1. Personal Resources
We were drawn to the faculty bricoleurs at JJC because of the initiative, leadership, and creativity they showed in turning to new combinations of learning activities--some of which are computer-based--to address concerns about their students' academic performance and values. We wanted to know what it took for them to get started and then keep going down this path. One way JJC people answered us was to describe certain personality traits. In broad brush strokes, they painted a picture of people who enjoy innovation, are willing to take risks, and have vision, tenacity, energy, enthusiasm, and self-confidence. These features are consistent with those identified as characteristic of "innovators" (or "pioneers") and "early adapters" in research on the diffusion of innovation.⁷

Enjoy Innovation. We noticed that the words toys and gadgets surfaced occasionally when Curt, Bill, Marie, or Mike described themselves or each other. Mike, for example, describes himself as "a gadget person and a computer sort of person." Scott, the campus web-master, waxed eloquent about the obvious delight that Curt takes in trying new things. "Curt really likes the toys and trying new and different things," he told us. "When he sees new things at a conference, he comes back saying, 'Can we implement this, can we do this?'" Scott also mentioned how "Curt's desire to try new things" led him to create alliances with several companies, thereby participating in an emerging information-age practice called "creator/consumer blurring."⁸ This enabled them to work with prototype equipment, equipment that "wasn't available anyplace else." As Scott put it, "We ended up essentially beta testing this equipment and adapting it into the curriculum."

Willing to Take Risks. People who take pleasure in trying new equipment are easier to find, however, than people who are willing to take substantial risks in the way they use this equipment. Mike pointed out, for example, that faculty "are so used to being the authority that we tend not to wander into areas that we are not comfortable with." It's therefore imperative that, in order to initiate change, people be "willing to make the effort and willing to go through the learning curve that [they] have to go through...to learn to use the technology and learn the applications and learn to supplant what they already do with the improved things that you can do with technology."

Have Vision, Drive, Enthusiasm, Tenacity, and Self-confidence. JJC people had much to say about the importance of being a person of vision; that is, someone who thinks of possibilities and imagines better alternatives.ⁱ Curt believes that that vision is something easily ignited in early adapters, if only they are exposed to the new possibilities. But vision may not be enough. Drive and enthusiasm^j are also required, as are good health and a high energy level. As he put it, "[Because] there are some challenges when you implement, you need to have a high energy level. People probably typically don't say that. You should be in fairly good health because if you're sick and so forth, it really can be difficult to do all the extra work."

Vision, drive, enthusiasm and health are still not sufficient, however, especially for the pioneers. As J.D. Ross, the president of JJC, pointed out, implementation also takes "creativity and hard work." Curt, he explained, "had some wonderful ideas, but frankly, they would have never been implemented if he had relied solely on institutional resources. He needed to go out and seek the grants to make it happen."

J.D. Ross's remarks about creativity and hard work point clearly to another very important characteristic: tenacity.^k

The JJC people we talked with emphasized one more very interesting personal characteristic that early adapters need: self-confidence. Geoff, who provides technical support to Curt and Bill, astutely observed that adapters must have confidence^l that their way of moving down a path of innovation, while different than the pioneers', is also good. "Adapters," he explained, "can't take their esteem from a pioneer like Hieggelke." Bill echoed this, commenting on how important it is for adapters to feel comfortable putting together their own version of the innovation and developing their own "innovator's voice" that is independent of that of the pioneers. "I've gone through the workshops that Curt holds, to see what can be done ," he explained. "You start, you get more comfortable, you modify things on your own, you don't do some of the things, you know. And this makes you feel a lot more comfortable."

2. Institutional Resources
The JJC faculty advised us, based on their experience, that it would be helpful if we passed along information and advice on institutional resources. "You need support from the administration, support from the department, and support from instructors and the students," said Mike. Getting that kind of support "is difficult, and the full transition is going to take a lot of time because there are a lot of impediments to it--economic, personality, and administrative impediments." For the complete discussion of the types and importance of various institutional resources that the JJC bricoleurs found necessary and how they procured them, see Discussion 6.

B. Processes for Getting Going: How Not to Reinvent the Wheel

No less critical than personal and institutional resources is knowledge about how to actually implement innovative learning activities in your courses. We know that every faculty member develops his or her own style and will only rarely simply "adopt" a new approach--this characteristic of faculty is one of the greatest strengths of higher education. At the same time, we suspect that, with respect to knowledge about how to implement new learning activities, the vast majority of faculty innovators and early adapters end up "reinventing the wheel," and that, quite frankly, is a poor use of faculty time and effort. With this point in mind, we asked the JJC bricoleurs for their advice on "getting going."

1. Establishing Faculty Learning Groups: Workshops and Networking
The JJC bricoleurs all knew that, without opportunities to network with faculty peers while implementing new computer-dependent and computer-independent learning activities, they would have struggled more and probably been less successful. All of the faculty strongly advised others to start this networking process by attending workshops, as workshops offer valuable opportunities to get your hands on the hardware and software as well as to network with colleagues.

Marie noted that "the more you can network with people, the better off you are." She has been working with a group, under an "Adapt and Adopt" NSF grant, to adapt Modular Chemistry materials. "It is sometimes hard to start something brand new on your own," she pointed out, "where nobody else in the school is really interested. But when you are working as part of the group, like I am right now with some of these other community colleges, you get a lot of support to go ahead and do something. And then, even if there isn't anybody at your particular school to discuss the issues with, you have somebody else to talk with and that has made a big difference."

Bill had much to say, as well, on the benefit of networking.^m He explained that getting involved in a community of folks across the nation who are trying out these new approaches keeps him motivated.

Curt, too, is very clear on the value of workshops. He recommends that "the first thing faculty interested in these methods need to do is go to a workshop to get some preliminary experience with the technology." But, he quickly added, it can't be just any workshop. The workshop should be "something more than a day long--so you can get some hands-on experience. You have to make sure that you're not just watching someone else demonstrate it. You have to do it yourself." Curt told us that professional development workshops for faculty "have to be hands-on, not demo," because "faculty members are just like students" --they need to have the participatory experience.ⁿ For a lengthier discussion of the merits of networking, both nationally and locally, see Discussion 7.

2. "One Thing at a Time"
Geoff, who for years has been observing the way Bill and Marie have adapted methods from Curt, observed that "the adapters tend to pick things up a little bit at a time." Curt developed on Geoff's point, explaining that if you are just getting going, it is wise to alternate learning to use new technology with changing your curriculum, rather than to work on both simultaneously. For this alternating strategy to work, however, it is necessary to have good, tested curricular materials that you can rely on while in your "focus on technology" stage. "That allows you to focus more on implementing the technology," Curt explained. "Then you come back and deal with curriculum materials, after you've got the technology under control."

In other words, trying to do too much, too fast--trying to learn new technologies and processes while concurrently implementing them into a curriculum--can be overwhelming. Curt points out that "today, implementers have a chance to take some other materials and use them and then adapt them."

Marie told us how she is doing just that. Initially, she focused on how the availability of technology-rich curriculum materials that were tested by colleagues whom she trusts has really helped her get going with these new methods. Using tested materials can work well, once you understand these new methods, even if you don't have the chance to try them out in workshops. "We have been able to buy a workbook," Marie explained, "where the lessons are set up and all we have to do is adapt them a little bit to our needs and pick out what we want to do. It works great because a lot of times, in two-year schools, we have pretty big class loads so there is not a lot of time to develop your own handouts and those kinds of things." Moreover, she continued, using tested materials gives you "an idea of how other people are doing things. This helps if you don't get a change to go to a lot of meetings to learn how to actually implement these methods."

Now Marie is focusing on technology, rather than on curriculum. She is able to do this not only because she has access to good curricular materials that work with the technology, but also because she has adjusted to the shift away from the use of lecture. In the past, when she relied heavily on lecture as a teaching method, "I focused on my presentation--what the content was, making everything as logical as I could, maybe simplifying some things." In implementing technology into her teaching, however, her focus has changed:

Now when I prepare, what I focus on is, "Is this web site going to work for me? Am I going to be able to access the right part of the CD-ROM when I do this demonstration?" So I spend more preparation time making sure that I can effectively use the technology than actually preparing the content. And I think maybe part of that, too, is that I have been doing the content for such a long time now that it is not as much of an issue. More of my preparation time is spent looking for different ways to use the technology and making sure it is going to work if I do use it a particular way.

C. Managing the Dissolution of the "Atlas Complex"

A growing number of science, math, and engineering instructors are acting on the conviction that their courses need to be designed in ways that help students take more responsibility for their own learning. This is the first teaching principle that informs the JJC bricoleurs' decisions about which learning activities to use in their courses. Having the necessary internal and external resources isn't all you need to implement these new activities. In addition, you must be willing to forego old patterns and try new ways of interacting with your students. Most faculty and students--including those featured in this case study--bring to their courses complex assumptions about teacher and student roles, plus a whole set of social and psychological habits associated with these roles, that present formidable barriers to implementing this teaching philosophy. Donald Finkel and Stephen Monk summed it nicely with their phrase, the "Atlas complex" (see Resource F).

