Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package [Paperback]

Lillian C. McDermott (Author), Peter S. Shaffer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130970697 | ISBN-13: 978-0130970695 | Publication Date: August 30, 2001 | Edition: 1

This landmark book presents 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 common conceptual and reasoning difficulties. The tutorials cover a range of topics in Mechanics, E & M, and Waves & Optics.

Editorial Reviews

From the 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.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Tutorials in Introductory Physics is a set of instructional materials intended to supplement the lectures and textbook of a standard introductory physics course. The emphasis in the tutorials is on the development of important physical concepts and scientific reasoning skills, not on solving the standard quantitative problems found in traditional textbooks.

There is increasing evidence that after instruction in a typical course, many students are unable to apply the physics formalism that they have studied to situations that they have not expressly memorized. In order for meaningful learning to occur, students need more assistance than they can obtain through listening to lectures, reading the textbook, and solving standard quantitative problems. It can be difficult for students who are studying physics for the first time to recognize what they do and do not understand and to learn to ask themselves the types of questions necessary to come to a functional understanding of the material. Tutorials in Introductory Physics provides a structure that promotes the active mental engagement of students in the process of learning physics. Questions in the tutorials guide students through the reasoning necessary to construct concepts and to apply them in real-world situations. The tutorials also provide practice in interpreting various representations (e.g., verbal descriptions, diagrams, graphs, and formulas) and in translating back and forth between them. For the most part, the tutorials are intended to be used after concepts have been introduced in the lectures and the laboratory, although most can serve to introduce the topic as well.

The tutorials comprise an integrated system of pretests, worksheets, homework assignments, and post-tests. The tutorial sequence begins with a pretest. These are usually on material already presented in lecture or textbook but not yet covered in tutorial. The pretests help students identify what they do and not understand about the material and what they are expected to learn in the upcoming tutorial. They also inform the instructors about the level of student understanding. The worksheets, which consist of carefully sequenced tasks and questions, provide the structure for the tutorial sessions. Students work together in small groups, constructing answers for themselves through discussions with one another and with the tutorial instructors. The tutorial instructors do not lecture but ask questions designed to help students find their own answers. The tutorial homework reinforces and extends what is covered in the worksheets. For the tutorials to be most effective, it is important that course examinations include questions that emphasize the concepts and reasoning skills developed in the tutorials.

The tutorials are primarily designed for a small class setting but have proved to be adaptable to other instructional environments. The curriculum has been shown to be effective for students in regular and honors sections of calculus-based and algebra-based physics.

The tutorials have been developed through an iterative cycle of: research on the learning and teaching of physics, design of curriculum based on this research, and assessment through rigorous pretesting and post-testing in the classroom. Tutorials in Introductory Physics has been developed and tested at the University of Washington and pilot-tested at other colleges and universities. Comments on the First Edition

Ongoing research has led to modifications to the tutorials and associated homework in the Preliminary Edition of Tutorials in Introductory Physics. The First Edition incorporates these changes and also includes several new tutorials on topics covered in the Preliminary Edition. In addition, the First Edition contains a new section with tutorials on topics in hydrostatics, thermal physics, and modern physics.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 445 pages
• Publisher: Benjamin Cummings; 1 edition (August 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130970697
• ISBN-13: 978-0130970695
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Science & Math > Science for Kids

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars extremely helpful learning tool, July 15, 2006

By 

Risa (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package (Paperback)

I am a student at the University of Washington, where the tutorial books were developed. Most students naturally have common-sense misconceptions or difficulties in certain areas of introductory physics and the tutorial exercises are specifically designed to focus on these problem areas. They often guide the student by starting out with a simple physical situation and asking the student to predict what will happen, which exposes what biases/beliefs the student already holds. Then, the rest of the tutorial reveals whether these beliefs are mistaken or accurate and why. The tutorial homework provides an opportunity to practice what was learned in the tutorial class-work and solidifies the student's understanding of the material.

The questions are extremely clear, well-written, and unambiguous, in large part because the Physics Education Group constantly revises the tutorials based on how the students respond. They are usually simple and relatively easy if you know what you are doing; the goal of the tutorials is not to be "busy work" but to make sure students truly understand the topic. They are mostly conceptual and qualitative rather than calculation-driven.

Another reviewer said that the tutorials were extremely challenging because there was no textbook to refer to. The thing is, the tutorials aren't meant to stand alone. At the UW, there are three components to the introductory physics courses: lecture, lab, and tutorial. Lecture involves a heavy, "official" physics textbook. Students are supposed to learn the basic material from the textbook, and use the tutorials as a supplementary way to explore the topics and to make sure they really understand the "dry" reading in the textbook. The tutorial books are also definitely not supposed to guide labs, so I'm not surprised the reviewer found them hard to use.

Another important component of tutorials is that the class has about 24 students working in groups of 4. Then there are 2 tutorial instructors per class specifically trained in guiding the students through the work. They are an integral part of the tutorial system, because they are really familiar with the tutorial and are able to talk you through any issue you don't understand. They also help you see the significance of the tutorial. Tutorial class-work isn't meant to be solitary, with one student just trying to flounder their way through the stuff.

In all, the tutorial books are excellent, but they have to be used in the right context. They are really meant to be a supplementary part of the educational process, not a substitute for the textbook. Also, I doubt the books would be as effective without the class structure/tutorial instructors they are used with; they have to be fully integrated into the curriculum for their potential to be realized.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, even for review, October 21, 2003

By 

Keetchaz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package (Paperback)

I used this book as a junior-year physics major, while I coached (kinda like TA'd) for the introductory calculus-based mechanics course. Although I'd taken this course myself two years before, I found this book enormously helpful for review, and the students also seemed to learn very well from it, too. It doesn't give you or ask for the answers right away, but leads you through your own intuition to find the correct answer as well as the correct ways of thinking. I wish they had similar books for more advanced courses like quantum mechanics!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Learning Tool, December 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package (Paperback)

These books are a GREAT tool for any physics teacher! It is true that they are very challenging, and sometimes not very pleasurable for the students as they are working through the tutorials, but the reward in the end IS worth it! It is very apparent that the physics education research team at UW spent many semesters putting together these sets of tutorials. I have seen my students retain earlier concepts much better after using the tutorials. This is a must have in any college physics class.
Just a warning... these tutorials are ment to be performed in small groups, and typically need a lot of guidence from an instructor or a lab aid. In a class of 24 studnets, there should be at least 2 "instructors" or an instructor or and a helper that can guide groups through the process.