these techniques will be developed. In addition, the Overview Case-Study (OCS) model which uses the results of physics education research in producing a flexible, spiral format that helps students build a knowledge hierarchy on a foundation of analogic and qualitative understanding will be explained and examined. The use of multiple-representation problem-solving techniques employing problem definition, sketches, and divide-and-conquer strategies will be presented. The utilization and development of effective worksheets for making lecture instruction an active student experience will be constructed.

One of the primary goals of this workshop is to show how these conceptual tasks and curriculum ideas can be implemented at two year colleges. Several different methods of integrating the ideas presented at this workshop into the curriculum will be discussed with results from a variety of two year college settings.

Professors

David P. Maloney & Alan Van Heuvelen

Workshop led by

Traditional textbook problems, test questions, and class problem solutions teach students how to manipulate equations. Educational research has shown that most students do not see how objects actually move in time and space in simple situations even after taking a good traditional physics course. Computer simulations expand the range and nature of student experiences - and, if properly designed and used, will extend and expand their understanding of physics. Now with the development of the new generation of simulation construction software and tools, physics educators are no longer limited by the available "canned" simulation software.

Computer simulations give a much better visualization of the solutions to the equations of motion by presenting time graphs of quantities such as position, velocity, and acceleration while animating the motion of the object. The student can then change parameters (mass, charge, shape, etc.) and observe the effects on the system by observing the resulting animation of its motion. The ability to change parameters and to easily redo a situation allows more experience and, eventually, a better understanding of the physics involved. Computer simulations, appropriately used, should supplement and enhance experiments rather than replace real labs that measure the properties of real objects which fosters a better understanding of the underlying principles.

This workshop will focus on the creation of good simulations and how to blend these simulations into an effective, active learning environment at community colleges. Participants will also gain experience and insight by being exposed to a variety of existing good physics simulations and tools.

Interactive Physics II  (from Knowledge Revolution) will be featured along with the HyperCard stack software from Apple Computer. Interactive Physics II software allows direct simulation of physical processes through the construction of virtual computer models. The program is an easy-to-use object-oriented, general purpose simulation tool that simulates the fundamentals of physics. When objects are arranged into a system, the program executes a visual simulation animation of the system complete with graphs and fully exporable data. Interactive Physics won the 1989 MacUser award for best educational exploration program.

Workshop participants will be working in small groups to create new simulations. The new workshop simulations will be shared and critiqued by the participants and workshop leaders. The workshop will include how to obtain and setup the hardware/software needed to construct, and run these simulations and how to effectively incorporate these computer simulations into the classrooms and laboratories at community colleges.

The focus of this workshop is that participants will develop the ability and skills to: (1) use simulations effectively, (2) evaluate or select good simulations, and (3) to construct good and useful simulations. It is also expect that participants will continue this process after the workshop.

David Winch

Cindy Schwarz