Reform of Introductory Physics

This annotated list is adapted with permission from Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics: Project Report, Appendix I, published in 2003 by the American Association for Physics Teachers.

Physlets
Small, interactive, flexible Java applets (Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College).

Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (Scale-Up)
Collaborative group work for large-enrollment classes in a specially designed classroom space (Robert Beichner, North Carolina State University).

Workshop Physics
Integrated lecture and laboratory, with software for model-building, to enable students to learn by doing (Priscilla Laws, Dickinson College).

Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE)
Students construct knowledge through designing and analyzing simple experiments (Eugenia Etkina, Rutgers University and Alan Van Heuvelen, Ohio State University and Rutgers University).

ALPS and ActivPhysics Volume 2, 2/E: These products, one pencil-and-paper and one multimedia, help students become involved in learning and work in a multiple-representation format (Alan Van Heuvelen, Ohio State University and Rutgers University).

Matter and Interaction, I and II:
A two-volume introductory calculus-based text that develops physics from a small number of fundamental principles. Students model complex phenomena, with 3-D graphics software for real-time computer modeling provided (Bruce Sherwood and Ruth Chabay, North Carolina State University).

Cooperative Group Problem-Solving
Working in cooperative groups, students follow a systematic approach to problem-solving that becomes progressively more quantitative (Ken Heller and Patricia Heller, University of Minnesota).

Peer Instruction
In a large lecture, students answer conceptual questions through a personal response system (PRS) and then defend their answers to neighboring students (Eric Mazur, Harvard University).

Just-in-Time Teaching
Web-based study coupled with active learning classroom experience; just before class, the teacher receives student homework responses on a website and modifies the lesson as needed (Evelyn Patterson, US Air Force Academy).

Tutorials in Introductory Physics
A supplementary curriculum for small-group, collaborative learning designed to enable students to develop conceptual physics understanding; pre-and post-tests document student progress (Lillian McDermott, University of Washington).

Classroom Communication Systems: Transforming Large Passive Lecture Classes into Interactive Learning Environments
These systems provide polling of students, presentation of their responses in a histogram, and also the real-time exchange of written responses in the lecture (Bill Gerace and Jose Mestre, University of Massachusetts-Amherst).

Video Analysis in the Physics Laboratory
Students capture an event with a video recording and then make measurements on the video with interactive tools. More recent simulation software facilitates model-building (Dean Zollman, Kansas State University).

Introductory Physics at a Large University
Reform of introductory physics courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, based on physics education research, which employs active learning and team-teaching (Gary Gladding, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

RealTime Physics
Guided discovery lab program, research-based, using microcomputer-based laboratories (David Sokoloff, University of Oregon, and Ronald Thornton, Tufts University).

Interactive Lecture Demonstrations
Working in groups during a lecture, students predict results of microcomputer-based laboratory measurements and then discuss the outcomes. A series of these builds a learning cycle (David Sokoloff, University of Oregon, and Ronald Thornton, Tufts University).

Studio Physics
Integrated lecture-lab, with collaborative work, use of technology, and increased faculty-student interaction (Karen Cummings, Southern Connecticut State University).

MIT Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) Project
Group work in a multimedia studio environment, with simulation and visualization software.