SJP Summer 05 FTEP project page
When teaching, particularly in introductory level courses, it is well established that "interactive engagement" techniques are effective and indeed essential to improve student learning. For the more traditional introductory classes, a broad spectrum of materials, curricula, and techniques already exist, built on a framework of physics education research results: e.g. student interviews and validated assessment tools. In other less conventional courses, the research base can be much more sparce, and materials and assessment tools are harder to find. Without such materials, the best one can do is rely on established but broader principles of student learning to begin engaging the students, and start collecting student data. During the summer of 2005, the CU Faculty Teaching Excellence Program (FTEP) sponsored a summer project which represents some first steps in developing and pulling together materials and assessments for two such classes: Phys 3070, Energy and the Environment, and Phys 1240, Sound and Music.