Encouraging students to take more responsibility for their own learning requires faculty to relinquish some responsibility--in other words to abandon the notion that they must, like Atlas, bear the weight of the entire classroom world on their shoulders. Breaking out of the Atlas complex involves a willingness to step aside from the authority and power of center-stage and a desire to empower students. It requires asking questions instead of providing answers, listening instead of talking, and feeling comfortable with student confusion instead of rushing to fix things. Below, Curt describes the challenges he faces as he makes the transition from "expert provider" to "guide on the side":

Curt: I'm also applying alternative types of learning strategies in the classroom, like Ranking Tasks and some of the other things we do, when students go to the blackboard and have to explain what they're doing and so forth in sort of a Socratic dialogue. What I do in the classroom is quite different because I'm not preparing a lecture. It's very intense, because I have to be listening all the time and also thinking about the next question I want to pose to them that moves them from that point to the next point. That's the challenging thing--trying to think ahead at the same time I'm trying to listen to what they're saying. The real difficulty for me is that sometimes I'm trying to get something out ahead and I don't pay close enough attention to the students, so I have to have them repeat [a comment] or clarify it. And they don't necessarily repeat it--sometimes you hear them change what they said.

Susan: There's an accidental learning opportunity, right?

Curt: Right. For a faculty member trying to do this, one of the challenges is to realize that you have to not just give the answer all the time. You've got to be willing to give [power] over to the students. You saw me go around the classroom asking, "What do you think? Does anyone want to explain why, compared to what someone else said?"

Susan: I saw a little bit of twisting in the wind there.

Curt: Yeah. Because I want people to have the chance to think for themselves and wrestle with ambiguity, because most of the time things aren't necessarily black or white.

Susan: You didn't give them any clues either. You'd hear one answer and you'd sort of nod and the next would speak and you'd sort of nod and what they said was different.

Curt: Right, I was trying to be noncommittal because I want them to be willing to say why they think they're right, not what they think I want to hear.

Both students and faculty at JJC struggled as the faculty worked to dissolve the bonds of the traditional learning roles. As Finkel and Monk suggest, it is difficult for faculty to step aside from their role as central figure in the classroom and to relinquish full responsibility for all that goes on in a course. It is equally hard for students, for they have spent a lifetime as recipients of the information provided by "experts" who evaluate student mastery of a body of knowledge by assessing how well they give it back on exams. Rarely are students asked to be active, to challenge an instructor, to make connections among disparate ideas and to apply information in creative ways. When they are suddenly required to do so, they often resist. It is no surprise, then, that Curt's effort to shift the focus of his class away from himself isn't always appreciated or understood by students. Here, one of the students describes Curt's efforts to elicit participation from every student in the class and their subsequent confusion, while a second student talks about seeking help from another instructor because of his frustration at Curt's reluctance to provide answers.

Nick: He focuses more on the concepts than the mathematics.... A lot of times he won't just say the right or wrong answer. Instead, before class he'll give little experiments that show us about force or other physics concepts. He'll make a presentation about it, and then he'll ask us questions about it, and we'll be confused. If there are discrepancies in the class, he'll ask everybody about it, and then he'll prove it by doing something.

Andy: Several times I went to him before class and asked him a question, but he never really helped with it. So I'd ask my physics teacher or my differential equations teacher--he helps me more than anything. He'll show you the dynamics of the problem and stuff whereas Dr. H is just [not as willing to do that]... even during office hours.... That kind of irritates me. It's different when you come in just one-on-one for help and you don't get it.

No teaching approach is going to work for every student all the time. At the beginning of the following passage, some students express similar complaints they have about Curt, who is reluctant to spoon feed answers to them, even when one-on-one. The students feel that the one-on-one venue should be the place where instructors provide quicker relief for their frustration than they do in the classroom. However, by the end of the passage, Nick and Steve reveal their awareness of Curt's teaching philosophy and express how that philosophy guides his one-on-one interactions with them. It is clear from Steve's final comment that even shy students, for whom speaking up doesn't come easily, ultimately discover that they need to commit themselves to taking intellectual risks, because doing so provides a more fruitful learning experience and is "a good way to think."

Paul: Doctor H. is very reluctant to give one-on-one assistance. His approach is that if you're going to learn it and it's going to stick, you've got to figure it out by yourself.

Nick: I made an appointment with him once. He worked out some problems with me but only as long as I did the problems. He would go through and say, "Now here's what you did wrong." But he wouldn't just sit down and work problems out with me.

Andy: We waste a lot of time going around the classroom, to be honest with you, because we have no pull on the question. He's like, "What do you think?" And we'll just go around, "Yeah, I agree. No, I don't agree." None of us knows the answer. We're just guessing. It's better for the professor to just come out and say it and we write it down and learn it.

Nick: I think he just wants us to form an opinion and think about something, analyze what we're doing, form an opinion right or wrong, just say it. And then we'll find out the right answer.

Steve: If you go further in engineering, it's not up to the teacher, it's up to the student. If you can't sit down and check on your own, you're going to need to make some changes. If you're somebody who has a more passive personality, you're just going to sit back, wait and see. But you can't do that. I have a more passive personality, and it made me commit. It made me see thought processes. Even if you get the wrong answer sometimes, it still may be a good way to think. You have to be an independent learner.

In sum, the transformation of science courses at JJC has provided meaningful and exciting learning experiences for students and faculty alike, as well as impressive student outcomes. This transformation depends on the JJC faculty's synergistic use of second-generation software tools that foster a predict-observe-explain¹ learning process, and computer-independent formative assessment and group work/guided discussion activities that encourage students to struggle with new concepts and to participate and teach one another.

We use a lot of Tools for Scientific Thinking and Real Time Physics from the Laws group. I would call it "guided inquiry." It's not "here's some stuff; figure it out." Are you familiar with what we call the "predict, observe, explain" approach? You ask students to write down what they think will happen. You make them do it so it does happen. And then you have them explain why it happened. The hope is that we're changing their whole intuition in a way that reading about physics never could, and the technology allows us to do that on idea after idea, instead of doing it on only one idea a week.

Helping to change student intuition, Curt believes, is the main function of computers in today's classrooms. He said that the first round of efforts to use computers involved merely taking over the busy work, whereas now the purpose of computers is to encourage small groups of students to "gather, interpret, and analyze" data, helping them learn to distinguish which data are relevant. As he put it:

Computer-based methods help them gather, interpret, and analyze what they've got. It helps them discriminate good data from bad. We [instructors] forget that we're experienced. We can look at graphs and say, "Well, the relevant part does this," and throw away the irrelevant. Students quite often, in the past, couldn't tell the difference.

The first generation of computer technology was "do the old lab experiment and hook a computer to it, and the computer would do graphing or fitting." The second generation demands an active engagement of students. It's predict and observe and explain. That's what an MBL-- microcomputer-based laboratory^o --does: two or three students, by themselves working at a computer, interacting with what they see the sensors reading. Students are really engaged with the experiments. After they set them up, they can interact with them and see exactly how things changed.

Curt moved without a pause from this description of how "second generation" computer-based, hands-on experiments work to a description of how another computer-dependent activity works. While different, both activities are designed to foster new "predict, observe, explain" habits of thinking in his students. He continued:

We also use Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, a term Ron Thornton uses. It's the idea of using a computer projection system to carry out a demonstration so that you can ask, "What do you think?" You can ask students to predict what's going to happen, and then do it, and have them explain what happened. The idea is to have them engaged in what they're seeing. In contrast to the MBL, the Interactive Lecture Demos involve the whole class, where you poll the students on the question.

Linking formulas to theories, mathematics to ideas, and information to meaningful concepts are the key outcomes that these faculty seek by using computers to get students to predict-observe-explain (that is, think for themselves). This is not to say that such outcomes can be achieved only with the use of computers. Curt explains:

I also still do low- or no-tech labs. There are some things that you can do just as well without any technology. In fact, it's nice to do things without technology. We do a thing balancing and weighing a meter stick. They're given one weight and by using torques, they can measure the mass of the meter stick. I require them to come within two grams or so, and the students find out that they have to be very careful in taking their measurements. Often, in the MBL technology, the difficulty of having a good careful number is not established. Now that's fine, but I think it's also nice for them to see how well they can get a result without using [computer] technology. So I like to blend non-tech activities with the technical ones. In fact, one reason I got these desks is because I wanted them to be able to do desktop activities. And see all those boxes we have back there - batteries and bulbs and so forth? They do labs right in here. They just bring a box over and start hooking up circuits and so forth.

However, technology has the advantage of providing immediate results to experiments that, in the past, required time for setting up materials, making graphs, and taking care of other technical details.

Because MBL technology allows learning to take place immediately, it provides freedom from the "tyranny of tedious calculations" and lets you "strike while the iron is hot," according to Bill. His force experiment based on crashing carts used to involve cumbersome materials, the set up of which distracted students from the point of the experiment. Since he started using the technology, technical details no longer come between classroom learning and its connection to real world data. He explains that the technology "brings learning home" for his students because they are able to see results of their experiments right away.

The technology brings learning home for them because how else could you measure these forces in a meaningful way? What you can do is use probes and measure force as a function of time. We can have two carts, one loaded up with mass, one with nothing on it. Based on some work we do beforehand, they are well convinced by this point that the probe on each one measures the force on that cart. Then they slam them into each other, and they can see the graphs. They can line them up in time and they can see, despite the fact that the forces are non-constant, they are equal and opposite. They have an odd shape with two cars hitting each other, a really odd shape--nothing to something along an odd curve--and it's not even very predictable. They can see these curves are exactly equal and opposite, and they also do the experiment very quickly.

