Abstract
Workshop Physics, initiated by P. W. Laws and her colleagues at Dickinson College, is an activity-based collaborative-learning curriculum enhanced by using computer tools for data acquisition, display and analysis, during which students experience various learning activities including predictions, qualitative observations, quantitative experiments, mathematical modeling and problem solving, etc. The curriculum was formally established when the Workshop Physics team was awarded a two-year grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Science Education. As a more flexible and comprehensive set of activity-based curricular materials were needed, the Activity-Based Physics Suite, which included Workshop Physics, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Real-Time Physics, was integrated to reduce implementation barriers for instructors. With the philosophy of reducing content, abandoning formal lectures, emphasizing the process of scientific inquiry and using computer tools flexibly, Workshop Physics centers around <i>Workshop Physics Activity Guide</i>, a series of workbooks covering selected content about Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Electromagnetics, along with diverse computer tools, customized apparatus and other supplemental learning materials such as the <i>Interactive Video Vignettes</i>. Over years of development, although in need of a few more adjustments and modifications, Workshop Physics has won prestigious reputation among students and instructors for its cooperative learning environment, diverse activities, efficient tools and remarkable teaching effectiveness.
Highlights
The low efficiency of traditional lectures of college physics has been perplexing the physics education community
Inspired by this incident and the Physics Education Research (PER) [8] findings documenting the ineffectiveness of traditional lecture-based instructional methods [9], Laws and her colleagues Robert Boyle and John Luetzelshwab submitted a proposal to the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Science Education (FIPSE) to develop a new introductory physics program that abandoned the conventional method of separate lectures and labs in favor of a computer-enhanced “workshop” where students in collaborative groups make predictions and observations and conduct more formal experiments
Workshop Physics is a set of activity-based physics courses in a workshop setting, where students learn in collaborative groups to build concepts through the process of scientific inquiry with the aid of flexible computer tools
Summary
The low efficiency of traditional lectures of college physics has been perplexing the physics education community. It has been proven that these teaching methods play a remarkable role in increasing class attendance rate, promoting students’ interest and concept comprehension in physics. These teaching methods created along the way have given birth to a compatible structure entitled the Activity-Based Physics Suite. Laws and her collaborators at Dickinson College, integrates lectures and laboratory sessions, which remain separated in traditional teaching, together to form an activity-based collaborative learning environment enhanced by computer tools. How can WP utilize modern technology to create an effective learning setting, prompt students to actively acquire knowledge and realize the improvement of students’ physical concepts and inquiry skills? How can WP utilize modern technology to create an effective learning setting, prompt students to actively acquire knowledge and realize the improvement of students’ physical concepts and inquiry skills? By exploring WP’s formation process, teaching philosophy, curriculum organization and resources as well as the feedback of teaching effectiveness, this paper attempts to find the characteristics of WP and provide a valuable reference for today’s educational practice
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