Description

For use as a supplemental text for conceptual recitation/tutorial sections of introductory undergraduate physics courses.

 

Tutorials in Introductory Physics present a series of physics tutorials designed by a leading physics education research group.  Emphasizing the development of concepts and scientific reasoning skills, the tutorials focus on the specific conceptual and reasoning difficulties that students tend to encounter.

Features

• Specifically address important concepts that are difficult for most students-These have been identified through two decades of research and teaching experience.

• Tutorials have been extensively tested with students-They are continually modified based on the results of post-tests of student learning.

• Standard instruction supplement-Without requiring major changes to the course structure. The tutorial can be used with any of the major introductory physics texts.

• Collaborative learning-Intended to be used in a small-group environment of three to four students.

• Each topic includes a sequence of worksheets and assignments:

  • Pretests-Short, free-response qualitative questions that test understanding of basic physics concepts. These are usually administered after material has been covered in lecture and prior to the tutorial.

  • Tutorial worksheets-Consist of carefully designed questions that address the specific areas identified as difficult and guide students through the reasoning needed to develop a sound qualitative understanding of important concepts.

  • Tutorial homework-Reinforces and extends what has been learned in the tutorial.

  • Examinations-Sample exam questions are provided in the instructor's guide.

• Packaged components: the Tutorials & the Homework Manual-NOT bound together so that students don't have to carry both. However, they are only available for sale shrinkwrapped together.

Table of Contents

I. MECHANICS.

Kinematics.

Velocity. Representations of Motion. Acceleration in One Dimension. Motion in Two Dimensions. Relative Motion.

Newton's Law.

Forces. Newton's Second and Third Laws. Tension.

Energy and Momentum.

Work and the Work-Energy Theorem. Changes in Energy and Momentum. Conservation of Momentum in One Dimension. Conservation of Momentum in Two Dimensions.

Rotation.

Rotational Motion. Dynamics of Rigid Bodies. Equilibrium of Rigid Bodies.

II. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM.

Electrostatics.

Charge. Electric Field and Flux. Gauss' Law. Electric Potential Difference. Capacitance.

Electric Circuits.

A Model for Circuits Part 1: Current and Resistance. A Model for Circuits Part 2: Potential Difference. RC Circuits.

Magnetism.

Magnets and Magnetic Fields. Magnetic Interactions.

Electromagnetism.

Lenz' Law. Faraday's Law and Applications.

III. WAVES.

Waves.

Superposition and Reflection of Pulses. Reflection and Transmission. Propagation and Refraction of Periodic Waves. Electromagnetic Waves.

IV. OPTICS.

Geometrical Optics.

Light and Shadow. Plane Mirrors. Curved Mirrors and Multiple Reflections. Interpretation of Ray Diagrams. Convex Lenses. Magnification.

Physical Optics.

Two-Source Interference. Wave Properties of Light. Multiple-Slit Interference. A Model for Single-Slit Diffraction. Combined Interference and Diffraction. Thin-Filmed Interference. Polarization.

V. SELECTED TOPICS.

Hydrostatics.

Pressure in a Liquid. Buoyancy.

Thermodynamics.

Ideal Gas Law. First Law of Thermodynamics.

Modern Physics.

Wave Properties of Matter. Photoelectric Effect.

Back Cover

Tutorials in Introductory Physics is based on extensive teaching experience and more than twenty years of research in which the Physics Education Group has sought to identify and address common difficulties that students encounter in studying physics. Development of the tutorials was motivated by the conviction that in order to develop a functional understanding of the material students need more assistance than they can obtain through listening to lectures, reading the textbook, and solving standard quantitative problems. Tutorials in Introductory Physics is intended to supplement these traditional forms of instruction by providing a structure that promotes the active mental engagement of students in the process of learning physics. The materials are equally appropriate for algebra-based and calculus-based courses. Working together in small collaborative groups, students help one another go through the steps in reasoning necessary for the construction and application of important concepts and principles. The tutorials have been rigorously class-tested at the University of Washington, at other research universities, and at two-year and four-year colleges.

This First Edition of Tutorials in Introductory Physics builds upon the Preliminary Edition. In addition to new and revised tutorials on mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and waves and optics, the First Edition also includes tutorials on selected topics from hydrostatics, thermodynamics, and modern physics. In all cases,, a complete tutorial sequence consists of a pretest, worksheet, homework assignment, and examination questions that serve as cost-tests. The student texts consist of the tutorial worksheets and homework assignments. Pretests are included in the Instructors Guides: For these instructional materials to be most effective, it is important that course examinations include qualitative questions that emphasize the concepts and reasoning skills developed in the tutorials.