WebPhysics: Delivering curricular material using the World Wide Web

The advent of interactive World Wide Web (WWW) networking with the HyperText Transmission Protocol (HTTP) offers an opportunity to develop and publish curricular material which does not tie up class time, is available around the clock, and fosters collaborative exploratory learning experiences across college boundaries. If it finds acceptance by students and faculty, it will constitute a new pedagogical tool. WebPhysics is a collaborative effort that was established in 1995 to promote the design, distribution, testing and sharing of this type of curricular material. Samples of material currently available including hypertext lessons, video clips, modeling software, on-line tests, quizzes and enrichment will be presented. In addition, sample lessons from the Cockpit Physics project from the United States Air Force Academy, a web-based set of thirty-two introductory physics lessons written expressly to take advantage of the WWW paradigm, are presented. Preliminary student reaction to this technology, includ...