(The Problem) Few opportunities to learn new methods of physics instruction exist for physics faculty who teach in technical/community colleges in the northern New England state of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont due to limited funds to pay for travel and registration at national and, in man cases, regional AAPT meetings often held in the southern New England states. (The Objectives) This proposal seeks funding for two faculty enhancement workshops to be held during the summers of 1996 and 1997 to provide opportunities for 24 physics instructors from two- year and four-year colleges and universities in both the northern and southern New England states to learn ways of presenting physics instruction via the Internet and the World Wide Web. (Methods to accomplish the objectives) During the workshops, participants will learn how to create platform-independent physics lessons using the hypertext markup language of browsers such as Netscape which can be shared with other instructors from neighboring New England states. (Collaborations) They will work with the nationally recognized leaders in distance education from institutions including the USAF Academy and Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis who have developed innovative new ways to teach using the World Wide Web. (Significance/impact of the project) The workshop will offer the unique opportunity for physics faculty to discuss during a two-week period critical issues in the teaching of college physics using distance education at the two and four-year level and to develop a strategic plan to promote stronger partnerships between two-year and four-year colleges through the sharing of information and resources.