You strike while the iron is hot, while they are doing a lot. The old way of doing this, you could do it with students pulling spring scales; but, by nature, they can't be doing something with real change. It can't change quickly or else you can't read it, so it's not realistic. The other problem is, to do anything more realistic with some older methods takes so long that students have forgotten the point.... The whole point is to free yourself up from the tyranny of the tedious calculations, to talk about ideas and to get quick feedback in the lab.

Mike, the department chair and a biologist, agrees that complex mathematical calculations and excessive time between experiment and analysis inhibit students from "making the connection."

As for the computer technology and application, I don't buy into computer applications for their own sake.... It should be appropriate technology. For instance, the lab that I wrote a while ago allows me to do EKGs on a student--resting EKG, exercising EKG--and then to analyze the tracings. We can do things with a computer that years ago took hours to do. And if you were teaching an undergraduate class, you probably didn't do it, because it just took so long, and frankly it took math skills that were probably beyond most of the students.... So what do you do? Do you take time to teach them trigonometry, or do you throw up your hands and give them the answer?

Using the computer-based applications attaches consequences to behavior and attaches those consequences quickly. I think that is another thing in education that matters--the immediate feedback of getting readings quickly, the immediate result of this EKG, rather than taking it home for hours and laboring over it and maybe not making the connection.

Geoff, the lab technician, also addressed the importance of students' getting an "immediate response" to the predictions they make. He explained that, without the computers, this valuable immediate response would not be possible.

I see a lot of learning that wouldn't happen without the technology, in particular with the motion detectors and so forth, where the labs are set up so that the students make a prediction and then try it out to see if it works. They get an immediate response, and they can determine whether they have made a correct conclusion. Those sorts of things weren't possible when I was a student. I would do a lab and come up with a value, but I wouldn't know if it had any significance or not. I didn't have any way of knowing if I had an understanding that was going to be useful. So I see that as one of the big things with the technology - being able to ask students to predict what's going to happen, and they get to try it out and see if they're right, and if they aren't, they can go back and say, "This isn't right. I need to rethink what's going on here."

Curt's style of instruction relies heavily on students' ability to get quick results from the experiments they do. He emphasizes the need for students to learn from their mistakes and often intentionally allows them to travel down the wrong path to make them realize those mistakes. Technology is indispensable to the success of this teaching approach.

Curt: This is part of what we can do with a computer that we couldn't do before--the computer can visualize the data for them, put it in a graphical form so they can see it. In the past, they would take data and then graph it two or three days later. The problem was that they couldn't go back and repeat it very easily if there was a problem with it. As you saw today, they could repeat an experiment really quickly if there was a problem.

Susan (interviewer): And also, I actually heard a number of students say, "Oh that's what went wrong," or "That's what we did wrong." So they were learning from their mistakes.

Curt: Right, in the past, we couldn't afford to have them make mistakes, because they wouldn't see that they'd made them until two or three days later.

The JJC faculty emphasized that computers "work" for their students, not only because they provide freedom from tedious calculations and enable quick results from experiments, but also because they enable them to see things graphically. For example, Marie explained that the technology gives her students a more intuitive feel for the experiments they are doing than traditional equipment ever could. Her calorimetry experiment, a favorite among students, involves determining the number of calories in peanuts and other foods. She says the experiment meant more to students when they could see temperature increases graphed on a computer screen, even though a thermometer could show those same increases.

I think their lab experience [analyzing real data on the computer] has made a difference. I think the favorite experiment of Chem 100 and 101 students is the calorimetry experiment, that we get from Vernier Software, where they determine the number of calories in a peanut or some piece of food. We tried to do the same thing in a lab bench with thermometers or calorimeters, but when we started using the temperature probes connected by the interface to the computers, they could see the temperature increase on the screen. When they could see it graphically, it actually meant something to them. Now you would think that they would have had the same basic lab experience while watching the temperature go up in a thermometer--that they would understand that temperature of the water goes up when the food in the water absorbs heat--but that didn't seem to happen as much. So that one computer experiment is the absolute favorite. Even people in my second year classes talk about that experiment fondly--how they thought it was so wonderful. We try to increase the number of those kinds of computer-type experiments as they go through general chemistry, because I really think that their lab experience is enhanced by the experiments where they can use interfaces.

Bill also emphasizes the value of connections to the everyday world and feels that one of the biggest instructional hurdles is "convincing [students] that what we talk about in class is true" and not simply a series of laws and equations to be memorized and repeated. Like Marie, he stresses "the ability to think graphically" as an integral part of this process.

One problem I face is convincing them in lab that what we talk about in class is true. So there are the two fronts we're fighting on: there's tying this to the real world--making it more real, so they can actually see it, have a good picture--and there's trying to get them to think graphically. For example, although I talk with the students about the laws of motion in class, I mainly focus on these concepts in the lab. Now, I could use the air track labs, circa 1980 technology: the point of these labs is to clarify and to make the laws of motion more real to students, and they do tie the book work to the real world. But I use the motion sensors and software packages instead, because these also help my students develop the ability to think graphically, which is a skill that can be carried beyond my class.

Mike recognizes technology's ability to make science meaningful, as well. In one experiment, he gets smokers from his class to volunteer to do a resting EKG, pulse rate, and breathing test before and after smoking a cigarette. The computer then graphs the results, visually demonstrating hoe nicotine affects the heart and lungs.

Mike: Students get muddled in the math and miss the whole point. With the computer hardware and software we have, we can do those tracings and do multiple tests at the same time. We can, for instance, do pulse rate, EKG, and breathing tests all at the same time, and put the data together in one graph on the computer.

Susan (interviewer): So instead of understanding the workings in terms of the mathematical details, they are able to get an understanding of the relationships?

Mike: And the concepts. For instance, we still have students who smoke, so one of the things you do in a physiology class is call in a volunteer and, I'll be darned, you always get a couple of the smokers to do a resting EKG. You get their data on a graph with the breathing apparatus, send them outside, let them smoke a cigarette, and then have them come back and do the same thing over again. So now you've got the increased pulse rate, the increased blood pressure, the increased EKG, and you can see them all in one nice table.

Steve: I think graphical representations enhance our understanding of what is truly going on in a physical system, and there is a lot of data that you can retrieve from [the video we took].

Paul: He bought cameras, one for every lab station. Using them really helped me understand how to graph velocity and acceleration, which didn't look right to me in the textbook.... I believe that I see more. I learn by visual input, not by just reading. Or I learn by audio and then the examples instead of just reading and being able to understand.

Susan: You've mentioned that you're not crunching numbers.

Andy: Correct. It's more thought-provoking. Anyone can pretty much, knowing a formula, take the numbers and plug and chug. But what does that answer really mean? I believe that in this class we actually know what the answer means.

[Authors' Note: The students were using VideoPoint software, a video analysis software package that allows students to collect position and time data from digital video in the form of "Video Points."] The students articulated yet another reason why the technology-dependent activities Curt uses help them learn: it's fun. These activities do more than just entertain, according to one student, who said "the little simple fun things you do help you learn about how things work."

Maggie: There was one lab where we played a game, rotation and inertia gain, without friction. We had to travel [like a] spaceship. It got more complicated, where we had to maybe go around the circle-

Sarah: We could only change it in 45-degree increments.

Maggie: That was interesting.

Susan (interviewer): How were you monitoring this?

Brenda: It was like a computer game.

Alice: Yeah, it's a lot of fun, because the little simple fun things you do help you learn about how things work. It's like when you drive a car, you can't always stop and start, it forces you to just keep going, so it forces you to change directions.

Susan: So in this game you were adding or subtracting different forces?

Alice: Right, and it was directional force, too. Like the circle thing: you draw a circle and you had to keep inside the circle.

Sarah: [If] you hit the wall, you crashed.

Alice: It was just fun learning, as opposed to doing boring stuff. One of us would hold onto a force sensor and another person would pull us by a string, and we would record the force.

Joan: Yeah, we were sitting on rolling chairs, and one person would hold one of the force sensors, and the other person would pull us along.

Maggie: And it would show how the force would increase in the beginning, but then it would decrease as you started moving along.

Sarah: It's a lot of fun.

Brenda: It makes it a lot more interesting when you have more than just paper.

Finally, the students made it clear that their interest in the course is significantly greater due to the way computers are used. Listen to them explain how computers, used the right way, can "add that interest factor."

Alice: If we didn't have the technology, I'm sure I wouldn't be getting such good grades in that class. I'm sure I wouldn't have been interested in that class, and I might have already dropped it by now. That totally spices up the class and makes me want to go. I enjoy going to this class-except for doing the problems-but generally I enjoy going.

Susan: So the technology adds that spice?

Alice: Oh, yeah.

Sarah: It makes the class fun. It just adds that interest factor.

Maggie: Just a little more. That little push to make you come to class every time.

Brenda: I think it's neat. It makes it interesting. One time we had the videotapes all set up, and I wanted to see what would happen when I jumped, so I recorded myself jumping, and, well, it didn't turn out so well, because my shirt went up where I had my focus points, but it makes it interesting. It makes you think on your own of all the things you can stick in there to make the technology useful.

Alice: We're given a lot of free time when we get out of our labs, so if we want to mess around and figure out how stuff works a little more, then we have the ability to do that ourselves.

