A. Introduction to the Southern University Physics Department

Southern University and A&M College is a major Historically Black University (HBCU) that has been around for over a century. It has the Distinction of graduating more African-American engineers and scientists than any other college or University in the South. The Southern University Physics department offers both a BS and an MS in physics. There are fifteen full time and three part-time faculty members in the department. Many of the faculty members are involved in active research in both physics and physics education.

In addition to offering a BS and MS in physics, the department is also involved in important service courses for the University. These service courses include a Calculus based physics course that is used to train not just physics majors but also engineers, biologists and chemists in the basics of physics. The calculus-based course consists of two semesters, the first of which covers mechanics and thermal physics, Physics 221, and the second semester, Physics 222, which concentrates on electrical and magnetic phenomena. There are generally, each semester three sections, of Physics 221 and two sections of generally, each semester three sections, of Physics 221 and two sections of Physics 222 each with an accompanying laboratory course. During the Fall semester of 2002, there were 125 students in Physics 221 and 74 students in Physics 222 for a total of 199 students taking freshman physics. The number of students taking Physics 221 and 222 each semester is similar to this number.

B. Participants in the Computer Assisted Physics Projects

Dr. Atalla and Dr. Hayden visited Southern University in September to introduce the Physics CD-ROM program to the Physics Department in general, but especially to the Physics 221 and 222 instructors. The different parts of the CD-ROM, were demonstrated in their classes and the faculty members were asked if they would like to be involved in a field test of this software.

There are five faculty members of the department who regularly teach Physics 221 and 222 each semester. Of these five faculty members four were involved in the testing of the interactive CD-RM. There are three full professors and one associate professor taking part in the field test. Each faculty member has taught freshman physics for a number of years and is thus highly experiences in the subject. The CD-ROMS arrived in mid-November and were passed out to the four faculty members soon after. They then preceded to study the CD's to determine how effective it would be in teaching their subjects matter. A particular subject was assigned to each faculty member. The subjects assigned were Mechanics, Oscillations, Electricity and Magnetism, the topics that represent the major thrust of Physics 221 and 222.

The results of the faculty member's responses to the CD-ROM are summarized below as well as a list of minor errors that were found in the text. The questionnaires are included as well.

C. Strengths of the Physics CD-ROM

After they were given a chance to study the CD-ROM in depth, the professors were then asked to fill out a questionnaire, which was designed to measure how effective they thought the CD would be in teaching physics, their thoughts on the future of the integration of technology in teaching, and their comments and suggestions on the product.

The professors were all pleased with the scope of topics covered by the CD. The packages included all of the topics that are covered in Physics 221 and 222, including all of the sub-topics (see attached review of CD-ROM). They were all complementary about the format in which the information was displayed as well as the separation of the packages into text, labs and quizzes. Two of them particularly liked the quiz sections. Three of the four stated that the software was easy to install and was at an appropriated level for their students. They also said that it at least satisfactorily aligned with their curriculum and that it encouraged collaborative learning. The Physics 222 facially members liked the electric circuit auxiliary section that created series, parallel, and inductive circuit problems for the students to be able to practice on.

The faculty members also indicated that they believed that the concept of such a package as this one is good and is needed in physics education. Three of the faculty members thought that this software would be at least partially useful in their course.

D. Weaknesses of the Physics CD-ROM

One of the weaknesses of the package is that the virtual labs require another software program to run (Interactive Physics). The CD's that were sent to Southern didn't have an active Interactive Physics program on them and thus the professors were unable to study the virtual laboratory section. Because of this limitation, the professors were not able to answer the question on interfacing with other products. There are also some errors with regard to physics, such as in the magnetism section, i.e., the formula for the magnetic flux,*****(insert formulas section)*****

E. Recommendations