This project addresses (1) how to make Priscilla Law's Workshop Physics (WP) applicable and cost-effective at the university with a large number of students taking physics and (2) how to enhance learning in the physics laboratory for the average student, particularly Science, Engineering, and Architecture majors. For these objectives, new equipment establishes networked Microcomputer-Based Laboratories in two physics laboratories. The university is using the "Motion and Force Evaluation Test" of Ronald Thornton's Tools for Scientific Teaching (TST) project as a screening device to determine which students should take an Introductory Physics course before taking the University or College Physics courses. This Introductory Physics course is being run like WP. Those students who actually need intensive training get it, but those who do not go on to the standard College or University Physics courses, thus educating the students in a cost-effective way. All the students also use the computer tools in a Physics Lab course which most of the students at the university must take. About 600 students, primarily Engineering and Architecture majors would be exposed to the TST microcomputer-based lab each year. Since the experiments have been developed primarily for Science and Engineering majors, new experiments are being developed for the Architecture majors, to suit their interests and profession. This pilot program can have national significance by establishing a model for those universities who have a large number of physics students and limited lab space.
