The University of Washington is initiating a major program to improve entry-level science courses. A major goal, as stated by the University Provost, is improvement of laboratory courses, and the requirement that all students enrolled in the lecture course shall also take the corresponding laboratory course. The program in Physics is addressing both issues: improvement of thelaboratory courses, and preparing for increased laboratory enrollment. The Physics plan begins with improvements in the mechanics laboratory experiments in introductory courses. Faculty and staff who are participants in this project have been working for the past few years developing computer-based experiments that provide new opportunities for students to investigate motion in one and two dimensions with much more accurate and versatile tools than were previously available. The experience to date with lab sections where these experiments were tested shows that students are able to investigate a much wider range of phenomena with a deeper understanding of the concepts of motion. NSF support is being utilized to match the University funds provided to purchase workstations (PC 386/SX) and two motion digitizing devices: a video system and optical encoders. These elements are being integrated in a "motion measurement station" and form the backbone of a laboratory measurement and analysis system.NSF grant funds are being matched with funds from non-federal sources.
