About the Course

The Hands-On / Virtual Physics Course Model

  • The emphasis is on learning science by doing science
  • Individuals or teams of teachers work on their own schedule at their own site through each course
  • The course CD ROM guides teachers through inquiry activities using materials from the science kit
  • The CD also provides content information
  • Participants communicate in each chapter with the instructor via email to make sense of the activities, the science behind the activities, and to correctly apply the content to everyday situations. 

Course content by number of years in the project

Year 1: Temperature, Heat and Energy  

Year 2: Teaching and Learning with Technology I

Year 3: Force, Motion and Energy    

Year 4: Teaching and Learning with Technology II

Course structure
Each course has about 10 chapters.  Each chapter takes 3-4 hours of work. 

Each chapter follows the same format:    

  • Explore An example
  • In-depth activity An example
  • More in-depth activities
  • Explanation of the science content behind the activities An example
  • Chapter assessment / email discussion
  • ‘Why study this?’  -- How the chapter content matter relates to everyday life An example

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