Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado at Boulder has long been a pioneer in using technology to help teach science.
His undergraduate class on 聯The Physics of Everyday Life聰 uses numerous technical innovations including infrared transmitter 聯clickers聰 that instantly show how well students are understanding the material, extensive use of online interactive simulations and in-class experiments with data taken and displayed to the students in real time.
聯There are tremendous opportunities for uses of technology in science education, both in new ways to present science that is more engaging to students, and that provides an efficient way to learn so much more about what students are learning or not learning,聰 he said. 聯Technology can make education more effective and more efficient at the same time.聰
In 1998, Wieman was among several CU-Boulder faculty members who created a Web site allowing users to conduct more than 65 聯virtual experiments聰 on their computer screens. The award-winning site, called Physics 2000, is built around topics of general interest, including X-rays, microwave ovens and CT scans.
In 2002, Wieman launched the Physics Education Technology Project with $250,000 of his Nobel Prize money in cooperation with the Kavli Institute of Oxnard, Calif., the National Science Foundation and CU-Boulder. The use of virtual physics experiments created through PhET has improved learning in his undergraduate class, he said.
聯Simulations provide information in a way that no other method of presentation can do. It has the potential to transform how people learn science.聰
Each student in Wieman聮s 聯The Physics of Everyday Life聰 class uses an infrared transmitter 聯clicker聰 -- similar to a TV remote control -- to send 聯votes聰 to a computer, where they are tabulated and projected for the entire class on a screen.
Each clicker is registered to a student and has an individual and identifiable signal. The system allows for active participation by all students and provides immediate feedback to the instructor and the students about any confusion or misunderstandings in the material being presented.
聯Beginning students just don聮t think like expert scientists,聰 he said. 聯Often, teachers who are experts in a subject misinterpret how students respond. The same words often mean something very different to students than they do to the faculty. I聮ve learned that when something makes sense to me one way, that that doesn聮t mean at all that that is the right way to present it to the students because they are beginning students.聰
Clickers help avoid this problem by providing immediate feedback on how much the class as a whole -- or an individual student -- is understanding. The use of clickers by CU-Boulder faculty has grown from seven in 2002 to about 40 this year, said Michael Dubson, a senior physics instructor and campus leader in the use of clickers.
Assigning students to sit in permanent groups of three or four throughout the semester and then using clickers to 聯vote聰 as a group on the predicted outcome of experiments has generated much more student discussion and involvement, Wieman said. More students are asking and responding to questions in class, and test scores show students are learning more.
Wieman also uses the Web and e-mail extensively to enhance communication. All course materials and other class information is posted on a course Web site that students regularly consult, thereby avoiding the need to use valuable class time to cover routine information. He also has students start each week by sending questions they have about the course material and any comments on aspects of the class they find helpful or unhelpful.
聯This feedback lets me do a much better job of adjusting the class during the week to target particular student difficulties,聰 he said. Wieman also uses brief online surveys extensively to gauge students聮 backgrounds, interests and attitudes about learning physics.
聯Research has shown that, whether we like it or not, these sorts of student beliefs have a big impact on student learning and their success in college,聰 he said. 聯So to teach well, you have to pay attention to them.聰
A major project of Wieman聮s education research group has been the development of a survey that accurately measures student beliefs, studying how these beliefs impact student learning and retention, and how different teaching practices impact the various student beliefs in desirable or undesirable ways. This survey is now being used extensively in the physics and chemistry departments at CU-Boulder.
More information on PhET can be found at and Physics 2000 is located at . More information on the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey, or CLASS, can be found at .
Information on clickers and their use is at , with a section at the end specifically on how they are used in Wieman聮s classes.
For more information see the News Center Special Report: 2004 U.S. Professor of the Year