In sum, the students gave essentially the same reasons the faculty did for why these technology-dependent learning activities work: they provide freedom from tedious calculations, enable quick results from experiments, and allow them to see things graphically.

Curt continues, explaining how he uses the information from pre-tests and TIPERs to inform his own teaching efforts.

...We have to know where students' problems are and not where we think they will be... so I do a lot of pre- and post-testing to find out where the problems are and to see how much the students' conceptions changed as a result of the course. I use multiple-choice tests, by and large, because they're relatively easy to give and grade. They don't demand a great deal of additional time. I use the Ranking Tasks as a diagnostic reasoning tool because it gives me insight into what students are thinking about and can shape what I can talk about or what types of exercises I may develop within the class period or in the next class period.... For today's Ranking Task, eight out of ten got it right. They knew what they were doing, and that was just a reinforcement that they had read the chapter and understood and could explain it....

Curt continues his explanation by relating his use of assessment activities to his philosophy of teaching and to a critique of prevailing faculty attitudes toward assessment. In so doing, he compares assessment in teaching to the kind of information gathering that is standard practice in the medical profession.

Now, I have a certain philosophy about assessment. I really think the teaching culture should start regarding testing and assessment as extremely important tools. These techniques are not just "something we have to do," but something we should do. We should not sacrifice assessment activities because we want to lecture more. That's typically what people say: "I can't afford to give anymore time than an hour to give an assessment."

I'm very strong on assessment, sometimes for diagnostic needs, but primarily for an evaluation of how well we've been doing [as teachers]. I compare it to doctors. When you go to a doctor, do they lecture you? No, you spend more time when you go to physicians these days having tests done and answering questions. Most of the time they're trying to get information, so they know what to do. So I try to focus on where students have problems--not what they already know, but what they don't know. So I look at assessment tools as useful to me and useful to students.

As Curt pointed out, not everyone agrees with the emphasis he places on assessment. Bill is one of these people who thinks that giving students so many tests is unnecessarily time consuming. Despite their differences, the computer technician, Geoff, explains that Curt and Bill both share the goal of accurately measuring what students have learned.

Curt and Bill have spent a lot of time on these assessments. I don't know if Curt's mentioned anything to you about the Force Concept Inventory? Bill doesn't like to take as much class time as Curt does to assess, but they both do the Force Concept Inventory pre-test and a post-test for the force concepts. There is also one for heat and temperature. They're trying to determine whether or not the students really understand these concepts. They're always trying something else to see if it can more accurately measure, or how they correlate with each other and so forth. I think [Bill] is sold on the idea, but he just feels like it takes a lot of time at the beginning of the semester that he would rather put into other things. Likewise at the end.

Susan (interviewer): What worked for you in the class--for your learning needs?

Alice: After we took the test, he explained it, and I realized, "Yeah, this is what I did, I should have known that, but how could I know that without you teaching us before we took the test?"

Maggie: So we're back to the original discussion of how once we committed [ourselves] and put down our answer and tried to rationalize it, then regardless of how it comes out, I'm not looking at a blank screen in the back of my head. Would I have liked it if he lectured to us on it before the test?¹¹ Yeah, probably. But we're not getting it before the test because we don't have the time. If there were more time in the class, I think we would know just about everything about physics up until this point, because he could teach a lot.

Alice: Yeah, 'cause he pulls the concepts out of you. If you just read the book, you don't really focus on the actual physics of it. You're just worried about doing the formulas--you know, "Where do I put this? Where do I put that?" [But when he teaches], you're actually understanding the physics behind it and what's going on.

Maggie: And I do a ton of formulas. I have a whole workbook full of them. When I hit test time, if he asks me a question, I've done it. I've done the work, so I can do the problems. That goes back to the independent learning issue.

Curt also emphasized that an important effect of getting one's hands on the technology is that it gets people intellectually engaged, so they begin thinking about how to modify someone else's materials.

Another thing when faculty members are working on these hands-on things [in workshops] is that they need to be able to develop materials as part of the exercise. It doesn't work to just say, "Use my materials." They need a chance to test out how they might adapt it themselves, because that's what provides the intellectual stimulation that is so important for them. To me, that's a critical point for making a systemic change.

Curt's conviction that workshops are important is based on his own experience. This is how he tells his own story:

I went to national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers. And I became aware that other people were recognizing some of these difficulties that I was seeing and were trying different things out. I was also very dissatisfied with what lab work represented. Lab work for me should be the type of experience we saw today, with students enjoying it, when you hear students say, "We loved it." This is the type of lab I want, not the kind that we used to do. So I was looking for better labs. I knew that these computers were coming along...and was looking at a way of using them in my classroom because they seemed to be so easy to use. At the time, I went to a talk by Priscilla Laws and Ron Thornton at one of these American Association of Physics Teachers meetings. They are at separate institutions but were both working on the same project, trying to use a design and interface so that the Macintosh can collect data. And I said, "This is right up my alley!" So did everybody else there, because the room was packed from one end to the other with people trying to get in....

[Later] I went to one of their workshops and said, "This is exactly what we need to do." It's got force and motion and wasn't like what most people had been doing up to that point--taking old labs and just hooking the computers to them and repeating the same thing we used to do. What Laws and Thornton had actually done was develop a new way of teaching or curriculum using the power of the computer.

Before leaving the topic of workshops, Curt returned to his point about the value of hands-on activities and offered a host of practical "getting started" suggestions: "Borrow equipment, get a network, be prepared to troubleshoot." In listening to this advice, we heard intimations of "seize the day!" and "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

When you come back from a workshop, borrow some equipment right away--from the workshop people or the manufacturers. Quite often the companies will send you a loaner piece so you can see how it's going to work before you forget what you learned at the workshop. One of the real problems is the technology. You go to a workshop this year, and it's probably going to be a year before you can implement it in your classroom if you don't have the equipment already. [So you've got to take steps to figure out] whether what you learned at the workshop can be done in your classroom next year. You need to get a network so you can have somebody to troubleshoot some problems with you. And you need to practice with the technology before you forget most of what you've learned. The technology takes longer than you think to get in place, so you have to do this unless you've already got the stuff in your lab and someone there to show you how to use it.

Despite the fact that Marie values networking with "Adapt and Adopt" colleagues outsider her institution, she still prefers "next-door" support from within her own institution, which yields faster results than attending meetings and other forms of networking:

We were already willing to start the implementation process, and Curt helped a lot; he got us into that. Then with all the software that he used for his applications, I felt really comfortable about going over to the physics lab and looking at the interfaces and probes and asking questions about how he uses those kinds of things. I would get ideas about how I could use them on the chemistry side, so I think that made our transition to the technology easier because it was in the room next door. I could look at it whenever I wanted; I didn't have to wait until I went to some meeting to get the five-minute explanation on how these things go together.

Networking in the "room next door" also allows departmental colleagues to stay "on the same page," according to Marie. She talked about several projects at JJC that she and her colleagues have collaborated on.

In terms of guided inquiry and cooperative learning, we all attended a PKAL¹² workshop, so we were able to get on board at the same time, which was good, because before that there was a little struggle going on with these things. But we are all pretty much together on the use of the guided inquiry and cooperative learning. I would say also, for the general chemistry experiments that involve computers, we are all on board with that. Where we diverge a little is on this project that I am working on with some of the area and community colleges. As for the Modular Chemistry material, I am not sure whether I presented it in the best possible light to my two colleagues in the beginning. They are not too sure about what I do with that in general chemistry. But, lab-wise and group work-wise, I think we are all pretty much on the same page.

Geoff White, the technical support behind the JJC initiative, also plays an important role in the internal networking process by acting as a liaison among faculty members who might not always be sure how to implement one another's ideas. Here, Geoff comments on his role as a link among colleagues who are attempting to adapt new learning activities from one another:

Susan (interviewer): What sorts of technical learning, support, development and so on, would Marie and Bill in particular need in order to get started and to be successful in adapting these methods?

Geoff: Part of it is finding out what's there to begin with and then being able to have some of the equipment available to try. I've brought them different things at different times. Particularly Marie. Bill and Curt have talked more about what they're doing, so there's some interaction there.... Bill might come to me and say, "Curt's doing such and such, and I think I know what he's talking about, but can you explain it to me?".... I'll also bring up to Marie things that we're doing in physics, because I might see a connection between the two, something that she might be able to implement in the chemistry lab, particularly thermal things with the temperature probes.

Susan: So you're really a connector, in some sense, among the faculty.

Geoff: Yeah, I view it that way. I don't know if they do or not, but that's one of the ways I can be helpful to them. Curt tends to say things that will spark their interest, but not give them information, so that they'll come back for more. I don't know to what degree the other teachers are comfortable going back and asking him about it, because it's easier to ask me. Part of it is that I have a lot of experience in implementation, so they'll bring stuff back to me and say, "Can we do this?"

Colleagues aren't the only people to bounce ideas off. Curt also uses his students as a way of finding out whether his implementation process is working.

Curt: I think you ought to tell your students up front that they're part of the process. This is really a joint venture between you and the students. You're designing new materials, and they will recognize that there are difficulties and flaws. In my syllabus I say something like that, that a lot of materials are under development... that students are part of the process. We're not just turning something over and they have to do exactly what I say.

