Maximizing Learning Effectiveness in an Online Delivery Format
Physics education research has demonstrated that active engagement and social dialog are among the most effective strategies that increase student learning in a face-to-face classroom. These principles are difficult to capture in an online version, which is characterized by a heterogeneous group of isolated learners. The next phase of teaching improvement in physics must address this challenge.
Our project is devoted to adapting beneficial classroom practices to Physics 100 Online, a calculus-based introductory course for students in science and engineering degree programs.
A key feature of the course is a constructed relevant context based on the natural interest that most people have in motion pictures. For part of each unit in the curriculum students work in teams as if they were consultants to a production company. This provides a wide range of complex situations in which the principles of physics can be studied. The course design also includes different ways to simulate social interactions through tools that access a database of student responses.
We anticipate that Physics 100 Online will be a new model for distance learning applied to technical courses.