Studio Physics for student-centered learning: philosophy and implementation

Toh-Ming Lu

Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Abstract

In this information age, student learning habits undergo a dramatic change. The traditional passive teaching methods do not work very efficiently for this new generation of students. In this talk I will discuss the philosophy behind the widely discussed student-centered learning strategy. I will also discuss the implementation of an infrastructure for this strategy.
Biosketch: Dr. Toh-Ming Lu, the Ray Palmer Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics, is the former Chairman of the Physics Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He and his colleagues created the Studio Physics classrooms in the mid 90's for introductory physics courses to serve 1000 predominantly science and engineering freshmen on campus.