Susan: What does that do for the students?

Curt: I think it allows them to complain when things don't work right and alert you to difficulties. It gives them a chance to respond to what they're going through. I think it's important in the implementation to recognize and engage students as part of the process. They're part of our group, they're part of our community.

Mike, the biologist who now chairs the Department of Natural Sciences, amplified on this point by explaining that he was motivated to make changes by the expectations of his "technology savvy students."

Now the students are pushing us. I have a website for my microbiology course. Some of the students actually go onto that website and do practice quizzes and all that. At the beginning of the semester, when I didn't have this thing completely done, they were coming to me [and asking], "When are you going to finish this?" The students that we get now are so technologically savvy, so computer savvy that they expect this. They push us. They help to drive it.

Problems - Goals

First, consider more closely the relationships between typical problems that the featured bricoleurs experience and their goals for student learning. This relationship may be presented as follows, using the Joliet Junior College case study as an example:

Teaching Principles
Now, it is a big jump to go from a set of abstractly-stated goals, like those above, to the kind of complex, on-the-ground learning activities that we saw during our case study visits and that the bricoleurs and their students described. As the above Learning Environment model shows, the main steps linking faculty goals to effective learning activities are their teaching principles.

Typical of the teaching principles that guide the decisions of the faculty featured in the LT² Web site are the following, which are drawn from the Joliet Junior College case study.

Of note, the teaching principles held by the LT² bricoleurs are strongly consistent with the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" that Zelda Gamson and Arthur Chickering synthesized from research on undergraduate education (1991). The teaching principles of the bricoleurs featured on the LT² site also are consistent with a constructivist philosophy.^p

Synergistic Set of Learning Activities
To implement their teaching principles, the faculty featured in our case studies have chosen a set of activities that they attempt to synergistically "weave together" to achieve their goals for student learning. We have organized these activities into the following three categories:

1. Computer-dependent activities that faculty believe simply would not be possible, or at least not feasible, without computers. Examples include:
   • hands-on experiments (real-time hands-on acquisition and analysis of data, using electronic probes, that provide connections to real-world events)

   • visualization, graphical representation, and simulation

2. Computer-improved activities that faculty believe work incrementally better with technology but can still be implemented without it. Examples include:
   • the use of electronic response systems in large lectures, that enable individual students to vote on their answer to a multiple-choice question by pressing a button rather than raising a hand.

   • the use of a course website rather than/in addition to paper to post the syllabus, hand-outs, and so forth.

3. Computer-independent activities that can be done without technology. Examples include:
   • group work/guided discussion, and

   • formative assessment tasks.

To summarize, each learning environment created by the bricoleurs featured in the LT² case studies consists of an integrated set of learning activities, some of which are computer-dependent and all of which implement the teaching principles that the instructors believe will achieve their goals for student learning.

Outcomes
Throughout the LT² case studies, our picture of the learning environments developed by diverse bricoleurs is completed by "outcomes," a term that refers to four types of information that faculty use to determine how well their learning environment is achieving their goals:

• Student testimony - provides key insights into how students experience different activities.

• Instructor testimony - conveys instructor views about how, why and how well different activities implement his or her teaching principles and goals.
  • Formative assessments - activities that simultaneously (1) provide instructors with feedback about how and what students are learning, which the instructors can then immediately use to adjust and improve their teaching efforts; and (2) foster student learning directly because the students in the process of performing such activities. (For more information, see the FLAG website, which features classroom assessment techniques that have been show to improve learning.)

• Summative assessments formal examinations or tests, the results of which are used by faculty to demonstrate, in a way that is definitive and visible to people outside the course, the degree to which students have accomplished the learning goals for a course.

The faculty are organized into 12 departments. The four bricoleurs^a featured in this case study are members of the Department of Natural Sciences and Physical Education. This department has 19 full-time faculty and 43 part-time faculty. Adjunct professors teach about 40% of its courses.

This course provides an introduction to the basic principles and concepts of physics. These are discussed and applied to explain common experiences. It provides an overview in the areas of mechanics, heat, sound, properties of matter, electromagnetism, optics, and atomic/nuclear physics. This course is designed to satisfy part of the general education requirements for a transfer lab science course. It generally will not serve as a required course in physics for various majors such as engineering or bio-science.

Textbook

Conceptual Physics, by Hewitt, 8th ed., Addison-Wesley, 1998.

Instructor

• Dr Curtis Hieggelke (hay-gull-key)
• Office Hours: 9 am MWF and 1 pm TR
• (815) 280 - 2371 or email: curth@jjc.cc.il.us

Grade - based on the following factors:

1. major unit exams
2. lab work
3. class discussion of assignments (homework)
4. other class participation (attendance)

The class discussion score will be based on the percentage of assigned discussion questions and exercises completed and ready to be presented in class on the due date. These must be written out in a notebook before the start of the class session but need not be entirely correct to receive credit. In addition, students in attendance will receive 5 points for participation. Students in attendance must turn in the daily assignment sheet even if they do not have it done to receive credit for participation and not be counted absent. There will be an online web component for this course. In connection with this activity, you will be given an email account and will be able to do access the course web site and email on computers at the college or at home. This part will be included as part of the class discussion score.

Lab work will be evaluated on factors such as completeness, neatness, and correctness. In order to pass the lab, a student must do at least 80% of the experiments. All students must pass the lab in order to receive any passing grade.

The final grade will be the average of the tests, class discussion, and lab work. The lowest test score will be deleted from this average. The following system will be used to assign grades:

Score	Grade
90-100	A
80-89	B
70-79	C
60-69	D

In addition, your instructor reserves the option of adjusting the grades up or down of students who are close to the border (± 2) based on the class participation of the student in the class. This is a judgment decision of your instructor.

EXTRA CREDIT

Will be given for special activities and efforts that should be approved in advance by your instructor. These may include items such as book reports, planetarium shows, field trips, and other undertakings. The amount of extra credit will be determined by the instructor based on the event and the written report submitted for the credit. All materials must be submitted by 1 pm on December 4.

ATTENDANCE/WITHDRAWAL

Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Students may be recommended for withdrawal at midterm if they have missed an excessive number of classes (more than 2). Students dropping the class are expected to follow normal college procedures.

COURSE LEARNING MODE/STRATEGY-

This class will utilize an active cooperative learning mode as opposed to the lecture mode found in many other classes. Much of the course materials are under development by your instructor and others, thus there may be mistakes or omissions -- be patient and please ask questions if you need clarification. The materials are based on the latest developments in physics education research.

In this course, some use of computer technology will also be employed -- particularly in the lab, to collect, display, and analyze date. Students will also gain experience with spreadsheets, graphing, and simulation/visualization software.

It is important to note that each student is responsible for preparing him/herself for each session. This means reading the background material (textbook) and doing the specific questions before each class. Because of the nature and demands of the schedule of this course, there will be no make-up for sessions missed or lack of preparation.

WEB Online Course ACCESS

To connect to the web section of this course, launch some type of browser software such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer and connect to http://online.jjc.cc.il.us. You can also enter this via the college homepage http://www.jjc.cc.il.us and look for the link to Blackboard. You can do this from any college computer or from home using your internet provider such as America Online. Then log in and select this course from "My Blackboard." Your Blackboard login user name is your full JJC E-mail address. For example, if your user name was: rwennerd and you are a student, it is now: rwennerd@student.jjc.cc.il.us. Your password are the first 5 digits of your social security number with no space or "-". For help with the Blackboards system, please contact R Scott Wennerdahl at 280-2275 or email rwennerd@jjc.cc.il.us.

MAKE-UP POLICY

Late assignments generally are not accepted. Written class work prepared for discussion must either be turned in advance or other prior arrangements made to receive credit for it if a student is going to miss the class discussion. However no credit for the discussion participation will be received. If a student is sick on this date, it will be accepted if it (the assignment sheet and hard copy of the work) is mailed with a postmark on or before the date the assignment is due. However, no credit will be received for class participation.

Tests can be made up at the discretion of the instructor providing prior or timely notice is provided. Phone messages are date and time stamped and may be received anytime. This must be completed before tests are returned to the class.

INAPPROPRIATE ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR

Students are expected to be responsible and to take credit for their own individual work. There are times when collaborative efforts between two or three students are OK (discussion questions and exercises) -- but this should be work sharing NOT copying and there are times when collaborative work is expected -- laboratory. Of course, there are times when collaboration is forbidden (tests) -- if this occurs appropriate course/college action will be taken depending on the nature and seriousness of this action.

FOOD and DRINK

• No food or drink (except for water) is allowed in the physics classroom.

• No food or drink is allowed in the physics lab at any time.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The college has a strong and firm policy against sexual harassment. Such conduct will not be tolerated in this class, and any victims are encouraged to report any incidents. Learning is best achieved in an environment of mutual respect and trust.

