Pal Fekete, Brain McInnes, Paul Walker
The University of Sydney
Physical Optics, Physics Bldg A28, University of Sydney, 2006
fekete@physics.usyd.edu.au
(02) 351 3941 (ph), (02) 692 0923 (fax)
During 1995 Pal Fekete was employed 3 days per week as part of a CAUT grant to develop a collection of resources, such as demonstrations and interactive questions, that could be used in a lecture course on Thermal Physics. The result of this work is a database of information accessible via the web* where the user may search for particular demonstrations or questions, or search via a keyword. The information provided on this database is intended to help the lecturer make their lecture (or tutorial) more interactive with the students, thereby hopefully developing deeper learning in the students.
This talk will describe the database of resources and discuss how these resources may be used in your own lectures. An evaluation of the lecture course in Thermal Physics given in Semester 2 1995 will be given outlining some of the pitfalls that may occur together with a discussion on the change of approach to teaching desirable to make the resources as effective as possible.
Although this talk will centre on Thermal Physics the implications of this work extend to ALL disciplines in Physics and also the other Sciences including Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and so on.
* http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/teach/thermal/