Studio physics, as we label our new introductory
physics courses at the University of Alabama, is a format that combines the
lecture and laboratory parts of the physics class, doing away with traditional
lectures.
Our classes meet twice a week
for 2 hours, and a third time for a single recitation hour.
These meetings take place in a specially
designed learning space where students have access to computers, electronic
data-collecting apparatus, and three instructors.
Instructors have access to video cameras, two LCD projectors, the
Internet, and considerable software.
A typical studio physics class starts with a brief
presentation by a professor on that day’s material.
Students are expected to have read the material beforehand, and
most faculty members have a brief quiz (i.e., Internet-based) before class to
encourage this.
After the presentation,
students work in groups on a variety of activities, including pencil and paper
worksheets, computer simulations, computer-based calculations, and
experiments.
The professor, a graduate
assistant, and an undergraduate assistant move around the room to assist
students one-on-one as they work through the activities.
This is the ultimate in active learning, and it has
proved to be successful at other universities.
We have profited from discussions with faculty at RPI, North Carolina
State, Dickinson, Tufts, and Arizona State, among other institutions, in
putting together our curriculum.
So far, we have data showing that class attendance is up dramatically, and that
learning is also up.
We think these two are correlated.
Student attitudes are
generally positive, although some students think they are not being “taught” if
we do not lecture them for the full time.
While this is understandable, when students mistake listening for
learning, comparison of exams between studio and traditional sections show that
these students are mistaken.
On this website we have placed a PowerPoint
presentation that summarizes the project, with a few photos.
We also have a schedule of the curriculum,
with links to activities and experiments.
We also have a list of suggested sites for further information.
Though this material is virtually all written locally, it has benefited from physics
educators at many other institutions.
We acknowledge their work, and ask that we be notified if we have inadvertently
infringed on any copyrights.
This work has been supported by the US Department of
Education, and the University of Alabama.
Any opinions expressed here are the authors, and not those of either of
these institutions.
PowerPoint Presentation
on Studio Physics at the University of Alabama
Links:
Project SCALE-UP, North Carolina State
Studio physics at RPI
TEAL Website at MIT
Physics Education Research at Ohio State
Workshop Physics at Dickinson
The APS Forum on Education