Physics 100 Course Outline

1. INTRODUCTION ( 1 week )
   1. Science
      1. Method/Attitude
      2. Science and Technology
      3. Goals of Physics
   2. Experiments
      1. Measurements
      2. Metric System
   3. Computers
      1. Operating
      2. Spreadsheet
      3. Graphing
      4. Data collection
      5. Video capture

   
   

2. MECHANICS ( 3-4 weeks)
   1. Description of Motion
      1. Position
      2. Speed
      3. Velocity
      4. Acceleration
      5. Free Falling Bodies
      6. Projectile Motion
   2. Newton's Laws of Motion
      1. Newton's First Law of Motion
      2. Newton's Second Law of Motion
      3. Mass and Inertia and Weight
      4. Newton's Third Law of Motion
      5. Friction
   3. Momentum
      1. Impulse and Momentum
      2. Conservation of Momentum
      3. Collision
   4. Energy
      1. Work
      2. Power
      3. Mechanical Energy
      4. Potential Energy
      5. Kinetic Energy
      6. Conservation of Energy
      7. Machines and Efficiency
   5. Rotational Motion
      1. Uniform Circular Motion
      2. Centripetal Force
      3. Rotational Inertia
      4. Torque
      5. Center of Mass and Center of Gravity
      6. Conservation of Angular Momentum

   
   

3. PROPERTIES OF MATTER ( 2 weeks )
   1. The Atomic Nature of Matter
      1. Atoms
      2. Molecules
      3. Molecular and Atomic Masses
      4. Elements and Compounds and Mixtures
      5. Atomic Structure
      6. States of Matter
   2. Solids
      1. Density
      2. Elasticity
   3. Liquids
      1. Pressure in a Liquid
      2. Archimedes' Principal
      3. Buoyancy
      4. Pascal's Principle
      5. Surface Tension
   4. Gases
      1. Pressure
      2. Ideal Gas Law
      3. Bernoulli's Principle

   
   

4. HEAT (class selection and as time permits-2 weeks )
   1. TEMPERATURE AND HEAT
      1. Temperature
      2. Thermometers
      3. Quantity of Heat
      4. Specific Heat
      5. Thermal Expansion
   2. Heat Transfer
      1. Conduction
      2. Convection
      3. Radiation
   3. Change of State
      1. Evaporation and Condensation and Boiling
      2. Melting and Freezing
   4. Thermodynamics
      1. Absolute Zero
      2. Internal Energy
      3. First Law of Thermodynamics
      4. Second Law of Thermodynamics
      5. Entropy

   
   

5. SOUND (class selection and as time permits -1 week )
   1. Vibrations and Waves
      1. Pendulum
      2. Mass on Spring
      3. Wave Motion and Velocity
      4. Transverse and Longitudinal Waves
      5. Interference
      6. Standing Waves
      7. Resonance
   2. Sound
      1. Origin of Sound
      2. Transmission of Sound Waves
      3. Speed of Sound
      4. Decibel Levels
      5. Doppler Effect
      6. Beats
6. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM ( 2-3 weeks )
   1. Electrostatics
      1. Electrical Forces
      2. Coulomb's Law
      3. Electric Field
      4. Electric Potential
   2. Electric Current
      1. Flow of Charge
      2. Electromotive Force and Current
      3. Electrical Resistance and Ohm's Law
      4. Direct Current and Alternating
      5. Electric Power
      6. Simple Electrical Circuits
   3. Magnetism
      1. Magnetic Force
      2. Magnetic Field
      3. Magnetic Forces on Moving Charged Particles
   4. Electromagnetic Interactions
      1. Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Wire
      2. Electromagnetic Induction
      3. Electric Motors
      4. Transformers

   
   

7. LIGHT (class selection and as time permits-1 week)
   1. Reflection and Refraction
      1. Law of Reflection
      2. Plane Mirrors
      3. Law of Refraction
      4. Lenses
   2. Light Waves
      1. Wave Interference
      2. Diffraction
      3. Thin Films and Diffraction Gratings
      4. Polarization

   
   

8. ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (class selection and as time permits-2 weeks)
   1. Light Quanta
      1. Photoelectric Effect
      2. Wave-Particle Duality
      3. Uncertainty Principle
   2. The Atom
      1. Atomic Spectra
      2. Wave-Particle Duality
      3. Uncertainty Principle
   3. Atomic Nucleus
      1. Nucleus
      2. Radioactivity
      3. Isotopes
      4. Half-life
      5. Transmutation of Elements
   4. Nuclear Fission and Fusion
      1. Mass-Energy Equivalence
      2. Nuclear Fission
      3. Nuclear Fusion

Completion of Math 170 (Calculus 1)

INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Curtis Hieggelke (hay-gull-key)
Office: E2012
Phone: 815 - 280 - 2371
Office Hours: 9 am MWF and 1 pm TR
email: curth@jjc.cc.il.us

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Physics: For Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 5th Ed, Serway & Beichner
Tutorials in Introductory Physics and Tutorials in Introductory Physics: Homework, preliminary edition, McDermott
Homework notebook
Scientific calculator
Blank 3.5" Mac Disk

OPTIONAL MATERIALS

Student Study Guide

COURSE GOALS

The goals of this course are to (1) build a strong and robust understanding of the fundamental concepts in the areas of mechanics and thermodynamics and to (2) develop the skill to explicitly express and use models (mathematical descriptions) to describe the physical world in these areas.

COURSE LEARNING MODE/STRATEGY

This class will utilize active and cooperative learning modes as opposed to the lecture mode found in many other classes. Much of the course materials are under development by your instructor and others, thus there may be mistakes or omissions -- please be patient and ask questions if you need clarification. The materials are based on the latest developments in physics education research. There will be many standard pre/post tests to measure your learning gains and gaps in your understanding.

In this course, extensive use of computer technology will also be employed -- particularly in the lab, to collect, display, and analyze data. Students will also gain experience with graphing, spreadsheets (MS Excel) and simulation/visualization software (Interactive Physics).

There will be an online web component for this course. In connection with this activity, you will be given an email account and will be able to do access the course web site and email on computers at the college or at home.

It is important to note that each student is responsible for preparing him/herself for each session. This means reading the background material (textbook, lab material) and doing any specific work such as problems or online work before each class. Because of the nature and demands of the schedule of this course, there will be no makeup opportunities for sessions missed or because of the lack of preparation for the class sessions.

LAB WORK

All students must pass the lab in order to receive any passing grade. In order to pass the lab, a student must do (and turn in) at least 80% of the experiments/activities and pass all lab tests. Lab work affecting the final grade because of borderline scores will be evaluated on factors such as completeness, neatness, correctness and performance on the lab test.

Do NOT share your work (data) with lab partners who are not present. Check with your instructor when the deadline is for the completion of the lab work-- it may be at the end of the class session, at the beginning of the next class session, or one week after the lab session. You MAY need to schedule time outside of class for lab work if you are not able to complete it within the session(s) scheduled. This includes homework associated with the labs.

HOMEWORK

The in-class homework problem assignments for each chapter will be listed on the problem sheets and are due according to the tentative schedule (subject to modifications during the semester). Students should indicate (circle and total) on the problem sheet those problems they have solved and have a written solution.

These problem sheets are to be turned in at the beginning of the class on the due date. Students may be penalized for not submitting them to the instructor at that time (e.g., late for class). Students will be selected to present solutions (or attempts at such) on the blackboard. This is one of the major activities of this course.

Homework Notebook

• Should contain correct(ed) solutions to all assigned problems-rewritten after class discussion.
• Problems should be in order in the notebook. If not, the location should be indicated in the correct place.
• Label each problem by number and chapter.
• Clearly state or paraphrase problem. A sketch or diagram with labels should be included also.
• Define symbols with values if known and list known and unknown quantities.
• Indicate approach and source of equations-- e.g., starting with Newton's 2nd law.
• Use words/sentences/phrases between steps indicating process-- e.g., solving for t.
• Use units in equations/steps or indicate why omitted-- e.g., clarity.
• Underline or circle answer to each part.
• Do not fall behind in keeping this notebook up-to-date.

FINAL GRADE based on four factors:

1. 5 major unit exams
2. comprehensive final exam (multiple components)
3. homework
4. lab work

The final grade will be determined from the average of the major unit exams, homework score, and the final exam weighted equivalent to two hour exams. The lowest major unit exam or homework score will not be included in the average. This average score will then be converted to a grade on the following scale:

Grade	Score
A	85-100
B	65-85
C	50-65
D	40-50

Scores between 84-87 (A or B), 64-67 (B or C), 49-52 (C or D), and 39-42 (D or F) are considered borderline and lab work will affect the final grade. Pretests will not count toward the final grade.

The homework score will be the product of the percentage of assigned homework worked on or before the due date and the evaluation of the homework notebook. The homework must be completely written up on the due date and must indicate any collaborative efforts (list of names). The evaluation of the homework notebook will be on the basis of completeness and neatness. For example, 80% of the problems worked by the due date and a grade of 90% on the notebook yields a score of 72% ( .8 x .9 = .72).

This course is considered a demanding course in terms of effort by an average good (A^-/B⁺) student. You should plan to schedule at least 14 hours per week for this course. Check with the Academic Skills Center (2nd floor of J) for extra help and tutoring. In addition, you will also need to plan to spend some time in the Physics Lab or the Academic Computer Center in E1001. This Center is open during the days, evenings, and Saturday mornings. Check the schedule on the door.
PLEASE LIMIT OR REDUCE YOUR OUTSIDE WORK SCHEDULE.

ATTENDANCE/WITHDRAWAL

Students are expected to attend all class sessions.

Students MAY be recommended for withdrawal if they have missed an excessive number of classes (more than 3). Students deciding to drop the class are expected to follow normal college procedures. Failure to attend is NOT proper procedure for dropping the class.

