Recent educational research has shown that the traditional lecture style of teaching is ineffective. These studies show that, to effectively learn, students must actively participate in the learning process and engage the material. The department is creating a new environment for teaching science and mathematics courses that uses a participatory and discovery-based approach to learning. A multimedia classroom/laboratory is being developed to facilitate the participation of all students in the learning process. This classroom is being equipped with 15 computer workstations with interfaces for experiments and video projection equipment. The classroom is providing a powerful, flexible, vivid, and easy-to-use computer environment for each student. Students are not being merely passive spectators in a lecture, but rather active participants in an exciting learning experience. The result is a deeper and clearer understanding, longer retention, and greater excitement about learning. Students are becoming masters of the material and not slaves to it.
