Physics (13) This project is significantly changing the way the algebra-based college physics course is taught. Comparatively little work has been done on revising this course. The new pedagogy being developed incorporates web-based lectures and computer-guided cooperative-learning problems labs. The new pedagogy allows students to access the lecture material at their convenience on the world-wide web, and makes the problems labs student-driven and as instructor-independent as possible. This "proof-of-concept" project concentrates on the first semester of the college physics sequence, and includes completing the web-based lectures, EXCEL spreadsheets, and the activity book; completing a preliminary assessment of the first semester course at Middle Tennessee State University using a pre-existing assessment instrument (the Force Concept Inventory) and student/instructor evaluations; and identifying potential test sites, evaluation teams and a publisher for the completed sequence materials. It is expected that this project will result in a future full development project for the revision and evaluation of the pedagogy for the complete introductory college physics sequence.