MAKE-UP POLICY

1. Homework (problems sheet AND work) must either be submitted in advance or other prior arrangements made to receive full/partial credit for it. If a student is sick or out-of-town, it will be accepted if it is mailed with a postmark on or before the date the assignment is due. All such homework must be submitted at the level of homework notebook in order to receive credit. Homework is not accepted late.

2. Tests sometimes may be made up at the discretion of the instructor providing prior or timely notice is provided. Phone messages are date and time stamped and may be received anytime. All such tests must be completed before tests are returned to the class.

3. Lab work is very difficult to make-up because of scheduling problems. Sometimes it can be arranged to be done in the afternoons depending on the nature of the lab and/or the schedule of the instructor or staff.

INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR

Students are expected to be responsible and to take credit for their own individual work. There are times when collaborative efforts in class are expected (lab) and there are times when it is OK (homework) -- but this should be work sharing not copying. Of course, there are times when collaboration is forbidden (tests or lab data when not present) -- if this occurs appropriate action will be taken depending on the nature and seriousness of this action. You are not allowed to copy software, only to save data files on disk.

No food or drink (except for water) is allowed in the classroom. No food or drink is allowed in the lab.

The college has a strong and firm policy against racial or sexual harassment. Such conduct will not be tolerated in this class, and any victims are encouraged to report any incidents. Learning is best achieved in an environment of mutual respect and trust.

WEB Online Course ACCESS

To connect to the web section of this course, launch some type of browser software such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer and connect to http://online.jjc.cc.il.us. You can also enter this via the college homepage http://www.jjc.cc.il.ushttp://www.jjc.cc.il.us and look for the link to Blackboard. You can do this from any college computer or from home using your internet provider such as America Online. Then log in and select this course from "My Blackboard." Your Blackboard login user name is your full JJC E-mail address. For example, if your user name was: rwennerd and you are a student, it is now: rwennerd@student.jjc.cc.il.us. Your password are the first 5 digits of your social security number with no space or -. For help with the Blackboards system, please contact R Scott Wennerdahl at 280-2275 or email rwennerd@jjc.cc.il.us.

SAFETY

Safety should be practiced by students in all aspects of this course. There are some rules (such as no eating or drinking in class/lab) but in general, common sense should be used as a guide. MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for all chemicals are available in the campus police office for students. In physics, it is unusual to use any chemicals that are hazardous. Special instructions will be given in the lab if needed. If in doubt, ask your instructor. Safety violations are taken seriously and everyone should be aware that appropriate action will be taken if necessary.

CAVEAT

The course schedule and the above information is subject to adjustment. Adequate notification of any changes will be announced and posted in class. Study Hints to work smarter
1. Set Priorities
2. No intrusions on study. Study is or should be your main focus.
3. Study anywhere -- or everywhere
4. Stick with consistent time slot for study -- schedule and maintain it
5. Get organized.
6. Do more than you are asked -- more problems for example.
7. Schedule your time -- break up major projects.
8. Take good notes and use them.
9. Don't fall behind on your homework notebook or lab work and remember neatness counts!
10. Speak up -- ask questions when you don't understand or when you think you do.
11. Study together -- discuss, don't copy.
12. Test yourself -- make up possible test questions and answer them.

1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
   1. Standards of Length, mass, and time
   2. Uncertainty and Significant Figures
   3. Dimensional Analysis
   4. Measurements and Units

   
   

2. VECTORS
   1. Coordinate Systems and Reference Frames
      1. origin
      2. set of axes
      3. point labeling rules
      4. rectangular
      5. polar
   2. Vectors and Scalars
      1. scalar definition
      2. vector definition
   3. Some Properties of Vectors
      1. equality of two vectors
      2. addition
      3. resultant vector
      4. commutative law of addition
      5. associative law of addition
      6. negative of a vector
      7. subtraction of vectors
      8. vector components
      9. unit vector notation
   4. Vector Addition Methods
      1. geometric and graphical methods
      2. adding three or more vectors
      3. algebraic/component method
   5. Multiplication
      1. scalar-vector
      2. vector-vector
         1. dot product
         2. cross product

   
   

3. MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION
   1. Position/Displacement
      1. Motion diagrams
      2. Motion graphs
   2. Velocity
      1. average velocity
      2. instantaneous velocity
      3. derivative
   3. Acceleration
      1. average acceleration
      2. instantaneous acceleration
   4. One-dimensional Motion with Constant Acceleration
      1. velocity graphs/equations as a function of time
      2. displacement graphs/equations as a function of time
      3. velocity as a function of displacement
   5. Freely Falling Bodies
      1. acceleration due to gravity
      2. free fall motion
      3. kinematic equations

   
   

4. MOTION IN TWO DIMENSIONS
   1. Kinematic Vectors in Two Dimensions
      1. displacement vector
      2. average velocity
      3. instantaneous velocity
      4. average acceleration
      5. instantaneous acceleration
   2. Motion in Two Dimensions with Constant Acceleration
      1. velocity vector as a function of time
      2. position vector as a function of time
   3. Projectile Motion
      1. definition
      2. trajectory of a projectile
      3. equations of motion
      4. height of projectile
      5. range of projectile
      6. time of flight
   4. Tangential and Radial Acceleration in Curvilinear Motion
      1. tangential acceleration
      2. centripetal acceleration
      3. total acceleration
   5. Relative Motion
      1. relative position
      2. relative velocity
      3. relative acceleration

   
   

5. THE LAWS OF MOTION
   1. The Concept of Force
      1. definition
      2. types
      3. fundamental forces in nature
   2. Newton's First Law
   3. Inertial Mass
      1. inertia
      2. mass
      3. weight
   4. Newton's Second Law
      1. restricted form
      2. momentum
      3. unrestricted form
   5. Units of Force and Mass
      1. Newton
      2. dyne
      3. pound/slug
   6. Weight
   7. Newton's Third Law
   8. Applications of Newton's Laws
      1. normal force
      2. tension
      3. free-body diagrams
   9. Resistive Forces of Friction
      1. sliding
         1. static
         2. kinetic
      2. rolling
      3. fluid
         1. terminal velocity
         2. drag force proportional to the velocity
         3. drag force proportional to the velocity squared
   10. Newton's Universal Law of Gravity
   11. Circular Motion
       1. uniform circular motion
          1. magnitude
          2. direction
       2. non-uniform circular motion

   
   

6. WORK
   1. Work Done by a Constant Force
      1. work done by a sliding force
      2. work done when F is along s
      3. work is a scalar quantity
   2. Work Done by a Varying one-dimensional Force
      1. area under the curve
      2. integral of single variable
   3. Work Done by a Varying Force-General Line Integral
   4. Work Done by a Spring
      1. spring force
      2. work done by a spring force
   5. Work and Kinetic Energy
      1. kinetic energy
      2. work-energy theorem
      3. work-energy theorem bar graphs
   6. Power
      1. average power
      2. instantaneous power
      3. units

   
   

7. ENERGY
   1. Conservative Forces
      1. definition
      2. examples
   2. Non-conservative Forces
      1. definition
      2. examples
   3. Potential Energy
      1. definition
         1. one dimensional case
         2. general case-line integral
      2. change in potential energy
      3. zero point
      4. relationship with conservative forces
         1. one dimensional case
         2. general case-gradient
      5. examples
         1. gravitational potential energy
         2. elastic spring potential energy
   4. Mechanical Energy
      1. definition
      2. conservation of mechanical energy
      3. examples
   5. Work Done by Non Conservative Forces
   6. Relationship between Conservative Forces and Potential Energy
   7. Potential Energy Diagrams
      1. stable equilibrium
      2. nstable equilibrium
      3. neutral equilibrium
   8. General Conservation of Energy and energy bar graphs

   
   

8. LINEAR MOMENTUM AND COLLISIONS
   1. Linear Momentum and Impulse
      1. linear momentum of a particle
      2. impulse of a force
      3. impulse-momentum theorem
      4. impulse approximation
   2. Conservation of Linear Momentum
      1. condition
      2. examples
   3. Collisions
      1. types
         1. inelastic collision
         2. elastic collision
      2. properties
   4. One-Dimensional Collisions
      1. coefficient of resitution
      2. equations relating initial and final velocities
   5. Two-Dimensional Collisions
   6. Motion of a System of Particles
      1. definition of the center of mass
      2. center of mass for a discrete system of particles
      3. center of mass for a continuous mass system
      4. velocity of the center of mass of a system of particles
      5. total linear momentum of a system of particles
      6. acceleration of the center of mass of a system of particles
      7. Newton's second law for a system of particles

   
   

9. ROTATION OF A RIGID BODY ABOUT A FIXED AXIS
   1. Rotational Kinematics
      1. angular position
      2. radian
      3. average angular velocity
      4. instantaneous angular velocity
      5. average angular acceleration
      6. instantaneous angular acceleration
   2. Rotational Kinematical Equations
   3. Relationships between Angular and Linear Quantities
      1. linear and angular speed
      2. linear and angular acceleration
      3. radial acceleration
      4. magnitude of total acceleration
   4. Rotational Kinetic Energy
      1. moment of inertia
      2. kinetic energy of a rotating rigid body
   5. Calculation of Moments of Inertia for Rigid Bodies
      1. moment of inertia for a rigid body
      2. parallel axis theorem
      3. plane figure theorem
      4. combination
   6. Torque
      1. definition
      2. moment/lever arm
      3. torque and angular acceleration
   7. Work and Energy in Rotational Motion
      1. power delivered to a rigid body
      2. work-energy theorem for rotational motion

