From: "JACK L. URETSKY (C) 1996; HEP DIV., ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB, ARGONNE, IL 60439" <JLU@hep.anl.gov>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 20:20:36 -0600
Hi Ludwik-
You write-
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Please share your ideas and observations about labs in the introductory
physics courses. I think there is a lot of room for improvements in this
area. Much more than we are willing to admit.
Ludwik Kowalski
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Thanks for the question. My ideas about labs in the introductory
physics course are contained in my Nov. '93 article in TPT (I hope I've
got the date right), and the ANL report that was referenced therein.
In summary: in the limited time available in such a course,
the time should be spent in activities that promote dialogues on fundamental
concepts, as in Hake's SDI labs. The three labs that involve students
walking back and forth in front of a sonic ranger, duplicating, respectively,
preset patterns of displacement, velocity, and acceleration are, in my mind,
among the greatest ever invented.
I have much more to say, but then I already said it in my article.
Regards,
Jack