It is often assumed that engaging in a one-on-one dialogue with a tutor is more effective than listening to a lecture or reading a text. Although earlier experiments have not always supported this hypothesis, this may be due in part to allowing the tutors to cover different content than the noninteractive instruction. In 7 experiments, we tested…

Describes and illustrates the tutorial and homework exercise lessons, student routing, course organization, administration, and evaluation of a PLATO computer-based course in classical mechanics. An appendix lists 41 lessons developed for the course. (CMV)

Describes a series of computer tutorial programs which are intended to help college students in introductory physics courses. Information about these programs, which are either calculus or algebra-trig based, is presented. (HM)

Computer tutorial review lessons for a one-quarter lecture course in introductory college physics have been developed and used by approximately 500 students, on a voluntary basis, over a period of several years. The investigation reported here shows that the exam grades of students who used the computer materials are significantly higher (.01…

This evaluative report summarizes the objectives, costs, and outcomes of a project undertaken by South Oklahoma City Junior College to develop 50 computer-based tutorial lessons to assist students in mastering the requirements of a competency-based physics course. A rationale for the project is presented first, based on the inordinate amount of…

A computer-assisted instructional program used at the United States Naval Academy to provide students in introductory physics with practice in problem-solving is described. The author first discusses the rationale for using a time-shared, tutorial approach and presents the steps involved in building a tutorial problem drill. Following this, the…

Presents the results of introducing cooperative learning tutorials into large first-year physics classes at the University of Sydney. Finds that students attending more than half the total number of tutorials scored significantly better than those attending less than half. Student reaction to the tutorials was generally positive. Contains 31…

This paper reports on the results of substituting one-hour active-engagement tutorials using microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) equipment for traditional problem-solving recitations in introductory calculus-based mechanics classes for engineering students at the University of Maryland. The results of two specific tutorials--one on the concept of…

This paper evaluates the strengths and limitations of a computer tutor designed to help students understand physics concepts. The tutor uses a teaching strategy called "bridging analogies" that previous research has demonstrated to be successful in one-to-one tutoring. The strategy is designed to remedy misconceptions by appealing to existing…

Describes and compares five different uses of computers in physics education: tutorial, demonstrations, modelling toolkit, laboratory aid, and student as programer. Provides examples of computer uses and offers perspectives on developing further programs. (ML)

An autonomous multimedia computer-assisted instruction (CAI) general-education physics course was developed and evaluated at Florida State University (FSU). Based on a one-term conventional lecture course which had been given successfully at FSU for several years, the CAI course made use of an IBM 1500 instructional system to guide the student…