   
   

10. ANGULAR MOMENTUM
    1. The Vector Product and Torque
       1. definition of torque
       2. properties of the vector product
       3. cross products of unit vectors
    2. Angular Momentum
       1. definition of a particle
       2. definition of a system of particles
    3. Angular Momentum and Torque
    4. Conservation of Angular Momentum
    5. The Motion of Gyroscopes and Tops
    6. Rolling Motion of a Rigid Body
       1. rotational kinetic energy of a rolling body
       2. translational kinetic energy of a rolling body
       3. total kinetic energy of a rolling body
    7. Angular Momentum as a Fundamental Quantity

    
    

11. STATIC EQUILIBRIUM OF A RIGID BODY
    1. The Conditions of Equilibrium of a Rigid Body
       1. equivalent forces
       2. coupling
       3. conditions for equilibrium
    2. The Center of Gravity
    3. Example of Rigid Bodies in Static Equilibrium
       1. procedure of analyzing a body in equilibrium
       2. examples

    
    

12. OSCILLATORY MOTION
    1. Simple Harmonic Motion
       1. displacement versus time
       2. period
       3. frequency
       4. angular frequency
       5. velocity in simple harmonic motion
       6. maximum values of acceleration and velocity
       7. phase angle and amplitude
       8. properties of simple harmonic motion
    2. Mass Attached to a Spring
       1. Linear restoring force
       2. proportionality of acceleration to displacement
       3. equation of motion for a mass spring system
       4. period and frequency for a mass spring system
    3. Energy of the Simple Harmonic Oscillator
       1. kinetic energy
       2. potential energy
       3. total energy
       4. velocity as a function of position
    4. The Pendulum
       1. equation of motion for simple pendulum
       2. angular frequency of motion
       3. period of motion
    5. Damped Oscillations
    6. Forced Oscillations

    
    

13. FLUID MECHANICS (time permitting)
    1. Pressure
    2. Variation of Pressure with Depth
    3. Pressure Measurements
    4. Buoyant Forces and Archimedes' Principle
    5. Fluid Dynamics
    6. Streamlines and the Equation of Continuity
    7. Bernoulli's Equation

    
    

14. TEMPERATURE AND THERMAL EXPANSION
    1. Temperature
       1. thermal Contact
       2. thermal equilibrium
       3. Zeroeth Law of Thermodynamics
    2. Thermometers and Thermometric Properties
    3. The Constant Volume Gas Thermomter
       1. Temperature Scales
       2. Celsius scale
       3. Kelvin scale
       4. Fahrenheit scale
       5. Rankin scale
       6. triple point of water
    4. Thermal Expansion of Solids and Liquids
       1. Linear Expansion
       2. Volume Expansion
       3. Differential Rate of Expansion
    5. Ideal Gas Law

    
    

15. HEAT AND THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
    1. Heat and Thermal Energy
       1. heat flow
       2. units
       3. mechanical equivalent of heat
    2. Heat Capacity and Specific Heat
       1. Specific heat
       2. heat capacity
       3. molar heat capacity
    3. Latent Heat and Phase Change
       1. fusion
       2. vaporization
    4. Heat Transfer
       1. conduction
       2. convection
       3. radiation
    5. Work and Heat in Thermodynamic Processes
       1. state of a system
       2. work done by gas
       3. work and path between final and initial states
       4. heat and path between final and initial states
    6. First Law of Thermodynamics
       1. internal energy
       2. isolated system
       3. cyclic process
    7. Applications of the First Law of Thermodynamics
       1. adiabatic process
       2. isobaric process
       3. constant process
       4. isothermal process

    
    

16. THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES
    1. Molecular Model for the Pressure of an Ideal Gas
       1. assumptions of molecular model
       2. pressure and molecular speed
       3. pressure and molecular kinetic energy
       4. molecular interpretation of temperature
    2. Heat Capacity of an Ideal Gas
       1. total internal energy of a monatomic gas
       2. constant volume/pressure heat capacity
       3. heat capacity ratio
    3. Adiabatic Process for an Ideal Gas
       1. definition
       2. process relationship
    4. The Equipartition of Energy
    5. Distribution of Molecular Speeds
       1. RMS speed
       2. average speed
       3. most probable speed

    
    

17. THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
    1. Heat engines and Heat Pumps - Refrigeration
       1. heat engine
       2. thermal efficiency
       3. coefficient of performance
       4. Second Law of Thermodynamics
    2. Processes
       1. irreversible process
       2. reversible process
    3. The Carnot Engine
       1. Carnot cycle
       2. Carnot cycle efficiency
       3. ratio of heats
    4. The absolute temperature Scale
    5. Entropy
       1. definition
       2. change entropy for a finite process
       3. change entropy for a Carnot cycle
    6. Entropy Changes in Irreversible Processes
       1. heat conduction
       2. change of state
       3. entropy of mixing

Dr. Curtis Hieggelke (hay-gull-key)
Office: E2012
Phone: 815 - 280 - 2371
Office Hours: 9 am MWF and 1 pm TR
email: curth@jjc.cc.il.us

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Physics: For Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 4th Ed, Serway
Tutorials in Introductory Physics and Tutorials in Introductory Physics:Homework, preliminary edition, McDermott
Bound cross-hatch paper Lab book
Homework notebook
Scientific calculator
3.5" Mac Disk

OPTIONAL MATERIALS

Student Study Guide

COURSE GOALS

The goals of this course are to (1) build an excellent understanding of the fundamental concepts in the areas of electricity, magnetism, waves, and optics and to (2) develop the skill to explicitly express and use models (mathematical descriptions) to describe the physical world in these areas.

COURSE LEARNING MODE/STRATEGY

This class will utilize an active learning mode as was used in Physics 201 as opposed to the lecture mode found in many other classes. In addition, there will be more cooperative collaborative activities involving teams. Much of the course materials are under development by your instructor and others, thus there may be mistakes or omissions -- be patient and ask questions if you need clarification.

There will be pre/post tests to measure your learning gains and gaps in your understanding. There may also be videotaped interviews for research in physics education.

There will be an online web component for this course. In connection with this activity, you will be given an email account and will be able to do access the course web site and email on computers at the college or at home.

It is important to note that each student is responsible for preparing him/herself for each session. This means reading the background material (textbook, ALPS, CASTLE material) and doing any specific work such as problems or ALPS or TIPERs before each class. Because of the nature and demands of the schedule of this course, there will be no makeup for sessions missed or because of the lack of preparation for the class sessions.

LAB WORK

All students must pass the lab in order to receive any passing grade. In order to pass the lab, a student must do at least 80% of the experiments and pass all lab tests. Lab work affecting the final grade because of borderline scores will be evaluated on factors such as completeness, neatness, and correctness. Check with your instructor when the deadline is for completion of the lab work-it may be at the end of the class session, at the beginning of the next class session, or one week after the lab session. You MAY need to schedule time outside of class for lab work if you are not able to complete it within the session(s) scheduled. This includes homework associated with the labs.

SAFETY

Students in all aspects of this course should practice safety. There are some rules (such as no eating or drinking in class/lab) but in general, common sense should be used as a guide. If in doubt, ask your instructor. Safety violations are taken seriously and everyone should be aware that appropriate action would be taken if necessary.

HOMEWORK NOTEBOOK

• Should contain correct (ed) solutions to all assigned problems-rewritten after class discussion.
• Problems should be in order in the notebook. If not, the location should be indicated in the correct place.
• Label each problem by number and chapter.
• Clearly state or paraphrase problem. A sketch or diagram with labels should be included also.
• Define symbols with values if known and list known and unknown quantities.
• Indicate approach and source of equations-- e.g., starting with Newton's 2nd law.
• Use words/sentences/phrases between steps indicating process-- e.g., solving for t.
• Use units in equations/steps or indicate why omitted-- e.g., clarity.
• Underline or circle answer to each part.
• Do not fall behind in keeping this notebook up-to-date.

FINAL GRADE based on four factors:

1. 5 major unit exams
2. Comprehensive final exam (multiple components)
3. Homework
4. Lab work

The final grade will be determined from the average of the unit exams, homework score, and the final exam weighted equivalent to two unit exams. Either the lowest unit exam or the homework will not be included in the average. This average score will then be converted to a grade on the following scale:

Grade	Score
A	85-100
B	65-85
C	50-65
D	40-50

Scores between 84-87 (A or B), 64-67 (B or C), 49-52 (C or D), and 39-42 (D or F) are considered borderline and lab work will affect the final grade. Pretests will not count toward the final grade.

The homework score will be the product of the percentage of assigned homework worked on or before the due date and the evaluation of the homework notebook. The evaluation of the homework notebook will be on the basis of completeness and neatness. For example, 80% of the problems worked by the due date and a grade of 90% on the notebook yields a score of 72% ( .8 x .9 = .72).

The homework must be written up and the corresponding problem sheet turned in on the due date at the START of the class. If you are late to class, you probably will be penalized if it is accepted at all. You must indicate any collaborative efforts (list of names) on your homework.

MAKE-UP POLICY