ISLE is a comprehensive learning system for introductory physics courses. ISLE helps an instructor help students reach the following goals.

• Students actively participate in creating their own understanding of physics.
• Students practice the processes of scientific investigation while learning physics.
• Students build an organized knowledge structure that helps them see the big picture of physics and helps them access knowledge in a more expert-like manner.
• Students acquire complex problem solving skills.
• Students enjoy physics without fear.
• Students link their understanding to the world outside the classroom.
• Students acquire life-learning skills.

These are lofty goals. There is some evidence, provided later, that students who take courses using these materials and similar materials from other physics education projects do in fact better achieve these goals. ISLE has three specific features that help meet these goals.

1. Students acquire physics knowledge by conducting observations of physical phenomena and describing them, devising qualitative and quantitative explanations, and designing and conducting experiments to test their explanations. In short, students use the processes that scientists use to acquire knowledge and to solve problems. (Students replace their naïve epistemologies with the epistemology of the scientific community.)
2. Students master physics knowledge by linking the symbolic language of physics to words and concrete physical representations. This is one of the strategies that scientists use to comprehend new knowledge and to apply it. (Students replace their naïve learning strategies with proven cognitive strategies.)
3. Students organize physics knowledge around a small number of concepts and develop cues that help them apply the basic concepts to more real world problems. (Students replace their novice surface feature knowledge structure with a more expert-like deep knowledge structure.)

All three of these features help students acquire the skills of learning how to learn. They construct the concepts by actively participating in learning; they test their ideas; they learn to represent concepts in multiple ways; and they develop strategies for organizing and accessing knowledge. These are content independent general skills that can be transferred to any content area. These features distinguish ISLE from other introductory physics learning systems.

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The development and implementation of the ISLE learning materials is now funded in part, starting in April 2001, by a 0.5-million dollar grant from the CCLI Program of the National Science Foundation. This support involves Ohio State University, Rutgers University, and California State University-Chico and will be used to help develop a laboratory program for ISLE, the video experiments, researched ideas for the Student Guide, and to assess student learning in the ISLE program.

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There has already been considerable assessment of student learning in courses using the ISLE format. The ISLE system has been used with Freshmen Engineering Honors (FEH) students at Ohio State University. The g-factor gain [(posttest score - pretest score)/(100 - pretest score)] on the Force Concept Inventory test in the fall 2001 was 0.56 (the same for AVH with 100 students and for a self proclaimed former traditional lecturer with 100 students). Xueli Zou, a new professor who used ISLE in her first semester of teaching, had a 0.45 gain on the FCI test in a regular calculus-based physics course. The average g-factor gain nationwide on this test in traditional lecture classes is 0.23.

ISLE was used in electricity and magnetism for two quarters with the FEH program at OSU by three different professors. The average posttest score for the three classes on the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) ranged from 69-74 percent. Two of the professors had never taught a lecture section before-one a new Ph.D. and the other an assistant dean. The average posttest score on the CSEM for traditionally taught calculus-based physics students at OSU and at other universities is 45-50 percent. 150 two-year college physics professors averaged 77 percent on the CSEM.

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The following is an example of student reflection (California State, Chico) on the learning process that happens in ISLE (ISLE students write weekly reports about their learning every week answering four questions: what did I learn this week? how did I learn it? What questions remained unclear? What questions would I ask if I were the professor to find out if my students understood the material?

Anonymous Student:

In the last two weeks we focused on the study of electrostatic interactions and the electric field. Durring the lab we observed several things relating to electical interactions between objects.

TWO TYPES OF CHARGE

Observations:

We observed that "something" was produced by rubbing two objects together. This something is defined as an electric charge. The electric charge is defined by the effect that it produces. Like charges repel each other, and unlike charges attract each other. We observed that there are two types of charges. The charge that is defined as being positive can be produced by rubbing a glass rod with a piece of silk. The charge that is defined as being negative can be produced by rubbing a plastic rod with fur.

Conceptual Explanations:

To explain the phenomena that we observed in lab we came up with The following conceptual explanation. If we look at the atomic model of a neutral object we see that the atoms are composed of positive protons which form the nucleus and negative electrons, resulting in a neutral atom. Before the two objects are rubbed together they are both neutral, this is why they neither repel or attract one another. When they are rubbed together electrons are transfered from one object to the other resulting in an unbalance of positive and negative charge for each object.

Physical Quantities and Mathematical Relationships:

Based on our observations we decided that the electrical force between two objects can be described with the following physical quantities:

1. the amount and type of charge on object 1
2. the amount and type of charge on object 2
3. the distance seperating the two charged objects

The relationships between these quantities is observed by looking at Coulomb's law. The force on an object produced by another is proportional to the charges of the two objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating the two objects.

THE ELECTRIC FIELD

Observations:

There is "something" that exists between two charged objects. We know that this "something" exists because when we place a conductive material between the two objects the electrostatic interactions that we are used to seeing are interrupted.

Conceptual Explanations:

We formed a model to explain our observations consisting of the following two components:

1. "interaction" of objects at a distance
2. an "agent" that exists between the two charges

We know that this "something" is created by a charge in space, and that it exerts a force on other objects in that space. We know that these other charges in space will also create their own "something" in space thus exerting a force on the original charge. We defined this "something" as an electrical field, having both magnitude and direction.

Physical Quantities and Mathematical Relationships:

To develop a mathematical representation of the electrical field we use a positive test charge. The test charge is very small in proportion to the charge emitting the electrical field so as not to cause interruption.

The following physical quantities affect the electric field:

1. the amount of test charge
2. the force that the two charges exert on each other

Using the two physical quantities we define the electric field as being the force exerted by the charges divided by the amount of test charge.

I am having problems with problem 10 on homework 2. I'm not getting the same result for acceleration as you have posted on WebCT. I keep getting the result that the acceleration of the particle is inversely proportional to its distance from the equilibrium.
Also I'm confused about the question "Why do we know that there is not a third type of charge." I think the answer is that it would have to repel >both positively and negatively charged objects, but I don't know why. I believe that it would be attractive to both positively and negatively charged objects since opposite charges attract each other.

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Eugenia Etkina - Rutgers University etkina@rci.rutgers.edu - develops the epistemological aspect of ISLE and uses ISLE in the methods course for pre-service and in-service elementary and high school teachers

Alan Van Heuvelen Ohio State University - avanh@mps.ohio-state.edu - develops the cognitive aspect of ISLE and uses ISLE in a large calculus-based physics courses for honors engineers

Xouli Zou - California State University (Chico) - XZou@exchange.csuchico.edu - develops the laboratory implementation of ISLE and uses ISLE in a small course environment

Kathy Harper - Ohio State University - kharper@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu - develops context rich tasks for ISLE and uses ISLE in in the calculus-based physics courses for honors engineers

Suzanne Brahmia - Rutgers University - brahmia@physics.rutgers.edu - develops workshops for ISLE and uses ISLE in a large calculus based course for engineers at-risk

Michael Lawrence - West Orange High School (NJ) - jkml@erols.com - develops high school version of ISLE and uses ISLE in different high school physics courses

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