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At the forefront of physics courseware is a program called Photoelectric Tutor-the first package ever to address the photoelectric effect and its circuitry details. Students are asked to draw I-V graphs for various experimental situations. The computer then interprets the graphs and responds to incorrect answers with a series of questions based directly on the student's drawings and statements. In this way, a unique dialog is established as the computer tutor helps the student work towards the correct solution. The program consists of three main parts: graphing I vs. V, qualitative questions, and free exploration. Each section is addressed thoroughly in the user's manual. Students can expect to spend approximately 30 to 45 minutes completing the tutorial. A special feature records the entire dialog between the computer and the student, including the graphs and written interaction. A simple data read-back program enables the instructor to reproduce the interchange and monitor student progress. Intended primarily as a review tool, this interactive tutorial is also suitable for homework assignments. Supplemental exercises are available in the appendix. The development of Photoelectric Tutor was based upon the widely regarded educational research of the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. The specific research for this tutorial was documented in the American Journal of Physics 64, 1370-1379 (1996). 37 pp. System Requirements:
The Macintosh version requires a Macintosh Plus computer or later running system software version 6.0 or higher.
© 1998 by Physics Academic Software Publishing Organization. All rights reserved. |
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